A remake of the GBA classic, Mario Vs Donkey Kong is a return to what the series used to be before the Mini Marios took over and turned it into a Lemmings clone.
Mario Vs Donkey Kong is a puzzle platforming game where you must guide Mario through obstacles and solve puzzles to make your way forward to find a key and exit a level while the second half of a level sees those same design principles put in place as you try to reach a Mini Mario toy. It is, in essence, an evolution of the original Donkey Kong game. Levels also contain 3 present boxes and collecting all 3 will 100% a level, earning you a star that collecting enough of will unlock expert levels in the post game.
To get through these levels, you'll be controlling a Mario who is a bit more sluggish than his usual platforming self but with the benefit of being slightly more acrobatic, gaining the ability to handstand and then bounce jump higher out of that. Mario also does not defeat enemies by jumping on them, instead mechanics brought in from Super Mario Bros 2 sees you being able to stand on top of enemies and pick them up and throw them. Everything plays into the puzzle aspect, so you'll be hitting coloured switches to open and close new paths, throwing enemies on to spikes to allow yourself safe passage across and handstanding to deflect falling debris from hitting Mario on the head. All of these mechanics are put into play as you try to guide the key to the exit door as well. Keys have a 12 second time limit when out of Mario's hands as well before they return to their original location and you'll be using things like moving platforms that will push that time limit to its limit.
Once you clear the main levels in a world, you'll gain access to a Mini Mario level where Mario has to guide the six Mini Marios he found into a toy box. The Minis are AI controlled and follow Mario but can access smaller gaps while not being to jump as high so you have to puzzle your way through levels and make sure the Minis don't get hit along the way. It's all great stuff and a brilliant evolution on the core design principles of the Arcade Donkey Kong game, testing both your platforming and puzzle solving abilities.
After clearing those levels you'll come up against Donkey Kong in a boss fight. These see Mario needing to carry an object up to a point where he can throw it at Donkey Kong. At the same time Donkey Kong will be throwing barrels and hitting switches to make your life more difficult. Clearing the fight without taking damage gains you a star as well to further help unlock those expert levels. It's all great stuff and does a great job at expanding the Arcade classic into a much fuller experience.
The remake does little to mess with what the GBA classic brought to the table. Fall damage is gone meaning you don't die from falling off at a certain height and a Casual Mode has been added to give Mario a couple of extra hits before dying and removing the timer as well. Two new worlds have seamlessly been added to the game, bringing their own level mechanics that fit right in with the rest of the game, showing that NST still knows what they're doing with the classic Mario Vs Donkey Kong all these years on. Other than that it's mostly just redoing the graphics and music for a modern platform and fleshing things out with full cutscenes based off the original games storyboard sequences.
It's a solid experience offering some great puzzle platforming fun though never really hitting any high and memorable points. Mario Vs Donkey Kong was always an interesting evolution on the original Donkey Kong game and hopefully this time the team at NTSC will be able to build off it this time and see what potential this gameplay style can truly offer.
Mario Vs Donkey Kong is a puzzle platforming game where you must guide Mario through obstacles and solve puzzles to make your way forward to find a key and exit a level while the second half of a level sees those same design principles put in place as you try to reach a Mini Mario toy. It is, in essence, an evolution of the original Donkey Kong game. Levels also contain 3 present boxes and collecting all 3 will 100% a level, earning you a star that collecting enough of will unlock expert levels in the post game.
To get through these levels, you'll be controlling a Mario who is a bit more sluggish than his usual platforming self but with the benefit of being slightly more acrobatic, gaining the ability to handstand and then bounce jump higher out of that. Mario also does not defeat enemies by jumping on them, instead mechanics brought in from Super Mario Bros 2 sees you being able to stand on top of enemies and pick them up and throw them. Everything plays into the puzzle aspect, so you'll be hitting coloured switches to open and close new paths, throwing enemies on to spikes to allow yourself safe passage across and handstanding to deflect falling debris from hitting Mario on the head. All of these mechanics are put into play as you try to guide the key to the exit door as well. Keys have a 12 second time limit when out of Mario's hands as well before they return to their original location and you'll be using things like moving platforms that will push that time limit to its limit.
Once you clear the main levels in a world, you'll gain access to a Mini Mario level where Mario has to guide the six Mini Marios he found into a toy box. The Minis are AI controlled and follow Mario but can access smaller gaps while not being to jump as high so you have to puzzle your way through levels and make sure the Minis don't get hit along the way. It's all great stuff and a brilliant evolution on the core design principles of the Arcade Donkey Kong game, testing both your platforming and puzzle solving abilities.
After clearing those levels you'll come up against Donkey Kong in a boss fight. These see Mario needing to carry an object up to a point where he can throw it at Donkey Kong. At the same time Donkey Kong will be throwing barrels and hitting switches to make your life more difficult. Clearing the fight without taking damage gains you a star as well to further help unlock those expert levels. It's all great stuff and does a great job at expanding the Arcade classic into a much fuller experience.
The remake does little to mess with what the GBA classic brought to the table. Fall damage is gone meaning you don't die from falling off at a certain height and a Casual Mode has been added to give Mario a couple of extra hits before dying and removing the timer as well. Two new worlds have seamlessly been added to the game, bringing their own level mechanics that fit right in with the rest of the game, showing that NST still knows what they're doing with the classic Mario Vs Donkey Kong all these years on. Other than that it's mostly just redoing the graphics and music for a modern platform and fleshing things out with full cutscenes based off the original games storyboard sequences.
It's a solid experience offering some great puzzle platforming fun though never really hitting any high and memorable points. Mario Vs Donkey Kong was always an interesting evolution on the original Donkey Kong game and hopefully this time the team at NTSC will be able to build off it this time and see what potential this gameplay style can truly offer.