Absolute garbage. A little trash puzzle game for little trash freaks who think it's okay that every puzzle in the entire game is you standing around waiting for platforms to move. Famously the most fun part of this series.
As far as puzzle platformers go, it really shouldn't be so hard. Simple and tight controls (maybe a cute twist/gimmick in the movement somewhere), levels where the thinking on the solution is more complicated than the execution and a short, sweet approach to puzzles with minimal repetition (both in the continual evolution / smart reinterpretation on the basic mechanics and the 'please dear God do not make me repeat entire puzzles because you arbitrarily decide to insert a Mario lives system into your puzzle game' factor).
As you might have gathered, I find this pretty wanting on these fronts. Because this game is trash! Mario moves like a sack of bricks with wheels strapped to either side, his moveset is the definition of clunky and imprecise, puzzles are a landmark in boring puzzle design and some cretin on the dev team introduced a Mario lives mechanic, forcing you to repeat the first screen of a two screen puzzle if you game over on screen two. Any puzzle game forcing you to repeat a puzzle you've already solved has missed the appeal of puzzle-solving entirely. Even with a brief increase in pace and quality come the (still main story despite its presentation and name, why????) Plus world, levels still eventually devolve into the same Standing-Still-Based gameplay, now with a second tiny dickhead hitbox desperate to get blasted by the nearest enemy at all times. It's unbearable!
This is a damn shame because I think this is just about the most charming version of itself possible. Everything about this is trash and not only the bad kind. This is peak GBA trash. Assets artlessly smashed together, intertwined only by the crunchy polygons of the system and themes vague enough that your 'jungle' section is a gaggle of baby rhinos walking around and, like, rope. The soundtrack is this gorgeous chiptune cluster fuck, and the voice acting. Oh my God. They have never let Mario be this much of a cartoon character in official media since. Mario curses out DK in gibberish Italian, so many hilarious little voice lines and soundbites. The mini Marios call for Mario in a brilliantly obnoxious baby voice. Mario owns a toy factory and he just manufactures miniatures of himself. Is this thinly veiled criticism of the commercialisation of the character? Is auteur Yukimi Shimura (Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! & Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!) secretly taking down Nintendo's capitalistic practices from the inside? The story ends when Mario placates DK by simply giving him one of the toys he's been desperately trying to steal all game. Consumerism wins again. Whether intentional commentary or not, it's a very endearingly ridiculous hook to hang the entire thing off. Fantastic garbage here folks.
Hysterical a glossy 2024 remake of this just dropped. It is the most 2000s handheld video game ever released and I can't help but love it just a little for that.
As far as puzzle platformers go, it really shouldn't be so hard. Simple and tight controls (maybe a cute twist/gimmick in the movement somewhere), levels where the thinking on the solution is more complicated than the execution and a short, sweet approach to puzzles with minimal repetition (both in the continual evolution / smart reinterpretation on the basic mechanics and the 'please dear God do not make me repeat entire puzzles because you arbitrarily decide to insert a Mario lives system into your puzzle game' factor).
As you might have gathered, I find this pretty wanting on these fronts. Because this game is trash! Mario moves like a sack of bricks with wheels strapped to either side, his moveset is the definition of clunky and imprecise, puzzles are a landmark in boring puzzle design and some cretin on the dev team introduced a Mario lives mechanic, forcing you to repeat the first screen of a two screen puzzle if you game over on screen two. Any puzzle game forcing you to repeat a puzzle you've already solved has missed the appeal of puzzle-solving entirely. Even with a brief increase in pace and quality come the (still main story despite its presentation and name, why????) Plus world, levels still eventually devolve into the same Standing-Still-Based gameplay, now with a second tiny dickhead hitbox desperate to get blasted by the nearest enemy at all times. It's unbearable!
This is a damn shame because I think this is just about the most charming version of itself possible. Everything about this is trash and not only the bad kind. This is peak GBA trash. Assets artlessly smashed together, intertwined only by the crunchy polygons of the system and themes vague enough that your 'jungle' section is a gaggle of baby rhinos walking around and, like, rope. The soundtrack is this gorgeous chiptune cluster fuck, and the voice acting. Oh my God. They have never let Mario be this much of a cartoon character in official media since. Mario curses out DK in gibberish Italian, so many hilarious little voice lines and soundbites. The mini Marios call for Mario in a brilliantly obnoxious baby voice. Mario owns a toy factory and he just manufactures miniatures of himself. Is this thinly veiled criticism of the commercialisation of the character? Is auteur Yukimi Shimura (Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! & Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!) secretly taking down Nintendo's capitalistic practices from the inside? The story ends when Mario placates DK by simply giving him one of the toys he's been desperately trying to steal all game. Consumerism wins again. Whether intentional commentary or not, it's a very endearingly ridiculous hook to hang the entire thing off. Fantastic garbage here folks.
Hysterical a glossy 2024 remake of this just dropped. It is the most 2000s handheld video game ever released and I can't help but love it just a little for that.