Mario vs. Donkey Kong

Did You Know?

• Mario vs. Donkey Kong was one of ten Game Boy Advance games available to Nintendo 3DS Ambassador program users who purchased systems before the August 11, 2011 price cut.
• The game was added to Nintendo Classics on March 10, 2026.
• It sold 1.37 million copies worldwide.

Gameplay

Players control Mario as he pursues Donkey Kong through a toy factory to retrieve stolen Mini-Mario toys. The game is a puzzle-platformer similar to the Game Boy Donkey Kong, giving Mario a handstand, sideways somersault, and triple jump to navigate stages. There are five level types. The most common requires Mario to pick up a key, take it to a locked door, then find and pick up a Mini-Mario toy. The second type has Mario guide six Mini-Mario toys to a Toy Box while protecting them from hazards. The third type is a boss level where Mario fights Donkey Kong. The fourth type, Plus Levels, require Mario to activate a Mini-Mario holding a key and bring it to the door; these are more difficult than main levels. Expert levels, unlocked after beating main worlds and collecting enough stars, require getting the key to the door and are the hardest in the game. In Plus and Expert modes, reaching the door completes the level without a second part.

Plot

Mario owns Mario's Toy Company, which sells wind-up Mini-Mario toys. After seeing a television advertisement, Donkey Kong wants the toys but finds them sold out. He breaks into Mario's toy factory and steals all the Mini-Marios, prompting Mario to chase him. Mario rescues the Mini-Marios and battles Donkey Kong several times before retrieving all toys. Donkey Kong then kidnaps Mario's Toad workers and imprisons them on a tower. Mario climbs the tower, rescues the Toads, and fights Donkey Kong again, causing Donkey Kong to fall onto a truck of new Mini-Marios, which he steals. Mario pursues him again, reclaiming all but six Mini-Marios, which Donkey Kong guards with a large robot mech. Mario destroys the mech and gets the remaining toys.

Development

The game evolved from Donkey Kong Plus, shown at E3 2002, which allowed players to design and save levels on the GameCube and copy them to the Game Boy Advance via link cable. Donkey Kong Plus was an updated version of Donkey Kong '94 but disappeared by the following year, replaced by Mario vs. Donkey Kong with pre-rendered graphics and gameplay additions. The Create-a-Level feature was removed but appears in the sequel; a level editor remains in the programming and can be enabled through modification. The game has hidden e-Reader support. A competition in Japan distributed cards to 1,000 winners; five level cards came from CoroCoro Comic, and another from the 20th World Hobby Fair. The game can save up to 12 extra levels.

Remake

A remake of Mario vs. Donkey Kong was released on Nintendo Switch on February 16, 2024, developed by Nintendo Software Technology and published by Nintendo. It features enhanced graphics and local co-op multiplayer with Toad as the second player. Two play styles are available: Casual removes the time limit, adds checkpoints, and lets Mario take five hits before losing a life; Classic is akin to the original. Two new worlds were added: Merry Mini-Land (amusement park) and Slippery Summit (icy mountain), each with Plus counterparts, totaling 30 new levels and pushing the total beyond 130. After finishing the game, Time Attack mode becomes available. This was the first Mario game to reuse Charles Martinet's voice as Mario after he stepped away from the role in August 2023. The remake received generally favorable reviews, though lower than the original. Critics noted the game is often too easy, with challenge in Expert levels, while others found it demanding for a 2D Mario platformer. Controls were praised as natural and intuitive. Some lamented the exclusion of e-Reader levels and criticized Time Attack as an attempt to add replay value. The remake topped UK physical charts and sold 1.12 million copies by March 2024.