Mario vs Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem

The Donkey Kong and Mario rivalry has been responsible for some of the most enjoyable hand-held puzzle games over the past few years, and Mario vs Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem is no exception. This fantastic little puzzle game for the Nintendo DS is fun, colourful, and fans of both franchises will be delighted with the final result.

The plot is very simple, Donkey Kong has made off with Mario's girlfriend (Pauline) again, and Mario will require the help of Mini-Mario toys to get her back. This is just a simple set-up for what is an awesome puzzle game. You won't care too much about a story when playing a puzzle game but it's nice that they have added something for fans.

Much like the plot, gameplay is extremely simple and straightforward, get the Mini-Mario's from point A to point B (B being the exit area). You never get to control the toys directly, you use you're stylus to set them in motion and provide a safe passage way through any obstacles in their way. If you have ever played the classic game "Lemmings" then this will feel reminiscent of that, just simplified. The game starts off fairly easy giving players only one job, place and replace the red girders we all know from the original Donkey Kong. With each new world, comes new tools for you to exploit, such as warp pipes, conveyor belts, and ladders. The trick here is to use what you have at you're disposal intelligently. You are only given a limited supply so you must choose the correct time to use one of you're valuable tools, otherwise you might find one of you're little Mario's in a pit of spikes.

The most disappointing aspect of the game is that none of the puzzles really felt challenging. At times i would get stuck but it was more of a timing issue rather than being puzzled. This didn't effect my experience too much due to the fact that the puzzles still feel satisfying to work out and the Mini-Mario's just look adorable, in fact the whole game looks adorable. While guiding you're little Mario toys to the exit is rather simple, collecting everything else such as the coins, M-tokens, and Mario cards is a much different scenario. For any one out there who enjoy's collecting everything a game has to offer, there is plenty to keep you coming back for more, including extra levels outside of the campaign that can be unlocked.

Mini-Mayhem is far from perfect, there is no speed-up option so in the early levels especially, it can become frustrating to watch you're Mini-Mario's take their time even after you have completed the puzzle.

There are eight brightly coloured and themed worlds from Haunted Houses to Jungle areas and Desert Sands. This variety helps make a simple repetitive puzzle game feel fresh and new with each world the player experiences. Each of the eight stages culminate in a boss fight with none other than Donkey Kong himself. These battles are similar to the classic game, you will manoeuvre the Mini- Mario's towards the top of the screen (Where the ape holds Pauline captive) using the various girders available. The boss encounters are enjoyable because the break up the fairly repetitive normal action and add a new challenge to the puzzles.

The game does a great job of showing appreciation to Nintendo's long history, the game is full of nostalgia, remixed melodies from both Donkey Kong and Super Mario games fill you're ears with delight which is fantastic from a fans point of view. Enemies, characters, and obstacles have been plucked from fan favourites like Super Mario Bros 2 and Super Mario World. For any hardcore Nintendo, Mario, or Donkey Kong fans out there, this is likely the only puzzle game which will capture you're time, money, and heart.

For anyone who is creative there is also a Creation Zone to visit, you can create you're own puzzles and upload them for other users to play online. Player's have access to everything Nintendo did when making this game, so expect to see some puzzles made by other users which are just as impressive as the ones already in the game, and possibly better. The online community can also vote and share creations together which is really enjoyable and adds extra hours to the title making it feel like a full package that's worth you're money.

Overall i really enjoyed this little puzzle game, it did everything i expected it to and more. The game looks vibrant and colourful, there is a lack of truly challenging puzzles but with an option to create you're own and play others online, i can't complain. It would have been nice to see a bit more variety and depth to the gameplay, otherwise it was a fantastic little game worth picking up.

Mario vs Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem is great fun and worth picking up 7.5/10