Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis

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Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis is a puzzle game and sequel to Mario vs. Donkey Kong. The game is for the Nintendo DS. It was released on September 25, 2006.

Storyline

Template:Spoiler Mario's Toy Company returns and is mentioned at the beginning of the game. The Mini-Mario toys have been so successful, that the company has expanded to sell Mini-Peach, Mini-Toad and Mini-Donkey Kong toys as well. Mario plans to open a Super Mini-Mario World Theme Park.

On the opening day, Mario, and his guest of honor, Pauline, cut the ribbon and officially open the park, among many Toads and Donkey Kong. Donkey Kong immediately falls for Pauline [again].

Donkey Kong offers a Mini-DK to Pauline, at the same time as Mario offers her a Mini-Mario toy. She chooses the Mini-Mario. DK is heart-broken, and becomes enraged. He causes the nearby display of Mini-Mario toys to fall, grabs Pauline and takes her to the roof via an elevator, before Mario can stop him.

Mario doesn't know what to do until two Mini-Marios show up – it's time for the Minis to save the day and the opening! Template:Endspoiler

Gameplay

Mario plays absolutely no role in this game; he is only seen in the beginning of each floor, and before each boss fight and in the final boss fight and following cut-scene. Instead, the task is to control the Mini-Mario toys through eight diverse floors of nine levels each to reach Pauline. At the end of each floor is a boss battle with DK. There are 240 Minis in all – generally, there are more minis in a level as the difficulty increases (going as high as 8 in one level).

Controls

In each level, the player attempts to move all of the Minis on the map to a portal-like doorway that has a red M on top – this is the Goal. Moving the Minis around uses the stylus and touch screen entirely. Touching a Mini activates it. Swiping a Mini left or right moves it in that direction or switches directions. Swiping the same way across multiple Minis changes the direction of all the Minis. Swiping up makes a Mini jump. Swiping down on a Warp Pipe makes the Mini go down into it, as is jumping and swiping up makes a Mini go up a pipe. Touching a Mini again stops it.

Minis automatically change directions when hitting a wall or another Mini. Also, a Mini gives a warning "whoah!" noise when it is about to fall into spikes or another danger that will break it, including large heights.

File:Motmscreenshot1.jpg
The two sets of colored blocks shown here protect the minis from the Piranha Plants spewing fire. Additionally, a Gold Mini-Mario bonus is set up, and they are close enough for a perfect chain.

What makes the game challenging is the requirement of having to move environmental pieces of the level around to reach the Goal – similar to Lemmings. For example, colored blocks (most commonly pink) can be realized if you have a certain number of blocks in your inventory – for example, players can take three blocks from one part of the level and use them somewhere else, perhaps where the Minis need to cross first. Other such examples are elevators with an up and down pad and conveyor belts with a left and right pad.

The player has 300 seconds to move as many of the Minis as possible when the timer starts. The timer does not start until a Mini is activated or colored blocks are removed – the player can look around the level using the D-pad (or buttons for left-handers) and plan what to do before beginning.

Scoring and Stars

Scoring is specific and precise for each level. Small and big coins are spread throughout the levels (50 and 500 points, respectively). Each second left on the clock is another 10 points. There are many bonuses that come into effect:

  • Each Mini coming in safely is 1000 points.
  • If all Minis come in safely, the bonus is 5000 points.
  • Getting Minis into the Goal very close to each other is called a chain. Starting at 1000, that bonus is doubled for each additional Mini in the chain (for example, 2 Minis in a row is 1000 + 2000 = 3000 points, 4 minis in a row is 1000 + 2000 + 4000 + 8000 = 15000 points. It increases exponentially.) A blue sparkle surrounds the Goal to signify the chain is still going, and it lasts for about three seconds after the last Mini in the chain.
    • If all Minis come in safely in a perfect chain (all Minis coming in within seconds of each other), there is another bonus of 5000 points.
    • If a Gold Mini-Mario is at the back of a perfect chain, the last bonus is doubled again (3 Minis = 1000 + 2000 + 8000 = 11000 point bonus)
  • Finally, there is the Non-Stop bonus. It is achieved by having a Mini "never stop" from when it is activated to the goal. Stopping at an elevator, on an enemy doesn't count against the player. It is 1000 points per Mini, but having all of the Minis non-stop provides a big extra boost.

By filling in all of the criteria above, the player can earn a gold star for the level. Below it is the silver star and the bronze star. It is possible to get no star, especially if you lose more than one Mini. Stars are used to unlock extras at the end of the game.

The following is a chart of the bonuses for the number of Minis that appear in the normal game, Gold Mini or not, and the minimum scores for the stars:

# of Minis Gold? G/S/B Minimum Scores All Non-Stop Bonus
2 No 22200/11450/9450 7000
3 No 27200/12700/10700 8000
↑ Yes 31200/13700/10700 ↑
4 No 36200/14200/12200 9000
↑ Yes 44200/16200/13200 ↑
5 No 43200/1820/13200 10000
6a Yes 107200/20450/14450 11000
8b Yes 395200/45200/17200 13000

aOnly in Level 3-3
bOnly in Level 8-3
In the Level Editor (see just below) it is possible to have only one Mini – it's an all or nothing deal (Mini in = 1000 + all in + perfect chain + all non-stop (6000) = 17000 points OR Mini out = failed level, 0 points). The G/S/B is 18200/13200/7200, but unless you have under 120 seconds left and there are few coins, you're almost forced to get a gold or no star.

Modes

  • Main Game – described above. There are three save files.
  • Construction Zone – A Level Editor feature is also present in this game, where players can create their own levels! Friends can also utilize a Wi-Fi connection to share levels online.
    • Play Level – Levels created by the player or received from others, that have passed a play test (all Minis can reach the goal), can be played here.
    • Edit Level – Players can create or edit a preexisting level here, from one of 11 kits. See how kits are unlocked is described below.
      • Erase Level – Players can delete levels at will.
    • Nintendo WFC – Here's where it gets interesting for players.
      • Synchronize – Players must connect to the WFC to get their own levels ready to send to others.
      • Receive – As long as each player know each other's friend codes and have them installed under their friends list, levels can be received from either at will. Nintendo also has been publishing a level every so often.
      • Nintendo WFC Config – Players can get WFC setting ready here, like in any Wi-Fi game.
      • WFC Friends – Up to 60 friends can be stored here, registered with a friend code. The player's friend code is on the top screen.
    • Multi-Card – Two friends, each with a copy of the game and close to each, can send and receive files locally.
    • Broadcast – Same as sending. The other player must choose "Receive" for this to work.
    • Receive – The other player must choose "Broadcast" and choose a level for this to work.
  • Options – Indeed, part of every game. However, March of the Minis has some interesting features and bonuses here.
    • Audio – adjusts settings from Stereo, Surround, or Headphones. What's the highlight of this section, though, is that you can hear every sound effect and music track in the game, as you unlock them in the Main Game! There are 144 sound effects and 77 music tracks in all.
    • Showroom
      • Movies – players can watch the four real-time movies again and again here. Only one &nash; pre-title – is unlocked at the beginning, so again the Main Game must be played to find them all. (Descriptions on how to unlock them below).
      • Gallery – players can look at 18 pictures from the Main Game here. 16 are 2 from each floor, before and after the boss battle. Another is the ending credits picture. The last is found in a secret section – see below.
      • Credits – replays the credits. Must finish the Main Game at least once to unlock.
      • Title – On the title screen, Mini-Marios walk across the bottom of the top screen. This cosmetic feature can be changed – but it requires stars to do so! See below.
    • Register – players can register their name as it appears in the Construction Zone and Wi-Fi Connection here.
    • Single Card – a demo version of the game can be sent to another DS player without the game card.
    • Erase All – not only does this delete all Main Game data, but all Construction Zone levels, created or received, and it resets the player's friend code. Highly unrecommended.
    • NintendoWiFi.com – Players can choose to let their statistics be part of Nintendo's official Wi-Fi site.

Mini-Game

If you collect all Mini-Mario Cards in a world, you will be able to play a Mini-Game! This is the Mini-game:

Locations

Items

Enemies

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