The year is 2004, and you pop in the cartridge ofMario Vs. Donkey Konginto your shiny new Game Boy Advance (GBA). Moments later, you realize that you cannot make out anything on the non-backlit screen while your parents are long asleep, provided that you were not one of those lucky kids with the SP version.
Now that those beautiful days are behind us, and we all have our crispy clear Nintendo Switches, let’s take a look at the remake of the classic puzzle platformer. This classic tells the story of Mario pursuing Donkey Kong through a toy factory and other worlds in hopes to retrieve his stolen Mini-Mario toys - in classic kid-friendly Nintendo fashion.
11Graphics And Animation Updates
Let’s start with the glaringly obvious - this is a remake we’re talking about and not a shabby remaster. It includes upgraded visuals with fully 3D models, despite the game being a 2D platformer. The game now also boasts a new color scheme that feels more lively and vivid. In addition, while the original GBA version features more cartoony animations, theSwitch remake tones them downand for a more family friendly approach, also does away with more “realistic” death animations.
Animations and the nature of in-game items also differ very much from the original version. One of the prominent examples is that in the remake keys rotate when Mario passes by them and the garbage cans rattle. Mario also displays more life-like animations when climbing up a ladder or a rope - like dangling his feet and appearing anxious - as if he’s going to fall off any second.
10Two Brand-New Worlds Are Added
Mario’s Toy Factory, Fire Mountain, Mystic Forest, Donkey Kong Jungle, and the other worlds you loved in theoriginal GBA versionare all intact in the remake, so no worries there. Nevertheless, there are two brand-new worlds in the remake: Slippery Summit and Merry Mini-Land.
Slippery Summit lives up to its name as it requires you to clear an ice level that includes mechanics that make it very easy to lose your grip. If you can’t master both movement and balance, you’ll be sliding back to the start in no time – or even worse, getting hit by an icicle falling from above.
On the other hand, Merry Mini-Land feels more like a level out of another modern Mario iteration – which I can describe as a sweet spot between Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe and Super Mario Wonder – and adds relatively newer mechanics like Warp Blocks, which we are accustomed to thanks to the Mario Party series.
9Scoring System Removed - Time Attack Mode Is Here To Stay
The most fundamental change between the original GBA version and the Switch remake lies in the fact that the latter removes the scoring system - rendering time efficiency effectively pointless. To get a star now, you just need to get all three presents in an episode, and while trying to defeatDonkey Kong, you only have to keep every single one of your Mini-Marios intact. Still - as a consolation prize of sorts - when you beat the first eight worlds, Time Attack mode is unlocked.
Quitting or restarting a level no longer uses up a life - good call, Nintendo
Through Time Attack, competitive Mario players can test their skills against the clock. With no scoring system in the remake, this mode feels like a blast from the past - when the game felt more arcadey in nature. Nintendo’s controversial decision to remove the scoring system, which left many hardcore Mario fans frustrated, is arguably less controversial, mainly thanks to the very existence of this mode, which definitely provides a sense of competitiveness.
8Co-Op Mode Is Introduced But Is Local Only
Arguably the coolest addition to the original, the co-op mode allows for a fun time with a friend or family member to enjoy Mario together. Making life much easier for both of you while trying to clear a level, this mode will only make you do one extra thing to pass: snatching another key so that both Mario and Toad can progress.
Unfortunately, the game currently only supports local multiplayer – but it does a clever job at that. You don’t get a split-screen set-up - the camera simply zooms in and out to accommodate both Mario and Toad. As usual with other Mario games, you can either use a pair of joy-cons or use two separate controllers.
7Enemies We Know And Love Are Now Mechanical
As the toy factory is prominent to the game’s plot, the Switch version gives a clever spin to enemies by converting them from biological creatures into seemingly mechanical toys. The only boss in the game –Donkey Kong, as well as Piranha plant (Tane Pakkun), Firebird, Sir Shovalot, Shy Guy, RamRam, Ninji, Monchee, Fireball and other enemies we have come to know and, ironically, love are all here to be stomped on all over again.
The remake does a wonderful job of making our enemies feel more lively with the crisp animations and shiny new appearances for a more 2024-appropriate look which also makes the environment feel more fitting.
6Different Voices, Same Great Game
Even though he pased on duty as voice actor for Super Mario games to Kevin Afghani last year, Charles Martinet continues to represent Mario in the Switch version with his lines digitally cleared and adapted to the modern remake.
The same cannot be said for Donkey Kong though - as our favorite gorilla is now voiced by Takashi Nagasako, unlike the GBA original’s Grant Kirkhope. Toads were voiced by Jennifer Taylor until 2005, and since then they are voiced by Samantha Kelly, who also did a terrific job in the remake too.
5Catering To Every Gamer, Pro or Not
In classic Nintendo fashion that prioritizes welcoming players from every walk of life and skill level, novice players are now given the option to play the game more “casually.” There aretwo modes, which are “Classic” and “Casual.”
Presents are in the same places as the original version - so you’ll feel at home
The former feels more like the original GBA version while in the latter, Mario is no longer restricted by the timer and gets additional hit points. He can also bubble back to a checkpoint when hit. Mario veterans can still choose the Classic Mode for a harsher challenge – with the timer intact and without checkpoint flags.
4In The Remake, Losing Lives Is Harder (To A Degree)
The original GBA version, like many other games of the time, was fairly brutal in terms of difficulty and made it much easier to lose lives compared to the remake. This is especially true when it comes to fall damage.
In the original GBA version, Mario crashes into the ground from great heights and loses health, and sometimes even his life, but in the remake, Mario always lands softly, so we don’t have to worry about heights - at least most of the time.
The height needed for Mario to display a crashing animation has been tweaked to allow for far more tolerance in the Switch version.
3Movie-Like Cutscenes
Unlike the cutscenes in the GBA version, which were basically still images with audio slapped on them, the Switch version features fully animated albeit pre-rendered cutscenes that make the game feel a little bit more like an animated movie with interactivity.
Great voice acting paired with beautiful visuals in the cutscenes give the game a great polish and makes it feel like a true Nintendo exclusive – as if this is not a remake but a brand new title.
2A Different Kind Of Bonus Stage
In the original version’s relatively primitive bonus stage, you would get three boxes containing a 1-Up mushroom, a 3-Up mushroom and a 0-Up Donkey Kong head – so you would naturally attempt to prevent Donkey Kong from smashing the boxes containing the first two.
In the remake, when you collect all three presents in a level, you play a brand-new type of bonus stage in which you try to catch a flying key to unlock a chest that contains a total of five 1-Up mushrooms. Catch the key before the timer runs out, and you’re golden.
