POSTED 4/2/11


MARIO VS DONKEY KONG: MINI-LAND MAYHEM!

Nintendo
DS

We can’t believe it’s taken us this long to realise it. Mario can be, well, a bit of a prick.

The story goes that DK’s the aggressor and Mr Super-Tradie the saviour, but this isn’t always true. Here ’tis, the opening of Mario’s ‘Mini-Land’ amusement park, complete with free mini-Pauline dolls for the first 100 customers. Pauline? Yep, Mario’s two-timing Peach with his original pre-princess squeeze. Still, maybe she’s not as high maintenance...

Anyway, DK rocks up like an excited littl... erm, big kid, hearts wa-ooga-ing in eyes ’cos he’s scoring a doll that he will name George and hug and pet and squeeze in a maelstrom of gender confusion. But he’s the 101st customer. Now, considering their adversarial history, you’d think Mario would find a spare doll and avert a kerfuffle, yeah? Nope, he taunts DK and the big guy does what comes naturally – he goes ape, kidnapping real Pauline. You asked for it, Mario!

Welcome to the latest war between Nintendo’s two superstars – yep, if ever there was a time to say it, this is it: it’s on like Donkey Kong! If you’re not familiar with this series, it’s essentially Lemmings sans green hair and blue slankets. You manipulate landscape bits like moveable platforms, conveyor belts and sproingy things to get clockwork Marios (and others) that you’ve no direct control over safely out the door.

Eight levels each contain eight sub-levels, a bonus mini-game and a barrel-dodging showdown with DK reminiscent of that first ’80s arcade encounter. Puzzles start easy, but become challenging quickly. If you don’t like them, you can create your own and even share them.
 
Nintendo rarely do wrong by plumber boy, and solid puzzler MvDKMM! is no exception. But watch Mario; he’s not as pure-hearted as he’d like you to think...

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