MARIO vs DONKEY KONG - Mini-Land Mayhem

Mario has opened his new Mini-Land fun fair.  There is a free Pauline doll for each of the first 100 visitors.  Donkey Kong arrives to claim his, but he's number 101! 

So, naturally he kidnaps the real Pauline!  With the villain almost always snatching the damsel in distress (usually Princess Peach) to kick-start the Super Mario action, why break tradition?  But here it isn't Mario venturing after Donkey Kong escaping into his Mini-Land, but rather a troop of mini wind-up Marios (activated by you once you've co-ordinated your plan of action). 
Kong has set obstacle courses with traps and you need to build girders & ramps, and activate springs to navigate the non-stop minis along the various platforms in order to collect coins and special items, avoiding the dangers, and get to the exit door within seconds of one another.  Sounds much easier than it is (!).  Especially since you cannot create unlimited platform extensions or jump spots - only a few can be activated at one time, so you'll need to deactivate in one spot to create another, leaving deadly pits open and unblocked areas where one of the multiple mini-Marios can mess up your sync to reach the exit in succession. 

With around 200 varied levels across many themed chapters, boss end-levels get more challenging each time, but it leads to the unlocking of new material like abilities in the Construction Zone where you can create your levels which can also be shared with fellow DS gamers via Wi-Fi.

3 / A
- Paul Blom