"And this time... it's personal"

In an unusual turn of events, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again released on DSiWare a mere week after it was announced at E3. Wanting to take advantage of the DSi’s ability to store small games on its internal flash memory, I gladly picked it up, finally using the last of the free “Nintendo fun bucks” I was awarded with my system purchase.

If you played the original “March of the Minis”, the sequel will feel very familiar. The game has the same “Lemmings” style of gameplay that was present in the first.

With each level, you will have one goal: Get all the mini Marios to the exit in one piece while trying to collect as many items along the way as possible. If any of the minis die, it’s game over for you! To get the minis to their destination, you will have to manipulate the environment around them in order to guide them along the right paths. This can get tricky due to the fact that all the minis must pass through the exit within the same small time frame. Once one mini passes through, a clock will appear. If the rest of the minis aren’t close behind, the door will close and you’ll have to start all over.

Each level has a variety of objects and enemies for you to manipulate and avoid respectively. The one object that is present in every single level is pink blocks. Every level has a maximum number of pink blocks that you can create at one time. You can only create them where there are grids of pink outlines. Using these blocks, you can create bridges, stairs, or even walls to make minis turn around or keep enemies at bay.

There are plenty of other objects throughout the game and the farther you progress, the more frequent and complex the objects and their uses will become. Each level will rate you based on how long you took to complete the level and how many items you were able to collect along the way. Often collecting all the items in the more complex levels requires a completely different strategy than just getting the minis to the exit.

At the end of each world, you will fight Donkey Kong. These battles consist of aiming a cannon around and firing minis either at DK directly, or at other targets that will then fall on and damage him. At the same time, you will have to make sure that no harmful objects smash into your cannon while also taking care not to fire a mini into a the danger zone as well. This is a lot easier than it sounds. In fact, the only boss battle I had to retry more than once was the very last one.

The main game consists of 64 standard levels, 8 boss battles, and 8 special stages that are unlocked by collecting all the items in the regular stages. What really extends this game’s value, though, is the level editor. With each world you complete in the main game, you will unlock more tools for the level editor. You can then share you levels online with both friends and complete strangers alike. Even if you aren’t the creative type, this is a great addition because of the opportunity to hop online and take advantage of everyone else’s creativity.

If that wasn’t enough levels for you, there is even a section online for new Nintendo created levels. The first week of the game’s release, there were four extra levels for download in the official Nintendo section. The second week, there were four new ones on top of that. All these additional levels are free of charge. How long Nintendo will continue to release new official levels is anyone’s guess.

This game is very well suited for the DSiWare platform. It’s easy to jump into and attempting to solve a level usually doesn’t take very long (regardless of whether you fail or succeed). It’s a great game to have on the go without taking up your cartridge slot. On top of that, for only eight “Nintendo fun bucks” you get a hefty amount of pre-made levels, an endless supply of user created levels, and the tools to build your own. I feel the game was well worth the small price I paid for it and if this is any indication of the type of support DSiWare will have, I think the platform has a bright future.

Tags: DSi, DSiWare, Lemmings, Mario vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again, Nintendo

This entry was posted on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 at 5:00 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.