Mario vs. Donkey Kong Review: An Unnecessary Remake?
The nearly 20 year old Gameboy Advanced title gets a facelift
Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2024) modernizes the experience by adding enhanced visuals, new levels, and tighter controls.
It’s a well made remake but is it worth $50?
Announced during the September 14th Nintendo Direct, Mario vs. Donkey Kong would be making its grand return. Instead of a fresh new take on the series, they would instead be remaking the GBA original.
It looked fantastic and I was excited to see this series come back. I still have fond memories of Minis March Again! on DSiWare which led to me purchasing Mini-Land Mayhem! the following year. I have played Mario vs. Donkey Kong on the GBA before but I never got around to finishing it.
It’s the only game in the series that allows you to control Mario. Every game afterwards has you manipulate the minis which still made for some fun puzzle solving action.
Now with Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2024) under my belt, I can safely say it’s a well rounded remake that makes it more accessible to new players. Even if you’ve played the original before, Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2024) has two new worlds and other quality of life changes. Whether it’s worth $50 though, I would say yes and here’s why.
Quickly, the story of Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2024) is Donkey Kong wants a mini Mario toy. After selling out instantly, Donkey Kong decides to steal some from the factory. Because stealing is bad, Mario must retrieve the minis back from Donkey Kong or else we wouldn’t have a game.
The story is fine. Nothing to write home about but it serves its purpose. Mario games have never been about the story, so this is what I expected.
Gameplay wise, it’s the same Mario vs. Donkey Kong action from the original. Control Mario as you collect keys, climb ladders, and avoid obstacles to rescue the minis. Mario’s moveset is pretty robust. He can pick up objects, climb ropes, and perform a high jump. His movement is solid too where precise platforming is key or else you’ll consume a 1-up.
If you don’t like the time limit or need extra hit points, you can switch to Casual Mode where time is infinite and extra hit points are granted. Highly recommend this mode to younger or inexperienced players.
I kept it to Classic Mode with the time limit and one hit K.O.'s. I kept dying either because I was impatient or getting familiar with the level. If you happen to run out of time, you can always hit Retry in the pause menu to restart everything. You won’t lose a 1-up and you can keep moving forward.
Eight worlds in total with six levels per world, clocking in a total of 48 normal levels. This doesn’t include the Mini-Marios stage and the Boss Fight each world has as well.
The normal levels are fun puzzles that don’t get too difficult until much later on. I was trying to collect everything in each level which means finding every present. I would say the first five worlds are relatively easy to collect everything. From world six onward though, I noticed the difficulty spike and was struggling at certain points.
I was straight up clueless at times. I did look up how to complete two levels in World 8 because I didn’t know how to get through. Not my finest moment but I’d rather tell you I wasn’t perfect during my playthrough than act like I knew everything.
The Mini-Marios stage is all about you collecting letters to spell T-O-Y but also rescue a set of minis. Be careful of obstacles because the minis will die upon impact. These are great levels because they’re a different from the normal levels and bring another level of challenge to Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2024).
The Boss Fights usually pull a specific gimmick from the world to defeat Donkey Kong. It’s about what you expect from a traditional four hit boss fight. Fun boss fights all around with the later ones getting more difficult.
Once you complete the game, you unlock Plus World which are redesigned harder levels where you have to guide the mini Mario to the end. These levels can get tricky. I only completed the first level and I could tell they’ll get more difficult later on.
There are other gameplay differences from the original and further additions such as multiplayer and no longer taking fall damage. You can find all the differences on the Mario Wiki.
I had a great time completing Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2024). It’s about what I expected with puzzle solving platforming action to save the minis. The difficulty doesn’t ramp up until much later on, especially in Plus World. Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2024) might not be the most difficult puzzle game out there but it’s still a fun time and has plenty of content to sink your teeth into.
It took me about 6–7 hours to complete the main adventure 100%. I can imagine your playtime would double if you went into Plus World right after. If you’re a completionist, I would say Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2024) is worth $50.
Visually, it’s amazing. The cutscenes are pleasing to look at while the graphics are up to Nintendo Switch standards. The sprite work of the original still has its charm but the 3D models are top notch.
If you’re still on the fence about Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2024) at $50, then wait for a price drop. While other remakes have come out lately like The Last of Us Part I, Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a 20 year old game that deserves the remake treatment. And because this is Nintendo, they always go above and beyond to add some extra bells and whistles to make it worthwhile.
I find the addition of two more worlds, multiplayer, and a Casual Mode enough to justify its $50 price tag. I enjoyed previous Mario vs. Donkey Kong titles and I’m happy with my purchase here. Would I like it to be cheaper? Sure. But I feel like I got my $50 worth even though I didn’t play Plus World. There’s over 100 levels to tackle in Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2024) with the later half providing a real challenge. I enjoyed my time here and I hope Nintendo brings more Mario vs. Donkey Kong games in the future.
Travis “tvsonic” Vuong
Business e-mail: travisvuong56@gmail.com
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