Minor spoilers ahead!
When Nintendo announced it was remaking 2004’s Mario vs. Donkey Kong, it didn’t rocket to the top of the list of video games I was desperate to play.
Five months later, it’s fair to say I’m addicted.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a completionist’s dream and since clearing its first level, I’ve played obsessively for hours every night to ‘perfectly’ solve each of its 136 puzzles. They start easy but by the final ‘expert’ levels, the challenge can be brutal.
As I wrote in my preview, the premise is simple. Donkey Kong has stolen a sack full of ‘Mini Mario’ toys and as Mario, the owner of the toy factory, it’s your job to get them back. The opening cutscenes are gloriously animated and I love that Shy Guys reading the news is now canon in the Mushroom Kingdom.
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Unlike last year’s fantastic Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Mario vs. Donkey plays more like a puzzle. Mario still has flips and triple jumps at his disposal but your movement is comparatively limited. Mario cannot jump on enemies to defeat them; you have to jump on their heads, pick them up and throw them. Instead, you’ll focus on using the ladders, switches and items around you to clear a path to a key that will unlock a door or a Mini Mario waiting to be rescued.
Each world has six levels, a bonus Mini Mario level where you try to lead all six of the Mini Mario’s you just rescued to the goal and finally, an eighth level which is a boss fight against Donkey Kong.
Like the best Nintendo games, almost every level pioneers a new enemy or mechanic to keep you on your toes.
There is a ‘casual’ mode for less experienced players who need the difficulty toned down or extra lives, and Nintendo has also added a two-player mode where a second person can control Toad to help Mario in trickier spots.
As a traditionalist, I opted for the standard challenge. Even so, I found the first four worlds relatively easy. I rarely ‘died’ (although, the one hit kills can feel unfair) and made it through most levels with all three collectible gifts (in red, blue and yellow) on my first try.
The same couldn’t be said after racing past the game’s first end credits.
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After defeating Donkey Kong, the game all but starts over but instead of World 1, you begin in World 1 Plus; and instead of rescuing a Mini Mario Toy, the goal is to guide one to collect items and unlock a door. These ‘plus’ levels radically change the formula and ramp up the difficulty to the point that by World 8 Plus, I was routinely facing ‘Game Over’ screens.
Thankfully, there’s no real punishment for losing all of your lives and you pick right up where you left off. Yes, the enemies are more dangerous, but a few of the puzzles stumped me so badly that I had to put the game down for a while and return with fresh eyes. Cracking the code to those puzzles (without the internet’s help) felt extremely rewarding.
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It’s a feeling that inspired me to collect every item in every level and unlock all of the 16 ‘expert’ stages which again ramp up the challenge.
Beyond that, there’s a Time Attack mode which unlocks after defeating Donkey Kong’s final form at the end of World 8 Plus; giving you a reason to replay every level in the game and clear it within a time limit.
I’ve earned the medal in a handful of levels but that’s where I stopped for a breather. I only mention this because a lot of commentary online has centred around the length of Mario vs. Donkey Kong; a remake which is being sold for $69 in Australia.
Compared to The Legend of Zelda series, Pikmin 4 or even mainline Super Mario games, Mario vs. Donkey Kong is undeniably short. It took me about eight hours to ‘complete’ every level and (if I return to complete every level in Time Attack mode) I could probably squeeze another eight hours out of it solo.
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There is a two-player mode as well which adds additional layers to clearing each level but the puzzles themselves are fundamentally the same.
In my book, that’s worth the price of admission because I really enjoyed the time I spent with Mario vs. Donkey Kong. Others looking for a bigger story and a bigger world to explore may not feel the same.
But after a stellar year packed full of games like Baldur’s Gate, Tears of the Kingdom, Starfield and more which each demanded 100+ hour playthroughs, curling up on the couch to solve a few quick puzzles or settling in to complete Mario vs. Donkey Kong’s tougher levels was a perfect pick-up and play solution for my week down at the beach.
As mentioned in my preview, Mario vs Donkey Kong may not be at the top of any hardcore gamer’s wishlist but its level of polish, clear objectives and bite sized levels makes it an ideal family title and will add to the industry’s impressive start to 2024.
Quest Daily scores Mario vs. Donkey Kong:
8/10
Nintendo provided Quest Daily with a copy of Mario vs. Donkey Kong for the purpose of this review.
