I never played the original Mario vs. Donkey Kong, released in 2004 for Game Boy Advance. So I brought no nostalgia or past experience to the new version which comes out this week, which feels thoroughly modern in every way except the gameplay. Mario is limit — he can't run fast, he can't jump very high, you lose a life with a single mistake. Coming from brand new Super Mario Bros. Wonder can give you a serious boost, because there's no elephant power or wondrous stars here. But if you don't compare Mario vs. Donkey Kong to the more modern adventures of the plumber, it has its own charm to enjoy.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong has a lot more in common with the original Donkey Kong arcade games than your typical Mario platformer. Each level has two parts, but they aren't sprawling side-scrolling adventures. Instead, it's a puzzler that requires specific steps and clever use of the enemies and tools scattered throughout. First you have to get a key, then you have to rescue a cute little Mario toy that Donkey Kong stole and placed in the level. Sometimes you'll need to throw a Shy Guy onto a pit of spikes and get him through the danger; other times, you activate switches in a specific order to make platforms appear where you need them to advance. Like most of the best Mario games, almost every level introduces a new mechanic, enemy, or tool that prevents or helps you from finishing. These levels extend both horizontally and vertically, but they are small, self-contained worlds.
As usual, Nintendo's veneer is on display here. There are plenty of bouncy orchestral music selections; Mario, DK, and all the bad guys that appear throughout are lovingly rendered and the controls are tight and precise. That is, once you get used to Mario's limitations. I didn't have a problem with Mario being a little less capable, since it's a totally different style of play, but I definitely forgot that Mario didn't have the jumps needed to cross some chasms.
There is also a surprising amount of content in this game. There are eight worlds, two of which are new for the 2024 re-release. Each has six stages, plus a bonus stage and a boss battle. And once you've completed the main campaign, there's a remixed “Plus” version of all of these levels available that use the same general items and features as the original, but with a new, more ambitious goal: you have to lead a mini vulnerable Mario toy towards the release, and these toys are even less efficient than the big Mario. It's a nice way to mix up the formula that had become extremely familiar to me by the time I completed the first 64 steps.
Completing the main game also unlocks 16 new expert stages that absolutely live up to this title. They're quite difficult, and since the game doesn't continually feed you 1-Up Mushrooms, they'll require some skill to complete (I've only just started getting into this new challenge). Solving the puzzle and executing the solution without making any mistakes beforehand is a big challenge at some of these later levels, both in the Expert levels and the Plus levels.
This is good, because beating the world's top eight was so easy that I was afraid this game would have no real value. I went through the first four worlds and only faced significant challenges in the last two. The Plus worlds, so far, haven't been too difficult either, although I bet that will change. As it stands, I got a “perfect” rating on everyone two and above in 30 minutes (six stages, plus a bonus stage to harvest 1-Up mushrooms and the final world boss level) . This would have lasted 20 minutes if I hadn't encountered a challenge on 2-6 that took a while to solve. I wish there were more levels like this – as it stood, the game seemed either extremely easy or surprisingly difficult, without as much of a difficulty ramp as I'd like to see. That said, I can't wait to see how the Plus worlds continue to move forward in difficulty.
Given the simplicity of this game, it's fair to say that its target audience may be younger or less experienced than me. Nintendo has also included some features to make the game even more accessible. There's a “casual” mode where you can take six hits before losing a life in a stage, instead of just one. This also removes the time limit, which didn't stress me out in earlier levels but definitely presented a challenge as the game progressed. If you TO DO Just like you're trying to beat the clock, there's a “time trial” mode where you try to beat a target time in the level. And no matter what play style you choose, you can always simply press “retry” to restart a stage without losing any lives. Finally, Nintendo has also included a local cooperative multiplayer mode, something both experienced and novice gamers can enjoy.
At first I had the impression Mario vs. Donkey Kong was going to be too light a game to recommend people spend $50 on. It started out cute and clever, but very simple and with seemingly little depth. But Nintendo surprised me: while it's definitely a throwback game, there's a solid mix of challenge and depth here. And as is the case with many Nintendo games, this one should be fun for gamers of all ages. Don't expect Mario to have the moves and tricks he does Super Mario Marvel.