Game Review: Mario vs Donkey Kong Mini-Land Mayhem (DS)

Mario just keeps on trucking with more titles under his toolbelt. One of my favorite franchises goes back to his roots of jumping and climbing after Donkey Kong. In the Mario vs Donkey Kong series on Nintendo handhelds, Mario (and his assistants) scamper up scaffolding and other obstacles to reach his nemesis. What I like best about the series is its puzzle-like aspect. Players are rewarded more for careful thought rather than their trigger finger. In recent years, the series has gone in for a bit of Lemmings flavor by using little toy Marios (and other toy Nintendo icons) to achieve the goals and pursue Donkey Kong to save the day. The latest incarnation, Mario vs Donkey Kong Mini-Land Mayhem continues a long trend of excellent action/puzzle gaming and serves both as a nice continuation of the series for fans, as well as a great introduction to the series for newcomers.

The goal of every level is to get the robotic toy Mini-Marios to the exit. This is down with the DS stylus by editing various obstacles. Walls, floors, and ramps can all be added or subtracted while the Mini-Marios march onward. However, only a specific number of each object is available so players much quickly move around the limited resources to guide those pesky toys safely to the end. As one progresses through the game, new obstacles/tools appear such as warp pipes, bounces, and even new types of windup toys.

The puzzle aspects of each level aren’t all that difficult but I found them a pleasant diversion. To break up any possibly monotony, after each set of eight levels a little boss fight occurs where players must guide the troops up to the top of the screen to “fight” Donkey Kong himself (until he takes off with the woman again…) There are eight different worlds to explore so while an experienced gamer will be able to finish the game somewhat quickly, there is more to accomplish than simply finishing the story. Each stage has a number of hard-to-reach items such as coins, tokens, and cards so completist style players will definitely get their money’s worth.

The best long-term use of the game may be its construction set. Gamers can create their own levels, post them online, vote for the best ones, and download extra ones, keeping the game going that much longer. It is a great feature, especially in puzzle-oriented titles such as this one.

All in all there is nothing particularly ground-breaking in this edition of Mario vs Donkey Kong, but there doesn’t need to be. The original formula is as good as it ever was and deserves a look by fans of the series as well as anyone who has missed out on its fun gameplay.

Kid Factor: Not much to worry about here, there is a bit of cartoon violence but it is basically all occurring to little windup toys and even that is fairly tame. The puzzle aspect is nice and would probably require kids to be able to plan ahead but some of the easiest levels would be doable by anyone able to hold their own with a DS stylus.

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