After the welcome reception of the Super Mario RPG remake just three months ago, Nintendo is back with another remake in the form of Mario vs. Donkey Kong. The original 2004 title on the Game Boy Advance was a charming puzzle platformer that pits the two titular stars and age-old rivals against each other once again. But how does the remake handle the jump from GBA to Switch? Based on initial reviews, Mario vs. Donkey Kong is as charming as ever and a fun time for any puzzle fans out there.
The remake of Mario vs. Donkey Kong gives the graphics an overhaul and sports a new, higher-quality recording of the game’s soundtrack. Mechanically it’s largely identical to the original game, but the remake adds two new worlds, a casual mode without time limits, and local co-op. It appears as if these additions are all welcome, as is the prospect of having easy access to this GBA game in a new form, but there’s also a feeling that this signals a sort of filler-era at the end of the Switch’s lifespan.
The game currently has a 77 on both Metacritic and Open Critic. Eurogamer’s Christian Donlan called it “a gentle reworking of an old Game Boy Advance charmer. It’s lovely stuff.” Digital Trends’ Giovanni Colantonio liked the game but noted, “It’s less of an exciting new Switch game and more like something light to hold Nintendo fans over while they wait for a shiny new console.”
Here’s what other reviewers are saying about the Nintendo Switch’s latest remake:
Coming in the wake of Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s psychedelic splendour, Mario vs. Donkey Kong’s update of the 2004 Game Boy Advance version is a markedly more modest Mario adventure in scope, but I still enjoyed puzzling my way through its trap-riddled rooms while they lasted – particularly those found in its playful pair of brand new worlds that have interesting new takes on the decades-old mechanics.
[Mario vs. Donkey Kong is] a bit of harmless padding that will please a certain subset of nostalgic fans, while making sure February doesn’t go by without a new first-party game. Switch owners can safely ignore it if they want, but they’re going to have some time to kill as the wait for the next big Nintendo console continues. You could do a lot worse than a light and breezy puzzle package that’ll eat up 20 hours of downtime.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a treat that’s meant to be savored. The more difficult the level, the more satisfying it is to finally prevail, and the more memorable the experience. Nintendo graciously gave Inverse a full month to review this game, and it was a good call. I could feel myself improving at Mario vs. Donkey Kong each day that I consistently played, and this culminates in thrilling, sweat-inducing boss levels against the big gorilla. The game’s finest moments are when you get to witness the level designers’ genius. How flicking one switch can shift enemies onto different platforms, or trap a little guy behind a block so that regular-sized Mario can safely navigate to grab a present.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a simple game, but as is the case with Mario’s best titles, there’s an elegance to that simplicity. Nintendo has done a stellar job adding features to make it more palatable to a modern audience, but it only comes together because of how well the classic levels hold up. Mario and Donkey Kong have been rivals for over 40 years, and this game admirably carries that legacy forward.
In this remake of a 2004 Gameboy Advance title, you’ll steer Mario through levels that are tactical puzzles as much as they are action challenges. Presented with new cutscenes nearly as polished as The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the game is exquisitely animated and precisely engineered. But it can be just as frustrating as fun — and it seesaws between both extremes most when you’re playing its new cooperative mode.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong feels very retro in certain respects. It’s designed to be played in short bursts, which can feel anachronistic on a modern handheld hybrid that’s perfectly suited for long play sessions. But it’s also a throwback in the best ways, recapturing the clever aha moments of puzzle-platforming that made its predecessors so memorable, all while packing distinct visual improvements and quality-of-life tweaks that bring out its charm like never before.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong was directly inspired by Donkey Kong ’94 and features many of its mechanics, including the lock-and-key system and the Super Mario Bros. 2-style treatment of enemies. It’s a very solid puzzler, but it’s just not as inspired in its design as the older game. Until Nintendo decides to give its actual puzzle-platforming masterpiece an equally considered remake, though — or at least deigns to add it to the Game Boy collection on Switch Online — Mario vs. Donkey Kong will have to do.
The Switch is safely into its Vegas residency era now. So safely, in fact, that with the greatest hits out of the way it’s offering up some deep cuts and B-sides. I am all for this…Get to the end of [Mario vs. Donkey Kong’s] short campaign and you realise it isn’t short at all, with time attacks and plus levels and expert levels unrolling before you. It’s a lovely package, and another pleasant stop on the Switch’s protracted farewell. The more I played, the more I found myself collecting fragments of memories of the GBA original which I thought I had lost. Familiarity, then, and forgotten pleasures: isn’t that what a Vegas residency should be all about?
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