Mario vs Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis

DS review by Bart Robson, published on Wednesday 25th October 2006

The Nintendo DS has a natural affinity with puzzle games. Sudoku, crosswords, and mazes have all made their way onto the little-handheld-that-could, and probably account for a lot of the sales. Nintendo clearly meant it when they said they were aiming for a broader market. However, none of these puzzle games are that exciting to DS owners who prefer a bit more pizazz in their games- after all, if we wanted to do a crossword, we could open the newspaper. Video games are for blowing stuff up! Or jumping on things! Or casting a +5 Fire Blarglepoof spell in the mythical realm of Nodnol! To coax the more video game savvy into using their brains, Ninty has craftily slipped out a sequel to the mildly popular Mario vs Donkey Kong- Lemmings in Mario’s suspenders, if you will. While it won’t hold your attention as much as some more complex games on the DS, Mario vs DK 2: March of the Minis is an entertaining puzzle jaunt that’s sure to keep you addicted for at least a little while.

The story is pretty much nonexistent; of course, being a puzzle game that’s easy to let slide. Donkey Kong has kidnapped a VIP guest to the grand opening of Mario’s new theme park and it’s up to the little clockwork plumbers at his command to save the day! Needless to say, there are loads of problems with this- Mario must be pretty lazy if he can’t wait for the next elevator. However, as soon as the game gives you control, you’re sure to forget the story altogether- the only thing reminding you is the fact that DK shows up every now and then to throw things at you. The basic idea of each level is this: Get all of the Mini-Marios to the door. It’s really just a simplified version of Lemmings, although that’s not to say the game isn’t a challenge. After a fairly breezy first few missions, the game starts throwing new obstacles at you- and it will continue to do so every now and then. There’s even a level creator with unlockable content, which is a lot of fun to mess around with. You can even send the levels you make to friends over Nintendo’s Wi-Fi service! This helps keep the game fresh, which definitely helps in a puzzle game.

The game is controlled entirely via the touch screen. Hurrah! While there is a tutorial if you need it, the controls are so obvious and easy to pick up that chances are you won’t need it. Tap a Mario to activate it, and then swipe over it to control the direction it walks, occasionally sliding the stylus up so it can jump. It really is the best possible system for a game like this, made even better by quick responses and results. There are other things to touch, like pink blocks that can be swapped around to form walls and paths around the levels, elevators, and many other things that add up to a hectic experience. While you’ll probably see how to complete a level at first glance, actually completing it may be harder than it looks, because managing several toy Marios and a series of block-bridges can get a player pretty muddled.

On the visual side of things, Mario vs DK 2 falls into the “unimpressive but cute” category. Everything is 2D, and it looks practically identical to the GBA Mario vs DK. However, it has a nifty art style that animates very nicely and runs smoothly on both screens, and to be honest that’s all it needs. There are some 3D cutscenes, but these are just super-compressed mpeg files that are technically sound but suffer from some ugly artifacts. Obviously, concessions had to be made to fit the video files onto the DS cartridge, but for a game that advertises the compression tool at start-up, it’s surprising the video doesn’t look a bit cleaner. Mario vs DK 2 looks good, but it’s a bit of a shame that it isn’t as attractive as other first-party efforts on the DS, like New Super Mario Bros or Starfox. The audio, on the other hand, is strictly vanilla- annoying elevator music galore. This is very disappointing, as Mario games normally have well-produced, catchy music that is fun to listen to. Unfortunately, the music here is anything but, so you’ll probably want to play this one with the volume down.

Mario vs Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis is a sound game. While it doesn’t cover any new ground and isn’t pushing the DS in any way, it’s a fun and easy to get into puzzle platformer that will keep you hooked if you give it enough time- especially if you play around with the level editor. It’s certainly nowhere near unit-mover status, like most of the other first-party Nintendo DS games, but it’s a simple and stylish affair that is worth a purchase if you’ve got gaming money burning a hole in your pocket.