Mario vs. Donkey Kong Could Inspire A Platformer Trend

Summary

Mario vs. Donkey Kong's faithful remaster brings new life to a classic with fresh visuals and content.
The game's platforming approach is reminiscent of traditional Mario, offering a unique puzzle experience.
While enjoyable, there's potential for future titles to enhance and expand on the foundation set by this remake.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong revives the 2004 GBA classic with a lovely coat of paint. Its faithful recreation of the original's gameplay presents a mix of puzzles and platforming that could inspire a whole line of titles to follow in Mario vs. Donkey Kong's footsteps.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong presents a faithful remastering, polishing up an old hit with fantastic visuals, a redone OST, and a dash of new content. It all goes a long way toward giving a GBA title the bells and whistles necessary to stand on shelves alongside other mid-range Nintendo titles. In addition, its unique approach to platforming is close enough to Mario's traditional formula that it makes for a great treat, considering how soon it follows the 2D shake-up that was Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong Could Inspire More Puzzle-Platformers Of Its Ilk

One benefit to bringing back Mario vs. Donkey Kong is in how the title's unique approach to platforming has been put back into the limelight. While far more restrained than a classic Mario platformer, especially a more modern one with their wall-bouncing and midair spin jump techniques, a new player might be surprised by just how much the game leans into its 'platforming' aspect. With an interesting base that has plenty of room to be improved upon, it would be great to see more games take inspiration from it.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong Uses All The Best Traits Of 2D Mario

The best part of Mario vs. Donkey Kong is how it incorporates platforming. The title uses traits found in the best of Mario's 2D games to amplify its puzzle aspects to new peaks. This includes recurring mechanics (such as ropes, thwomps, bird enemies, enemies that serve as platforms, etc.) Which let the player learn their functions before incorporating them into courses with more moving parts. The way they're taught is also a staple of classic Mario, with careful terrain design that signposts how something works.

Certain hazards, for instance, will be placed at points where the player has to take some time traveling to them. This allows the player to see how a trap works before they run headfirst into it.

Another way platforming is nicely utilized is in how a skilled player can skip some puzzles altogether. Mario's variety of high jumps is very satisfying to execute, especially in later levels that add more moving platforms. Their best aspect, however, is in how a player adept with these jumps can circumvent puzzles entirely with clever parkour, which in turn rewards lateral thinking. A puzzle-platformer doesn't necessarily have to be designed with multiple solutions in mind, but it would be nice to see more of them that don't negate any way to use platforming to find alternate routes.

There's Still Room For Other Games To Improve On Mario vs. Donkey Kong

More could be done to make a title that feels like a true platformer, whilst still keeping Mario vs. Donkey Kong's minimalist use of traditional 2D Mario features. For one, Mario's regular jump feels somewhat restrained in horizontal movement. It can often cause players to miscalculate jumps, especially if they're used to the typical 2D control scheme. Despite this, many terrain aspects require more accuracy than the jump is willing to give, which can lead to frustration.

In addition, due to Mario vs. Donkey Kong's younger target demographic, the puzzles aren't as complex as they could be. This isn't really a negative, but for a game inspired by Mario to join the best puzzle platformers, it would do well to add some real brain teasers into the mix. With more complicated puzzles and some platforming tune-ups, Mario vs. Donkey Kong's formula could make a puzzle platformer for the ages.

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Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2024)

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Released: February 16, 2024

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The rivalry reignites! Donkey Kong has stolen all the Mini-Mario toys from the factory, and it’s up to Mario to get them back! Run, jump, and backflip your way to retrieving them across over 130 levels in this puzzle-style twist on classic platforming action. The rivalry that originally heated up on the Game Boy™ Advance system returns on the Nintendo Switch™ system with newly added co-op play, brand-new worlds, updated music and visuals, and other new ways to play.

Put your brain to work and figure out the best way to reach the Mini-Mario toys in puzzle-platforming challenges across eight distinct worlds. Watch for enemies, dodge hazards, and use the tools scattered around. See if you can earn a Perfect rating on each level!

ESRB: E For Everyone
Developer(s): Nintendo
Publisher(s): Nintendo
Franchise: Mario vs. Donkey Kong
Platform(s): Switch
Genre(s): Platformer, Puzzle