by Brian - May 27, 2004

It started twenty years ago. It ends today! Mario Vs Donkey Kong pits Mario on a quest to retrieve his stolen stuffed toys (surprisingly saving the Mushroom Kingdom doesn�t pay very well). Who took them? Why Donkey Kong of course. Bowser must have been on vacation that week.

Gameplay

Mario Vs Donkey Kong will put your mind and reflexes to the test as you surge through the levels filled with various obstacles in your way. These include piranha plants, shy guys, bob-ombs, conveyor belts, and of course bottomless pits. As you progress through the game the levels get harder but you will learn many new techniques along the way to help you. The wide array of Mario�s arsenal adds quite a bit to the game. He can do handstands that make you invincible to falling objects, back flip to jump higher, throw cans, drop fruit from vines to kill enemies, do acrobatics on poles, and climb vines. However, aside from the expert levels, the puzzles are painstakingly easy and can be plowed through in no more than three or four tries. Combine that with the fact that each level will only take you about thirty to forty-five seconds to complete, and that there are only eight levels in six worlds makes it a short game. You can unlock more worlds once you beat the game though, which bring it to a total of 48 levels. Each level has two parts. One makes you retrieve a key and bring it to the keyhole, wherever that may be in the level. The second part makes you get one of the missing toys. However, the last two levels of each world are different. In the 7th level, you must navigate the six toys you have gotten from that world to the toy box (Think Lemmings). In the 8th, you must fight Donkey Kong. He always gets away of course, but you then follow him to the next world.

When trying to think of a game to compare it to, the only thing that came to mind was another Donkey Kong game. Donkey Kong Jr. for the NES, only not as good. Everything is pretty straightforward. There is only one way to complete each level, which also makes it unplayable after the first time through. The wide variety of moves and maneuvers keeps it fresh the first time through though.

Graphics

The graphics of this game kind of ticked me off. It tried to make the game look somewhat 3D with psuedo-3D models for the enemies and characters that end up looking kind of blocky. If you look at the screenshots you will see that some of the scenes look like they are fully 3D cinematic. An impressive feat for the GBA, but that�s not the case. Those renders are simply stills. Sure it looks nice in the screen but it�s just a background.

Speaking of backgrounds, the bright colors in the worlds irritated me. The neon greens, yellows, and bright reds seem to indicate that this game is geared more toward children than it is adults, but that doesn�t mean adults can�t get some fun out of it.

Sound

I found the sound effects and music to be pretty average for the most part. Mario�s speech sounds like it was ripped straight from Mario Sunshine only to decrease the quality so that the GBA could handle it. Its not really bad but it could have been a lot better.

The music was admittedly better than the sound effects but still sub-par. It didn�t give me a Mario or DK vibe that it should have, aside from the �Hammer� music. That is, the music that plays when you grab the hammer like in the original Donkey Kong or Super Smash Bros. The other tracks are, again, decent but I wasn�t feeling them the way I hoped or expected they would from this kind of game.

Fun Factor

Mario Vs Donkey Kong is certainly fun in the later more challenging levels, but getting through the mindnumbingly easy levels in the beginning make the trek hard to endure. They aren�t difficult, but they are so simple it can bore you to the point of saving and putting it away for a while. Little kids would probably get a kick out of the whole game though because of the difficulty.

Closing Comments

I really tried to like this game because I am a big fan of both franchises, but I don�t feel it did either of them justice. What we have here is a mediocre, very straightforward puzzle game that could have been much more than that in my opinion. If you are looking for a game to get your little brother or one of your kids, this would probably be a good game for them. I don�t recommend it for anyone over the age of twelve though. You may be disappointed with it.