Positives:
- Puzzle-platformer gameplay is fun and unique.
- Nicely translates the old style of "Mario vs. Donkey Kong" to a new platform.
- For the most part, the controls are pretty tight.
- God, this visual style is so adorable.
- Music is plenty charming.
- It's nice to see them add some nice quality-of-life improvements for newer players.
- A good amount of extra content to keep you coming back for more.
Negatives:
- Boss fights are a tad uninspired.
- Guiding Mini-Marios feels really finicky.
- In some pockets, the controls can be a touch awkward (largely with jumping).
Consensus: It was starting to look like "Mario vs. Donkey Kong" was never going to come back, but hey, never doubt Nintendo, right? As my first jump into the series, this is a very fun title on a smaller scale and a nice remake of a somewhat forgotten Game Boy Advance title. It might not exactly be one of the Switch's crowning moments, but did it need to be? With the Switch 2 presumably on the way soon, we're entering into the era of lighter "holdover" titles while we wait for whatever Nintendo's cooking up next. As far as that's concerned, this is a very fun game and a title well worth recommending. I'm happy Nintendo was able to take the "Mario vs. Donkey Kong" series back to its roots, and they managed to do a nice job with this. Hopefully, it's only a new beginning for this sub-series.
Final rating: 8 out of 10 "Great"