Mario vs. Donkey Kong

The Good
This game essentially is a continuation of the original Donkey Kong series which manifested itself on the original gameboy in 1994 as Donkey Kong '94. It does well at blending the puzzle and side-scroller genre.

The first thing the player will notice is the pre-rendered graphics which are a nod to Donkey Kong Country's similar style. All-in-all, the graphics work well. The colors are pleasing to the eye and the animations are well done.

The puzzles are relatively challenging in this game and a few levels kept me scratching my head for quite some time. The player is led to believe that there are a mere six worlds in the game, but after defeating Donkey Kong in the last, you are sent to the + world where the difficulty is greatly increased.

The Bad
Leading around the rescued mini-Mario toys can be frustrating! This isn't a bad thing in regards to difficulty, but sometimes you will find yourself really tearing your hair out!

The sound effects aren't bad, but the music isn't quite up to par with Koji Kondo's work.

The Bottom Line
With all the infamous ports of older Mario titles available on the Gameboy Advance, it's nice to see some original material of this caliber. Do yourself a favor and play this game - it may be a sleeper hit, but it will not disappoint you!