mario vs. donkey kong: mini-land mayhem!

The crisp, cartoonish visuals are also as colorful and charming as ever. Aside from being adorable, the minis of Mario and his other comrades you'll encounter in later stages are loaded with personality as they march along their merry way. Rather than chase after the two in person, Mario sends out a small army of his wind-up-toy minis to tackle the situation for him. With only 100 toys to give out and Donkey Kong showing up as guest number 101, the hulking brute has an all-out fit and steals the real Pauline before running off deep into the park. The rivalry between Mario and Donkey Kong heats up again when the big ape misses his chance to nab a free mini-Pauline (Mario's main squeeze before Princess Peach) toy at the grand opening of Mario's new outdoor theme park, Mini-Land. The bare-bones story setup in Mini-Land Mayhem is so close to the past few games that it's essentially the same plot with only a minor variation or two. Mini-Land Mayhem plays a lot like its predecessors. A few minor changes woven into the puzzle mechanics and solid online extras are certainly additions that boost the core fun to be found here, and it's just enough to entice players who've puzzled though previous rounds of mini-Mario babysitting to have another go. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem, sticks to the formula its predecessors laid out pretty closely.

The fourth game in the spin-off series, Mario vs. Since it transitioned from the Game Boy Advance to the DS in 2006, the strategic puzzle-oriented gameplay revolving around safely guiding mini versions of Mario and his buds through obstacle-course levels hasn't changed much from one entry to the next. Donkey Kong franchise provided an interesting break from the status quo for Mario and pals. Aside from giving the mustachioed Italian plumber a shot at getting some payback and settling an old score with his original flaming-barrel-chucking ape nemesis, the Mario vs. Mario may have bigger adversaries to tussle with these days, but sometimes, age-old conflicts can't be put to rest quite so easily.

Mario vs. donkey kong: mini-land mayhem!