"Minis...MARCH!"
One of the staples of the Mario franchise is spin-off games, from quality RPGs like Mario & Luigi, to...not-so-quality games like Super Mario World Pinball. Now comes another spin-off: Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis. Though it is a sequel to the GameBoy Advance original, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, it plays quite differently. While March of the Minis is not a traditional Mario platformer, the game does a decent job of capturing the spirit of a Mario game, and provides a fun (albeit short) game play experience.
The game begins with a poor excuse for a plot, which isn't even alluded to throughout the rest of the game. Thanks to the huge success of Mario's newest products, the Minis, a new Mini Mario Theme Park is opening. The guest of honor is none other than Pauline, Mario's first romantic interest. Donkey Kong, jealous of Mario, kidnaps Pauline and takes her to the top floor of the building; from there, it's up to Mario, with the help of his Minis, to rescue Pauline and save the day! While it seems as if there's actually some potential in the plot, it's thrown to waste, sadly. Aside from the cutscene that you view at the beginning of the game, there's no plot whatsoever throughout the game. The plot begins strong and seems promising, but it's never developed to it's full possibility. Unfortunately, this takes away some potential goodness from the overall gaming experience.
The crux of March of the Minis is the game play, and the interesting way that the game is controlled. You use the stylus for the entire game; all of your commands to your Minis are executed through strokes and taps of the stylus. For example, to make a Mini go a certain way, you simply slide the stylus in that direction; to make a mini jump, just tap it. Control is intuitive and makes sense, and they definitely contribute to the ease of the game. Game play, also, is interesting in March of the Minis. The game is divided up into floors; on each floor, there are 8 levels. Each level is, in essence, a puzzle. The object is always to guide each Mini (ranging from 2 to 5 in each level) to the exit gate of the puzzle. It seems simple, and it often is. However, there are a number of enemies and obstacles that will get in your Minis' way; the Minis are fragile, and will be easily broken if they encounter any sort of danger. Unfortunately, the obstacles are too easy to be of much note. Instead of being a difficult, bran-wracking puzzle game, it rather becomes a tedious, monotonous game. You do not have to think hard about how to avoid most obstacles, so the game becomes more about executing the same couple of tasks over and over again, in an effort to make sure all your Minis make it safely. The sad truth is, the puzzles are just too easy to be of any worth.
Another aspect of game play that makes March of the Minis far too easy is the requirements for beating a level. It is not to get all of your Minis to the gate; instead, you only have to get one through to successfully complete the level. This means that even on a puzzle that offers a shred of difficulty, you still do not have to be very good; if you get lucky (which happens way too often) and get one Mini through the gate, then the level will be cleared.
Yet another problem with March of the Minis is its length. The game ends all too soon, and the ending seems sudden. It is quite possible to breeze through this game in a few hours. In addition to the fact that the game is so easy, the levels themselves are also very short. You never have more than 200 seconds to complete a level, and often they can be completed in 50 seconds. Also, you will rarely have to replay any levels; they're easy enough that anyone competent should be able to beat them on the first try.
However, that's not to say that March of the Minis is not a good game, because there are certainly some strong points about it that help pull it out of the mire it's descended into. One great thing about the game is, ironically, the game play. While it is very easy and can quickly become boring, it can also be very addictive. If you've ever experienced “One More Turn Syndrome” (caused usually by games like Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, and Final Fantasy Tactics), then you'll appreciate what this game has to offer. Once you get in the groove of solving puzzles, it's pretty difficult to stop, and you may forget it's simplicity thanks to the shocking addictiveness of the game. Also serving to make the game addictive is the very fact that levels seem so short. Because the puzzles can be beaten quickly and relatively easily, it doesn't seem like much to try just one more puzzle. Trust me: if you give this game a chance, you'll find yourself constantly saying to yourself, “Just one more level–after all, it'll only take a minute.” It's surprisingly nice that despite this game's occasional monotony, it can certainly provide for some fun, sleepless nights.
By far the greatest part of March of the Minis' game play is the special features that each of the levels possess. All of the levels have a theme, and obstacles and enemies that you encounter in that floor will relate directly to the theme of the floor. For example, in the Haunted House floor, you will encounter Shy Guys and invisible walls; in the Jungle floor, you will encounter forest-themed decor. While some of the floor's themes are a bit mundane, others are pretty creative and provide a ton of fun. For example, in the Magnet Mania floor, there are a myriad of magnetized walls through the puzzles, which your Minis can walk upon. The magnets provide more intricate game play, makes
puzzles slightly more challenging, and, as a result, make the floor overall more fun.
The game also offers decent replay value, thanks to some unlockables and the ranking system. On every puzzle, you will get a score based on a variety of elements: how quickly it was completed, number of Minis successfully delivered to the goal, etc. Based on your score, you will receive a bronze, silver, or gold star. It's a pretty rewarding feeling to get a gold star on a level, and there's something unique about the ranking system in March of the Minis. In most games, ranks serve no particular purpose; rather, they're there for the perfectionist players, who want to be perfect on every level. However, in March of the Minis, collecting high ranks actually serves a purpose; once you beat the game, you may unlock an additional floor of puzzles (that means 8 more) if you have a certain number of silver medals. There are also other less mundane unclockables available in March of the Minis.
The graphics also come as a bit of a shock. In many puzzle games for the DS, such as Tetris, Meteos, and Magnetica, graphics are obviously low on the list of priorities. However, because March of the Minis is not a straight-up puzzler, there is the potential for decent, if not great, graphics. Luckily, the developers have capitalized completely on that potential. The game's graphics are bright, colorful, and beautiful looking. While it's true that the game is only in 2D, the game's cheery graphics, which perfectly complement the feel of the game, prove what graphic potential DS games can have.
The boss battles, surprisingly, contrast the majority of the game and provide a genuinely fun gaming experience. In each boss battle, Donkey Kong appears on the upper screen. You must shoot your Minis from a cannon and hit Donkey Kong a certain number of times to defeat him. The number of Minis you have as ammo depends on the number of Minis that you lead to success on the floor. So, if you did poorly on most of the puzzles on a level, it will be difficult to defeat Donkey Kong. The boss battles do grow slightly repetitive, thanks to the fact that you're fighting the same boss in a similar fashion over and over again. However, the monotony is slightly alleviated by the slight originality that each battle possesses. Each time you fight DK, there will be an extra element of the fight; for example, DK may jump from platform to platform, or unleash fireballs at you. These elements prevent the boss battles from falling into mediocrity, and instead cause them to be a pretty enjoyable part of the game.
The true saving grace of March of the Minis is the level creator. It's well done, very fun, and provides numerous extra hours of game play time. You are given a huge, blank grid, and you may fill it in with whatever you so desire: platforms, obstacles, and enemies. Interestingly, the level editor may actually cause you to want to play more of the story mode. This is because for every map you use, you are allowed to use one theme; the themes all come from floors that you have cleared. For example, if you've cleared the Pipe Plaza floor, then in the level editor, you will have access to all the enemies and obstacles that you would find on that floor. It's a lot of fun to create levels and play them through. Since you can make your levels as difficult or as easy as you want, the level editor helps to offset the pathetic difficulty in the rest of the game.
Multiplayer mode is based entirely on the level editor, and is surprisingly enjoyable. Once you have created a puzzle and proved that it can be beaten (by beating it yourself), you may trade it to another player that has a copy of the game. You can trade over local wireless; however, it's even better to trade over WiFi. If you have someone's Friend Code, you may exchange maps that you have created; you can have a total of eight maps saved at one time, so you don't have to beat a map as soon as you receive it. Multiplayer is fun and simple to use, and will provide even more hours of game play time.
March of the Minis is an interesting game; unlike many games that seem awesome at first and slowly get worse, March of the Minis is not at all good at first; you need to let it grow on you. While it's not a difficult game, you can set the pace for the difficulty yourself with the level editor and through WiFi trading. Game play is fun and addicting, although it can become a bit monotonous, and the graphics are fantastic. If you're just looking for a game that will pass the time, then Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis is the game for you.
Overall rating: 7/10
