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Gorilla Warfare: Mario vs Donkey Kong Mini-Land Mayhem (Nintendo DS) By: PoisonRamune, the Apathetic Lizardman I really liked the original Mario vs Donkey on the Gameboy Advance. So much so that I fear the first half of this article will be me kissing that game’s ass (we’ll try not to). Mario vs Donkey Kong was a platforming puzzle game (or puzzle platformer) that incorporated elements of the classic Super Mario Bros series (such as carrying a key across the level to some locked door ala SMB2) and the original Donkey Kong game. The game was fun, challenging and put a new spin on both the platformer and puzzle game genres.
6 years pass and the rivalry and war between plumber and ape continue. Mario and Donkey Kong are still going at it in Mini-Land Mayhem for the Nintendo DS, the newest installment to the Mario vs Donkey series. Donkey Kong scorned by not receiving a Mini Pauline doll (you know the girl from the OG Donkey Kong, but this time she looks really freakish) decides to go ape and hijacks the real Pauline out of spite. The gameplay has been drastically changed from the original and now follows a more strictly puzzle based format. The game still retains a pretty decent action aspect, but it’s a bit subdued through the game’s mechanics as you’re not directly controlling the characters.
Instead of controlling Mario as you did in the original, you now influence the movements of Mini Mario (and occasionally other mini characters) dolls. The dolls will march in a straight line until they encounter an obstacle/stage element or die from hitting an enemy or falling into a hazard like spikes or lava (which results in a game over). If a Mini hits a wall or a low ceiling (or other Mini walking towards them), they will immediately about face and being walking the way they came from. Your main objective is to guide each of the Minis (ranging from 2-5 in each level) through the stage to a door located (most of the time) at the opposite end of the map. Stage elements are placed and moved with the stylus and include such Mario and Donkey Kong series mainstays as: warp pipes, girders, cannons, and switches. There’s also the added challenge of collecting various items throughout each of the levels. Some of the items you collect (such as M coins and cards) unlock bonus levels and mini-games while other items are there merely to add to your score. However, collecting every item in one run is absolutely essential to get a “trophy” (par breaking score) due to the completion bonus you receive. And in the typical Mario vs Donkey Kong fashion each of the levels is timed (with the time you take weighing heavily on your score) to keep you from taking all night to beat a level.
The game follows the 8 levels per world (and 8 worlds in the game) format with a boss fight pitting the Mini Mario dolls against DK himself at the end of each world. The worlds have different themes as seen in various Mario and Donkey Kong games such as: jungle, industrial, fire/lava, etc. Players are also introduced to one or two new stage elements at the beginning of each new world as not to become overwhelmed (as well as giving the player the incentive to play through the entire game before creating custom levels). There’s also a bonus/mini-game available after each boss (unlocked by collecting all the cards throughout the world) in which you draw girders with the stylus to redirect Mini dolls into score boxes. The one problem with this game is the difficulty. The main levels are really easy and seem to just serve as a means to unlock (and learn) new stage elements for the level editor. In fact, I never came across as level that I couldn’t get a trophy on by at least my second attempt. The plus/special/bonus levels seem a bit tougher, but not by much and the only reason I haven’t beaten them is simply because there’s so many.
As mentioned before the game has a level editor which works pretty well and has a pretty decent online system going for it. The editor is intuitive and is extensive enough to allow you to make some interesting and challenging levels. The game also features an online level share where you’ll find some astoundingly tough levels which makes up for the general ease of the “storymode.” There’s also a creator’s challenge offered where players are given a set of parameters to follow in creating a stage with the online community voting on their favorites based on difficulty and over all creativeness. The visual presentation in this game is very sharp. The style is vibrant and very crisp, but not in a Mario and Luigi handheld RPG blinding sort of way. A big part of this may be due to the fact that the backgrounds are done in softer, more subdued gradients, which allow the characters and other foreground elements to pop without being intrusive. The overall style is very cute and simple. The pixel art isn’t very complex, but it inherently works for this game as everything ends up having a sort of “toy” look and feel (as intended). The music is done quite well with tracks that are original tunes, but feel oddly nostalgic. They set the mood for the theming of each world and never really get boring for the most part. The sound effects in the game are pretty much things you’ve already heard in previous Mario and Donkey Kong games. The springboards make the same “boing” noise and the sending characters through warp pipes make that familiar “chirp-chirp-chirp” noise; this isn’t a bad thing, since it would really throw me off to hear some other noises in place of what I’ve been conditioned to here.
I highly recommend this game to any fan of the previous Mario vs Donkey Kong games (especially if you’ve enjoyed the DSiWare or previous Mario vs DK game on the DS, since they are very similar conceptually). I also recommend this game if you’re a fan of the puzzle genre and are becoming bored with the typical “block dropping/moving” games that seem to flood the genre. It’s a very well produced game with an amazing amount of levels to work through (along with potentially countless levels to download and create) making this a very worthwhile addition to your DS library.
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