Yahoo Finance Mario vs. Donkey Kong review: You want us to pay what now?
Score: 6.0/10
Platform: Switch (reviewed)
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: Feb. 13, 2024
ESRB: E
When is a pretty good game maybe not worth buying? When it’s a remake of a short, 20-year-old 2D puzzle game priced at $65.
There’s nothing wrong with a good remake. Done well, they tickle the nostalgia centres of older gamers while introducing beloved franchises to younger generations. Some, such as Final Fantasy VII Remake, are complete reimaginings of a familiar story with the original serving more as muse than blueprint. Others, like Dead Space, are shot-for-shot recreations that capture with surgical precision the original experience, just with vastly improved visuals.
Nintendo’s latest remake, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, falls neatly into the latter category.
A complete reconstruction of the 20-year-old original made for Game Boy Advance, which launched a new series of handheld platformer puzzle games pitting Mario against Donkey Kong, Mario vs. Donkey Kong for Switch makes good use of the console’s graphical capabilities. It’s a joyously colourful game that makes it feel more or less like we’re playing a cartoon. Our little plumber is bursting with visual pluck as he jogs across surfaces, does handstands and punches the sky to denote a job well done.
It’s also pretty much exactly what players experienced 20 years ago.
Most worlds are one-to-one remakes of those found in the original. Players move Mario around small 2D environments, avoiding enemies, stepping on buttons, hovering on wind streams and collecting presents en route to nabbing little balls containing wind-up mini Mario toys. After a handful of these two-minute levels we’re given another level in which Mario needs to lead the wind-ups like lemmings around a gauntlet, and then a final level where he confronts Nintendo’s famous ape in ways not dissimilar to how the two originally clashed way back in the early ’80s.
The execution is spot-on. Controls are tight and intuitive, and the feeling of gratification for pulling off cool platforming moves — like flipping Mario onto his hands and doing a double jump at just the right time to avoid a lava ball and reach a higher ledge — is palpable.
There’s a reason the series is currently seven games strong: It’s pretty fun. That said, it sort of feels like I’ve been there and done that. To be fair, Mario vs. Donkey Kong for Switch does include some subtle changes, such as the removal of a points system (now we just get colour-coded stars for level completion) and the addition of co-op and casual modes to make the experience a little friendlier for youngsters and n00bs.
And Nintendo’s gamesmiths have added a handful of never-before-seen levels so perfectly in keeping with the originals that most returning players will have a tough time distinguishing the old from the new.
But even accounting for the additional content, keen players will finish the bulk of the game in a weekend.
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I’m generally not a proponent of letting game length factor into a review score or recommendation — not all games need to be 150-hour epics — but in these times of heightened inflation paying $65 for a remake of a short puzzle game that originally cost just $35 and that many people have played before seems like a luxury, the gaming equivalent of buying a third car for a two-person family just because you want it.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a fun game skillfully made. But families on a budget (just about all of us these days) would be better served spending their gaming dollars on something a little more substantial.
