Platform: Nintendo DS

Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

Release Date (NA): November 14th, 2010

Genre: Puzzle, Puzzle-Platformer

Nerd Rating: 9 out of 10

Reviewed by Nerdberry

Mario vs. Donkey Kong, a tale as old as time itself. Well… A tale as old as 1981 when Donkey Kong first began his foray into foiling Mario (before later joining up from time to time). When looking back, it’s a strange time to say the least. I own Donkey Kong Jr. on the Atari 7800! I always find it weird to see Nintendo games on anything other than a Nintendo system. But this was a time when Nintendo was purely in the arcade scene and not yet dominating the at-home gaming scence. The OG Donkey Kong game featured Mario, then known as Jumpman, traversing a construction zone in an effort to rescue the damsel-in-distress Pauline. While the OG Donkey Kong game is an excellent early action-platformer, the Mario vs. Donkey Kong games are much more in-line with the puzzle genre than anything else, and our titular game is no exception.

Image credit: Mario Wiki

THE SERIES

The Mario vs. Donkey Kong series kicked off properly in 2004 on the Game Boy Advance with the aptly titled: Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2004). This was followed by Mario vs. Donkey Kong: March of the Minis (2006, Nintendo DS), Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! (2009, Nintendo DSi), and just 1 year later, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem (2010, Nintendo DS). We’ll get into our subject game soon, but seeing as there’s a new Switch game out, I figured I’d keep going down the list. After Mini-Land Mayhem, we got Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move (2013, Nintendo 3DS), Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Star (2015, Nintendo Wii U), and Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini Mario and Friends: Amiibo Challenge (2016, Wii U and 3DS). In February 2024, the Switch received a remake of the original 2004 game with improved graphics and some gameplay additions including 2-player couch co-op.

MINI-LAND MAYHEM OVERVIEW

Image credit: Nintendo World Report

Admittedly, I have never played any of the Mario vs. Donkey Kong puzzle games. None. I hit a certain age when the original 2004 game came out where I was more focused on drinking beer with my buddies and playing more adult-oriented games. Looking back, I see that I missed a whole world of awesome titles on the GBA, DS, and 3DS. I never owned, and still don’t own, a GBA or DS, but I do have a 3DS finally (as of 2019), and I’m in love with this little handheld. It’s an amazing system. In a 3DS bulk-buy, I found Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem in a gallon ziplock bag full of DS carts. It wasn’t until 2024 that I actually got around to giving it a shot… and WOW! This game is pure fun! Get Bret Michaels from Poison out here because this ain’t nothin’ but a good time. And I mean it sincerely.

Since I’ve yet to play any of the other games, let’s talk about Mini-Land Mayhem as if it’s the only game. Maybe one day I’ll be able to rank all the Mario vs. Donkey Kong games… but not today.

Booting up the game, I was overjoyed by the art and music quality, something you fully expect with a first-party Nintendo game. But seeing as I own very few portable game systems since the days of the Game Boy Pocket, I found myself a bit giddy and in awe. Through an opening scene, we can see that princess Pauline is kidnapped by none other than Donkey Kong. Barreling through a herd of Toads to get his free Pauline toy, DK snatches up Pauline when Mario tells him they’re out of the free Pauline toys. Mario jumps on his little train and makes chase, unleashing his slow walking mini-Mario robots on DK. Overall, I’m not sure I get why Mario is sending his little robots, but who cares, it’s fun!

Image credit: Mario Wiki

Rescuing Pauline is the focus of the game, but traversing the treacherous land with these mini-Marios is what you’ll be doing. Using your stylus (or finger if you must), you can lay out conveyor belts, move pipes, construct scaffolding, lay bouncy things, and much much more. You tap a mini-Mario to activate him, and he goes in one-direction and doesn’t stop moving. If there’s a pit with spikes, he’ll walk right in. If there’s a Shy Guy, he’ll walk right into him and die. Etc. So you must divert the Marios properly by laying out a proper path to the end. You’ll go through a series of maybe 10-ish levels (or stages) per world and then fight Donkey Kong.

Image credit: Mario Wiki

There’s plenty to do in each level to keep it engaging and add depth. You can collect coins, work on finishing the levels speedily, get special tokens, and more. Each new world introduces a new elemenet: movable conveyor belts, moving pipes, etc. Me, personally, I’m good for about 1 world at a time and then I’m usually pretty satisfied and done. The game’s not exactly perfect as some monotony begins to set in. Despite the addition of a new gameplay mechanic with each new world (i.e. adding a purple conveyor belt in world 3), it still feels the same: world-in and world-out. I’m definitely NOT knocking them for this, just stating my personal preference in how I play the game.

CONCLUSION

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem is puzzle-perfection in your pocket. The puzzle element of the game is very “casual game” style for me, bringing me back to my PSP Sudoku days when I’d just pick up the PSP, play Go! Sudoku for a round or too, and then power the system off for a few days to a few weeks until I’d want to play it again. While I think Mini-Land Mayhem is damn near perfect, and a great game for everyone, casual games looking for a “pick up and play” style of game will find absolute bliss in this neat puzzle game. I couldn’t recommend it enough!

Nerd Rating: 9 out of 10

Reviewed by Nerdberry