Mario vs Donkey Kong 2: March Of The Minis
When I first saw the commercials for this I really didn’t give it a second thought, but I was at the game store picking up God Hand, which was only $30 so I figured, why not pick up a DS game as well. I’m still not exactly sure what made me pick this one up, but I’m glad I did.
It’s the opening day of the new Mario Theme Park where they have terrific Mario and Donkey Kong swag in the form of tiny mechanical wind-ups. When the big DK shows up and kidnaps guest of honor, Pauline (She’s the girl you were trying to save in the original Donkey Kong), it’s up to Mario and his swag to save the day. From here the game takes on an almost Lemmings-esque type gameplay. You are presented with a variety of scenarios where you must use your stylus to guide three or four mechanical Marios through levels utilizing the many things at your disposal including movable platforms, pipes and magnetic walls. It’s great brain teaser kind of stuff and the levels are short enough that you can pick it up and play one while your waiting for the bus, doctor, dentist or airplane. Unfortunately, the mini-games and Boss battles are lame in comparison to the regular levels. They are almost embarrassingly easy and don’t really require much skill.
When I first saw the commercials for this I really didn’t give it a second thought, but I was at the game store picking up God Hand, which was only $30 so I figured, why not pick up a DS game as well. I’m still not exactly sure what made me pick this one up, but I’m glad I did.
It’s the opening day of the new Mario Theme Park where they have terrific Mario and Donkey Kong swag in the form of tiny mechanical wind-ups. When the big DK shows up and kidnaps guest of honor, Pauline (She’s the girl you were trying to save in the original Donkey Kong), it’s up to Mario and his swag to save the day. From here the game takes on an almost Lemmings-esque type gameplay. You are presented with a variety of scenarios where you must use your stylus to guide three or four mechanical Marios through levels utilizing the many things at your disposal including movable platforms, pipes and magnetic walls. It’s great brain teaser kind of stuff and the levels are short enough that you can pick it up and play one while your waiting for the bus, doctor, dentist or airplane. Unfortunately, the mini-games and Boss battles are lame in comparison to the regular levels. They are almost embarrassingly easy and don’t really require much skill.
The real fun, however comes in the construction kit. You can actually create your own levels using the elements of the game, store them, and then share them with friends locally or over the WiFi. Nintendo is also providing eight additional levels, one a week, that you can download from them. See the instructions on the games WiFi Hub page. There are also some cute icons and wallpapers available at the official game site.
I hate giving things a number rating, I think it’s a bit unfair and after all, it’s just one man’s opinion. If you like a good brain challenge though, I would suggest picking this up. I’m really enjoying it and I’m looking forward to downloading some of the player made levels. anyone else out there have this and want to trade some levels?
Fruit Brute
Posted to Video Games on 19 October 2006
· Comments (1)
Other stuff like this: donkey kong, ds, mario, mini, nintendo
While I was a huge fan of the first games (GB and GBA versions), I was initially disappointed playing this at e3. After sitting down with the game now, I “get” it. It’s not a game that is great right off the bat, but something that gets better as you progress. I give it the thumbs up. Also, all 2D sprite-based games need to come with a level editor like this game.