While this is a step away from the original Mario vs. Donkey Kong for the GameBoy Advance, it's just an instant classic.
It’s the opening day of the new Mini Mario-themed amusement park, Super Mini Mario World, drawing massive crowds. Mini Marios are small, wind-up toys resembling Mario, and they have been flying off the shelves. Te Mario Toy Company also has new toys, the Mini Toad, Mini Peach, and Mini Donkey Kong. Guest of Honor Pauline is there for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Suddenly Mario offers her a Mini Mario and DK offers her a Mini Donkey Kong at the same time. Pauline chooses the Mini Mario, and DK is seething mad! He causes a commotion, smashes the displays, and kidnaps Pauline, taking her to the top level of the park. Mario must use his minis to battle minions, chase DK, and save Pauline! This opening is told through a great cut scene that would look good on the GameCube with its awesome graphics.
In March of the Minis, you don’t actually play as Mario, you play as the minis. in each level you have a number of depowered minis, usually three or four, that you must guide to a door. Simply tapping one or swiping it with the stylus will turn it on, making it do its trademark giggle. From there, controlling the minis is easy. Swipe the stylus across left or right of them to make them move constantly in that direction, swipe them upward to make them jump, and tap them to make them stop.
There are 9 levels in each of the game’s 8 themed worlds. In each level you will find enemies, coins, and lots of other stuff to make it interesting. Your minis are virtually helpless unless they get their mitts on a hammer or fire flower, so it can be challenging to get them all out without one if them breaking. The enemies are quite varied. Shy Guys can be ridden by minis, while Bloopers might try to jump on them. Crabs might try to ram them from the side while Thwomps might try to crush them. The minis are cute with their high-pitched voices and funny attitude, so it can be aggravating to see a Thwomp crush one without a thought. However, if you want to get a gold star on every level, you will have to get them all out alive so that hopefully won’t happen too often.
There is a special card in each level. If you get every card in a world you can play a minigame. If you beat it you will receive all of the world’s enemies, gimmicks, and the like for the Construction Zone. More on that later. The game might not be overly hard alone, but if you go for a gold star on every level it sure is! To get one you must pass a set score on the level, which means never stopping a mini, getting them through the gate in a chain, and getting them all out alive. This can be very easy or ripping-your-hair-out hard depending on the level you’re on.
At the end of every world you will fight DK as a boss. This involves moving a cannon from side to side or rotating it and shooting minis at DK on the top screen. He will throw thihngs at you, and if he hits a mini in or out of the cannon it will break. These aren’t really varied, but it can be hard to get gold stars on them because sometimes the cannon keeps moving when you want it to stop and the like. Not such a good part of the game, but not too bad.
Also in each world there will be lots of gimmicks and such to make it interesting. Something basic would be a pole that your minis can grab onto, but this game always has to have more than that. In this game there is a wheel on the side of the pole that you can use to spin the minis around fast and launch them off for a high jump. The game is full of things like this, and they really give the game its personality and style.
I simply adore this game’s graphic style. It's hard to describe without seeing it for yourself. It's made up of realistic-looking sprites that move so smoothly you could mix it up with a 3-D game if it weren’t for the black lines around everything, making it pleasing to the eye. The platforms and such look pretty generic, but the moving sprites are just outstanding.
The game has good sound effects. They have a pleasing, clean sound to them, as if they aren’t coming from the speakers, they are coming from real life. A few of them can get minorly annoying, but nothing big. Music wise, it is pretty much the same. Good, catchy tunes are pretty much all this game has, except for a few others. Only a few are annoying, but most of them are nice.
The ordinary mode is fun to play, and after you have beaten it a few months later you might want to play it again. What makes you keep coming back for more? The Construction Zone. In this you can create your own levels, almost identical to the ones from the main game! You can simply pick something to put in the level and tap the screen where you want to place it. It can take an hour or more to perfect a good level, but the time really flies by, it’s so fun. Then you can go on WiFi and trade your levels with other people! This is a great part of the game. The only hinderance is that a few complicated aspects of the game levels don't appear in the Construction Zone, but it really doesn't hinder it much.
With its great graphic style, fun gameplay, and pleasing audio this game makes a great title for the DS. If you are more a fan of slow, strategic games this one may not be for you, but if you like platformers or action games in general this is an overall outstanding game to add to your collection.