Mario Vs Donkey Kong on the GBA was great, the sequel...
Yes AND No.
Mario vs Donkey Kong on the GBA was very fun, but March of the Minis fails in the fun category for the more hardcore gamer, but it still entertains and fill time on bus rides. In MOTM you don't play as Mario directly, you play as Mario commanding the minis(2 to 4 per stage) to the exits on the stage by use of the stylus. First an foremost when the title is Mario vs Donkey Kong shouldn't we play as Mario, Second this is the follow up to the one on the GBA but it feels more like a spin off.
The Controls are very simple, tap or drag the mini mario and he'll follow your orders, drag up he'll jump. With the far more complex controls on the first installment which was to revive the Jumpman series, MOTM feels more like a downgrade from Jumpman with touch controls.
There are 8 worlds in MOTM each with 9 stages, 1 bonus, and 1 boss battle. Stages progress from very easy to easy world to world. You have infinite retries though you really dont need em unless you want to be perfect. Stages are basically press the switches in the right order and time, preventing you minis from dropping, or destroyed by monsters on the stages, and collect coins/Letter Cards for points. As mentioned in the controls paragraph this game feels like a downgrade from Jumpman...Thats right Jumpman is more fun than this will ever be.
The game come complete with a construction set where you get to build your own stages using parts from each world as you unlock them. The controls are easy to understand here.
After playing this game up to world 6, I dumped it back into the pile of games I have and dug up Mario Vs DK for the gba to play instead, this game doesn't deserve the 8.2 it has.
Presentation: 6/10
Level design is fun but too simple for some gamers. Nice FMVs.
Gameplay: 7/10
Controls are very responsive, but the game is far too easy. Not as fun as the first installment.
Graphics: 6/10
Too uhhh....cute, not my preference. Preferred the first installment's style.
Sounds: 7/10
Good Music, not very memorable. Some speech in the game but I think MvsDK1's sound was done better.
Lasting Appeal: 8/10
Construction set is the only reason this got an 8, without it 4/10.
Overall(Not Average): 5.5/10
Just Plain boring, no challenge. Rent it if you can, not even worth looking for in a discount bin.