The Best In Its Series!
A mix between an action and puzzle game, Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis starts off with the opening of the new Super Mini Mario World theme park. Just as Mario is about to cut the ribbon with his special guest of honor, Pauline, Donkey Kong sees the gorgeous lady and kidnaps her. Mario is now on an adventure to rescue Pauline from Donkey Kong, but instead of controlling Mario himself, you'll be taking control of his Mini-Mario toys using the stylus and the touch screen to control them. With over 80 different stages in eight different worlds to get through and a few boss battles with Donkey Kong, Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 can be one addictive game.
Each stage begins with a number of deactivated Mini-Mario's that eventually need to get to the goal to move on to the next stage. Each stage is designed differently with a series of traps, pitfalls, enemies, jump pads, movable walls, etc. to stop the Mini Mario's from getting to the goal. To activate the Mini Mario's you just touch them with the stylus and they will begin moving. To make a Mini Mario jump, just slide your stylus up and to turn them around just slide the stylus the opposite way they are facing. Almost everything in the game is controlled with the stylus. Once you activate a Mini Mario, they will just move in the same direction, which is why players must guide them to the goal avoiding any traps or enemies. To stop a Mini from moving, just touch them with the stylus. If a Mini Mario runs into another Mini Mario they will collide and turn around going in the other direction. With so many Minis in a stage, it could get a little overwhelming to control all of them so make sure you know where and what each Mini Mario is doing at all times. Guiding the Mini Mario's throughout all the stage's various obstacles is very addictive and fun. At the end of each world there will be a boss battle with Donkey Kong in which you have to hit him with Minis using a cannon. The number of Minis you have to use depends on how many Minis you got to the goal in that world. If you're hit with something DK throws at you, you'll lose one Mini. The boss battles are pretty fun and help change up the pace of the game.
The first few stages in the game are fairly easy and help players get use to the controls and design of the game. Most of the stages shouldn't take more than a minute or two to complete, unless you decide to collect the various items throughout the stages. One of the best additions of Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 is the full-feature level creator. Once you've completed all the stages in the game, you can head over to the Construction Zone and design your own stage with all sorts of traps and enemies. Just pick one of the templates to use and let your level designing begin. The best thing about creating your own level is that you can share them online through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connect support. Upload your created level to be shared with players around the globe and you can also download stages other players created. The level creator and the ability to share created levels is one the coolest features in the game.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis is probably one of the most overlooked games on the Nintendo DS. It's arguably one of the best games to use the stylus and touch screen so well. The mix of action and puzzle elements makes this game one of the more interesting and addictive DS titles around. With its addictive gameplay, more then 80 different stages to play, a full-featured level designer and Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection support this game has tons of replay value and is a great game for any Nintendo DS owner.