It is hard to believe it’s been twenty years since the original release of two of my favorite childhood games. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door gets a remake/master later this year, but to start 2024 off with a bang, at least in the Nintendo side of things, we get an entirely unexpected remake of the GBA game Mario Vs. Donkey Kong. This one came as a real surprise to myself, because even though there have been six-ish (some games are hard to tell if they count) titles in the series, not a lot of them are widely lauded, or even remembered. It almost feels like I was one of the very few enjoying the series back in the day. Regardless, announcing a remake was exciting, but how well would it hold up after all these years?

Mario Vs. Donkey Kong is a full-on remake, and after going back and checking some of the levels from the original GBA title, it’s almost shocking how spot on it is in this regard. From the opening cutscenes, which this time is a full 3D animated cutscene with the same voice lines, to the levels being note for note the same. Well, within reason, because the original game only had six worlds (and six “extra” worlds), whereas the remake actually ups to tally to eight worlds, eight extra worlds, and a further sixteen expert levels.

The 1UP levels are very obvious.

There is also a reason to go back to every level, adding a time attack mode after clearing the initial 8 worlds and beating the final “main game” DK fight. The post-level “open the present” mini game has also been taken out and replaced with bonus levels. Both offered up additional 1UPs, but obviously playing an extra level is fun. You get to chase around a key that unlocked a chest with 5 lives in it, with a few additional lives around the level available to collect, in case you don’t manage to get the key in time.

In typical Switch fashion, there is an option to make this remake significantly easier. The remake adds a casual mode, which gives you a bubble to be able to take damage instead of dying immediately. There is also an added two-player mode, letting the second player play as Toad, who can go through 1 square spaces that Mario can’t. Lastly, hammers used to dispose of some enemies, like the oil drums, respawn. If you don’t quite manage to deal with them, you don’t need to restart the level or try to run past them. It’s nice to have access to casual mode for newer players – it’s much too easy to accidentally run into an enemy or mistime a jump, but it’s even better that it’s not forced and you can play with the original 1-hit mode. Something Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl should have taken into consideration with its EXP share.

Push button to change block colours, then push button to change directions, then get present and push buttons to actually solve the puzzle!

There is a ton of game to explore here. Movement feels fluid and nowhere near as clunky as the GBA original did. Enemies look brilliant, and bringing back updated versions of the original music really hits the nostalgia button. The main levels have two sections, with three presents to find and collect for full completion.

Levels are generally really quick, making Mario Vs. Donkey Kong a really great game to be able to pick up and play for even fifteen minutes at a time. Each world has six main levels with varying puzzles, like hitting buttons to change which coloured blocks are solid, buttons to change which direction platforms are moving, or finding ways to use enemies to cross spikey floors. There is also a Mini Mario level, where you need to guide 6 Mini Marios through a level to a toy box. These levels don’t have presents to collect, but instead cards that spell out “T-O-Y”. They very rarely require going out of the way or putting any of the Minis at risk.

The final level in a world is a boss fight against Donkey Kong, which requires you to take no damage to get a perfect and receive your gold star. So in total in every world you need to collect eighteen presents, make sure all six of your Minis survive the Mini Mario stage, and then beat DK without getting hurt. Easy. Or you could not do any of that and just play through the game however you want, as the critical path doesn’t force you to do everything in any level, which makes it a little more enticing to the general public.

Toys, toys, toys, in the attic!

Now, onto the Plus worlds, which is actually by far my favourite part. The Plus worlds are comprised of just one section, and can go a lot quicker than the original worlds, but there’s a catch.Every level still have three presents to collect, but you also need to lead a Mini Mario through the level. I find these to be a lot of fun, as the Mini Marios don’t jump as high, don’t move as quick, and altogether make it so you need to think about some parts of every level just a little differently so keep them alive. The Plus worlds don’t have a Mini Mario level though, so it’s just the six levels and then a DK fight.

Follow the buttons DK pressed to make a Shy Guy grabable.

Last up are the expert levels, where the perfect/gold stars come into play. To unlock these gauntlets, you need to get every present, every Mini, and/or best DK without taking damage on at least 128 levels to unlock the final Expert level. Considering there are 120 main game levels, and 15 (not including the last level you need to unlock) Expert levels, that only leaves 7 levels that you can skip the full requirement in in the entire game. Talk about replayability! The expert levels are also just one segment, but destiny to eat your lives away. These are genuinely difficult levels that will test how patient you can be with Mario Vs. Donkey Kong, but feel so satisfying after everything to be able to complete.

DK lost all his toys, good thing there are no small beings right behind him…

At no point would I have ever expected a Mario Vs. Donkey Kong remake. I gave up hope on the series after it died with the Wii U Amiibo game. This was one of the most welcome surprises to what’s seemingly the last year of the Switch. If you’re too young to have played the original on GBA, or just want a fun puzzle game to play, I honestly could not recommend this more. It’s faithful to the original and has a ton of quality of life improvements that make it so much more fun to play. Really glad they went this route instead of just slapping the original on Nintendo Switch Online (if you want to do that though, especially the sequel, I wouldn’t complain). 

Mario Vs. Donkey Kong is available now on Switch.

Reviewed on Switch.

A copy of Mario Vs. Donkey Kong was provided by the publisher.