Review: Mario vs. Donkey Kong

destructoid.com:

I’ll admit, the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series is one that’s passed me by. While I enjoy 2D platformers a fair bit, and certainly love my Nintendo handhelds of yore, these puzzle-focused adventures were never really on my radar. A remake feels like a natural time to hop on and see what I’ve missed.

And to say it up front, it’s a good remake. In watching comparison videos between the old, oddly 3D-ish version on the Game Boy Advance and this new version for the Nintendo Switch, the difference is impressive. I can tell that Mario vs. Donkey Kong might have felt ahead of the curve in some ways, back then. Its puzzle-box approach to platforming certainly feels novel, as does its surprising demand for precision, timing, and understanding of how to navigate various hazards while routing a path between interlocking switches and mechanics.

These same novelties can provide a fair bit of frustration, however. And while it wasn’t ever enough for me to walk away completely, it did leave me feeling like Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a good remake whose faithfulness could elicit frustrations for a newcomer like me.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong (Switch [reviewed])
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: February 16, 2024
MSRP: $49.99

The base set-up of Mario vs. Donkey Kong is simple. Mario is selling some hot new wind-up toys made in his likeness, and Donkey Kong wants some. He decides the most rational course of action is to break into the Mario Toy Company to relieve the factory of some product. Mario, now apparently a loss prevention officer, sets out after DK to recover the stolen merchandise.

In practice, this means venturing through world after world, solving the different kinds of puzzle-platforming problems laid out for him along the way. I was never clear on whether Donkey Kong was implementing all these hazards for Mario, or if this was just a hazardous tour through the Mushroom Kingdom.

Either way, Mario needs to recover the Mini-Marios on each regular stage, optionally