“Let’s-a-go, little guys”: we take you back twenty years, telling you what you need to know about Mario vs Donkey Kong in view of the remake
Of course, if you want to hear us talk about the solo remake we dedicated a preview to the demo, but here we will tell you what to know regarding the first Mario vs Donkey Kong. Specifically, hoping to streamline the review that (barring unforeseen events) you will read in a week or two, the undersigned will fill you in with all the details on the original game, properly stripped down that fateful Christmas twenty years ago. The year was running 2004when the brilliant Donkey Kong ’94 for Game Boy blew out its tenth candle and, for the occasion, the American branch Nintendo Software Technlogy used its gameplay to create the first, and only, mustache platformer for Game Boy Advance that wasn’t a port…
amiibo before its time: a mockery of consumerism | What to know about Mario vs Donkey Kong
As in the remake, if you have played even one of the sequels to the first Mario vs Donkey Kong you should already know what it does narrative pretext. During a lazy zapping session, the gorilla ignores an advert for bananas in favor of one for Minimario. This wind-up replica of the hero, quoting the same advertisement, “He walks, he talks, he says ‘Mamma mia’!”, and DK is mesmerized by the echo of “buy them all”. With that pounding “Buy them all!” in the lead, the ape takes off towards the nearest toy shop, anticipating the scalping of the amiibo before Nintendo even had the idea to create them. It’s a shame that they’re all sold out… but, as you know, their factory is right next door…
Less “super”, but it’s still him | What to know about Mario vs Donkey Kong
Don’t rush into the game expecting a perfectly normal Super Mario. Remember what we said about the gameplay of Donkey Kong ’94? Mario is simply a normal man, with more limited jumping abilities than his original name of Jumpman. Similarly, the levels do not have a goal to reach by continuing to the right; on the contrary, it is their ancient name, what our parents called “cadres”. The internships are divided into two phases: one for open the door after having recovered the appropriate key, and the other for catch the sphere containing the Mini Mario on the fly. In the remake, the “nudge” to the timer for the first life in the second phase of the level remained, but not its need for the golden star for completion.
The world of toys | What to know about Mario vs Donkey Kong
I levels dedicated specifically to Mini Marios they are, demos aside, closely linked with the final battle at the end of the world. In the special stage we will in fact have to guide a trail of Mini Mario around the level, further expanding the enigmatic component of this cinematic puzzle-platformer. Mario has no problem moving around the level; if anything, it is the little ones, and their very limited jumps, that are the problem. If a Mini Mario is defeated by an enemy it’s not a drama (aside from the clash with DK, but we’ll get to that), but losing them all costs a life exactly as if it were the mustache who fell in battle. Which, by the way, always remains fragile as a sheet of papier-mâché.
“It’s on like…” | What to know about Mario vs Donkey Kong
Finishing a Mini Mario stage immediately kicks off the battle with Donkey Kong. Here too, the ways to hit him vary based on the gimmick on which each god is based six worlds (eight in the remake), but in general the offensive means at our disposal remain on the field for a limited period of time. Similarly to the timer above, also in this case accessing the battle after completing a Mini Mario level allows us to use the latter as life points, giving us six to DK’s four in the best-case scenario. Entering from the level selection screen, however, will force both contenders to compete on equal terms. We don’t know, at the time of writing, whether the remake will simplify this too.
“Here we go, again… again!” | Cosa sapere di Mario vs Donkey Kong
Cover your ears with your loudest “la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la” if you haven’t played the original. How “final” do you expect the decisive battle with Donkey Kong to be? Because as the promotional material released so far for the remake suggests, both versions feature many “More Levels” which to all intents and purposes doubles the count of stages present in the game. These are unique levels, in the sense that they are not divided into two phases, and in which you lead the Mini Marios equipped with a key to the door ensuring that none of the obstacles shatter them. A puzzle-platformer with escort mission? You can bet your ass on it. And if you really want stages in which you are only concerned with reaching a goal, the game satisfies you with i Expert Levels…but that doesn’t mean you will be treated with kid gloves!
Personality in spades | What to know about Mario vs Donkey Kong
Let it never be said that the game lacks its own identity. Originally, the presentation of the game sees it as Mario’s only tango (in terms of platforming, of course) with the technique of pre-rendered sprites, thus emphasizing the intention of putting the mustache on the same ground crossed by Donkey Kong successfully in the Country trilogy years before . However, Nintendo Software Technology’s ambition went further in other aspects too: for example, giving Charles Martinet much more work than usual. “Come back here, you big monkey!” and others decidedly articulated sentences compared to the two or three ritual screams, In short. Not to mention the subversive character, visible in some animations when we lose a life (which the remake seems to supplant in favor of something more generic and less “grim”)…
Surfin’ USA | What to know about Mario vs Donkey Kong
We mentioned that the timer, tyrannical as it was in the original, influenced the score needed to obtain the coveted Star for completing the level. However, the effort to obtain the three internship gift packages was rewarded even in the event of a “black star”. The bonus minigame it was casual: it could have been a simple “stop the arrow” to get the contents of one of the boxes, or the fearsome “exchange packages” in which to avoid Donkey Kong’s hands crushing the gift containing the most precious prize with an exchange at the right time. The green mushroom yields one life, the blue one three and the monkey’s face… you can guess. We report it only because the bonuses in the remake have been “promoted” to full-fledged platforming stages.
“Ladies and gentlemen… the Bulgarians!”
In Mario vs Donkey Kong, both in the original and in the remake, the mustache looks like an ordinary person: what would you say, however, if you were to find out that in reality it is not entirely like that? In addition to taking full advantage of the possibility of lifting the enemies below from the second adventure on consoles, mechanics from 3D platformers also find their place here. There backward somersault and (after walking on his hands) the triple jump, so to speak. Naturally, then, it’s up to the level design to avoid giving us too much freedom. We will then find out how everything will be managed during the review phase. For now, the appointment is for day one: we’ll see you again in exactly one week, Friday 16 February.
Now it’s up to you to tell us your opinion: is there something you didn’t know about the original? Let us know below, and as always don’t forget to stay on techgameworld.com for all the most important news for gamers and beyond. For your purely gaming needs, you can instead find the best discounts in digital format on Instant Gaming.