Mario vs. Donkey Kong

 Game Boy Advance
User Score
8.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 51 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 38 out of 51
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 51
  3. Negative: 1 out of 51
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  1. Zilcell
    Nov 9, 2011
    6
    The puzzles are not very addicting but they amuse for a little while. The game has a lack of content which makes it feel empty. The other games in the series are better.
  2. dinosauryoshi
    Aug 29, 2014
    7
    Was expecting to love it but ultimately struggled to get into it.

    This is not a bad game by any means and it shares some of the great fun of the original Donkey Kong on the Game Boy, I just didn’t like many of the ideas that were added. The levels where you had to get all the minis to the end were cool but I felt the ones where you actually collected the minis weren’t particularly    Was expecting to love it but ultimately struggled to get into it.

    This is not a bad game by any means and it shares some of the great fun of the original Donkey Kong on the Game Boy, I just didn’t like many of the ideas that were added. The levels where you had to get all the minis to the end were cool but I felt the ones where you actually collected the minis weren’t particularly exciting and never very challenging. The puzzle element was often removed and replaced with platforming. I loved the original for its puzzles and having to look at the whole map to figure out how to get the key to the door. The levels where this was still the goal in this game were generally good fun although I felt that the puzzles weren’t as inventive as in the original and the worlds certainly not as individual. This is strange as you’d have thought with the additional firepower of the GBA they could have made the worlds a little more distinctive but ultimately the levels and soundtrack are nowhere near as memorable and most worlds just feel like more of the same.

    I came away feeling slightly disappointed, though it must be re-iterated that this is in no way a bad game, the visuals look good, it controls pretty well, and the level design is good. However it’s missing that Nintendo magic that takes things to the next level and makes a game a really memorable experience. Things just feel a little stale.

    I’m interested to play the ‘March of The Minis Series’ to see how that competes with this effort.    … Expand
  3. RodrigoMan636
    Feb 26, 2016
    7
    Este Juego es uno de los que mas recuerdo en la GBA, un juego que sin duda no es 100% bueno ya por ser lento, pero tiene buenos puzzles que te pueden dejar un buen tiempo jugando.
  4. BM30
    Jul 6, 2020
    7
    Not good but not bad. Really is just a mario puzzle game and is a mixed bag for me.

Awards & Rankings

6
#6 Best Game Boy Advance Game of 2004
21
#21 Most Discussed Game Boy Advance Game of 2004
3
#3 Most Shared Game Boy Advance Game of 2004

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 43 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 43
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 43
  3. Negative: 0 out of 43
  1. G4 TV
    80
    Oh-so-close to being the perfect handheld game. Its rich, entertaining gameplay can be enjoyed in nuggets, and simply put, it’s beautifully designed.
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  2. Frictionless Insight
    80
    It's not necessarily innovative, but it is fun and particularly suited to people who have only short burst of time to play on the GBA.
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  3. Yahoo!
    70
    Visually, this is a good example of what the GBA can do, with clean lines and solid character animation. There's a bit of slowdown on crowded screens, but the controls are tight and generally the game moves smoothly.
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