Mario vs. Donkey Kong

Mario vs. Donkey Kong
North American box art
Developer(s)	Nintendo Software Technology
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Director(s)	Yukimi Shimura
Producer(s)	Shigeki Yamashiro Shigeru Miyamoto
Designer(s)	Wing S. Cho
Composer(s)	Lawrence Schwedler
Platform(s)	Game Boy Advance, 3DS Virtual Console
Release date(s)	NA May 24, 2004 JP June 1, 2004 EU November 19, 2004
Genre(s)	Platforming, puzzle
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	ACB: G ESRB: E PEGI: 3+

Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a Game Boy Advance spiritual sequel to the first Donkey Kong game for Game Boy. The game concept revolves around a combination of platform and puzzle elements, challenging Mario to find keys, reach a locked door, and rescue mini-Marios. This game revives Mario and Donkey Kong's old rivalry. The game's sequel, Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, is on the Nintendo DS. This is the seventh Mario game for the Game Boy Advance.

The game is an evolution of Donkey Kong Plus, a title on display at E3 2002. During the show, Plus had a feature that allowed players to design and save their own levels on the GameCube, then copy them across to the Game Boy Advance using a link cable. It was essentially an updated version of Donkey Kong '94, but the game had disappeared by the following year. It was replaced with the pre-rendered graphics and gameplay additions of Mario vs. Donkey Kong. The Create-a-Level feature was removed from this version (but appears in its sequel.)

The game is one of the few Mario games developed in the US. In international releases of the game, a special effect is added to the timer when Mario goes through and comes out the door.

It is a little known fact that this game has a hidden e-Reader support.^[1] Nintendo of Japan had a competition where 1,000 people won cards. However, there is space for twelve levels, and there were only five cards released. They are considered to be among the rarest of e-Cards.^{[citation needed]}

Gameplay

Donkey Kong, sitting in his banana-filled home, sees a television commercial for Mini-Mario toys. The ape is instantly smitten with them, but when he goes out to get one, he finds all the stores are out. So he raids the toy factory and steals several dozens of them, forcing Mario to give chase. The game plays similarly to the Game Boy Donkey Kong game, giving Mario the ability to perform handstands and backflips. There are several different environments, ranging from a lava environment to the classic construction site, and there are five different types; in the first, and most common, Mario has to pick up a key and take it to the locked door. At the second part of the level, Mario had to pick up a Toy Mario at the end of the level. The second type is where Mario must guide the Mini Mario toys to the Toy Box, and protecting them from dangerous environments. The third type is the boss level, where Mario must fight Donkey Kong in order to proceed to the next world. The fourth type is the Master Boss, where Mario must throw barrels at Donkey Kong. The Plus game, which is a repeat of the Main game, is unlocked. In this mode, the story continues from the main game, where Donkey Kong obtains a new batch of Mini-Marios, but with their containers broken because Donkey Kong fell from the roof, into the truck. In each plus level, Mario must activate a Mini-Mario in the level, which is holding a key, and take it to the door. The fifth type of level is the Expert levels. In this mode, Mario must get the key and lead it to the door in a very hard level. Getting through the door beats the level in Plus and Expert modes, rather than sending Mario to a 2nd part.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	80% (53 reviews)[2]
Metacritic	81 of 100 (43 reviews)[3]
Review scores
Publication	Score
1UP.com	A-[4]
GameSpot	8.0 of 10[5]
IGN	8.5 of 10[6]

The game was generally well-received by critics. GameSpot said it does a good job "both on its own and as a tribute to Mario's legacy".^[5] IGN praised the gameplay, calling it an evolution of the classic original style of Donkey Kong with "new levels and challenges that fit the handheld platform wonderfully."^[6] Complaints center around a lack of content, the untraditional art style and Mario's voice being heard too much throughout the game.

Limited re-release

On July 28, 2011, Nintendo announced that Mario vs. Donkey Kong, as well as nine other Game Boy Advance games, will be available to limited Nintendo 3DS owners, via Virtual Console, to whom will participate in an upcoming Ambassador program after Nintendo officially issues a price-cut to the Nintendo 3DS starting August 11, 2011. This offer is available in all territories, and only to those who became eligible in the Ambassador program (by accessing the Nintendo eShop before the date of the price-cut). Nintendo currently has no plans to release this game, or any other Game Boy Advance game, to the general public in paid form.^[7]

References

1. ^ http://homepage.ntlworld.com/importaku/importakus%20collection/card-e/mariovsdk/index.html
2. ^ "Mario vs. Donkey Kong Avg. Ratio". Gamerankings.com. http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages4/914981.asp. Retrieved 2008-12-31. 
3. ^ vs Donkey Kong "Mario vs. Donkey Kong (gba) reviews at Metacritic.com". http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/gba/mariovsdonkeykong?q=Mario vs Donkey Kong. Retrieved 2010-07-23. 
4. ^ "Mario vs. Donkey Kong Review from 1UP.com". 1UP.com. 05/27/2004. http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3127731&p=19&sec=REVIEWS. Retrieved 2010-07-22. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Jeff Gerstmann (2004-05-24). "Mario vs. Donkey Kong review". Gamespot.com. http://www.gamespot.com/gba/action/marioanddonkeykong/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;read-review. Retrieved 2008-12-31. 
6. ^ ^{a b} "Mario vs. Donkey Kong - Gameboy Advance Review at IGN". IGN. May 24 2004. http://uk.gameboy.ign.com/articles/518/518351p1.html. Retrieved 2010-07-23. 
7. ^ http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2011/07/faq_nintendo_ambassador_program_and_free_eshop_games

External links

• Mario vs. Donkey Kong at MobyGames
• Mini Mario Toy Papercraft at IRP Papercraft