Donkey Kong et Mario face à face, sous le logo Mario vs. Donkey Kong

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Mario Mayhem

1507 words | Reading time : 7 minute(s)

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The gorilla raids a toy factory: gaming's oldest rivalry is back on. Released in 2004 on Game Boy Advance and developed by Nintendo Software Technology, this puzzle-platformer is a direct heir to the Donkey Kong of 1994. This guide breaks down the key-door-toy loop of every level and the entire sub-series born from the Mini-Marios.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong — a title that Nintendo France keeps as is in English — is the 2004 puzzle-platformer that revives gaming's oldest rivalry: the plumber against the gorilla.

Between key hunts and Mini-Mario toys to recover, this Game Boy Advance game founded a whole sub-series before being reborn in a 2024 Switch remake.

Contents

A pure heir to the Donkey Kong of 1994

Mario vs. Donkey Kong came out in 2004 on Game Boy Advance. It was developed by Nintendo Software Technology (NST), one of Nintendo's rare American studios, which gives this Super Mario entry a slightly different DNA.

The game presents itself as a spiritual sequel to the Donkey Kong released in 1994 on Game Boy. Often nicknamed “Donkey Kong '94”, that title had already reinvented the 1981 arcade cabinet by grafting on a hundred or so levels mixing platforming and puzzle-solving. NST takes that recipe and gives it a brand-new identity.

From that ancestor, the game inherits a particularly acrobatic Mario: he does handstands, chains backflips, hangs from cables and above all grabs and hurls objects and enemies. Also back is the construction-site setting and the famous hammer. The press applauded the result — GameSpot named it the best Game Boy Advance game of May 2004 — and the game sold around 1.37 million copies worldwide.

Period advertisement for Mario vs. Donkey Kong on Game Boy Advance
The game claims direct descent from the Donkey Kong of 1994 on Game Boy.

The setup: Donkey Kong raids the toy factory

It all starts in front of a television screen. Donkey Kong stumbles on an ad for the Mini-Marios, those little wind-up mechanical toys shaped like the plumber, and he wants one at any cost.

The gorilla rushes to the shop... only to find that the figures are sold out. Wild with frustration, he then spots the Mario Toy Company (name kept in English), the factory that makes them, and makes off with its entire Mini-Mario stock.

That raid is what sets off the chase promised by the title: Mario tears after his old rival through the factory, across the rooftops and soon whole worlds, with one simple goal — recover every stolen toy, level after level. The “ vs. ” in the title isn't just a pose, then: it shapes the entire adventure.

Key, door, toy: the loop of every level

The heart of the game is a two-step loop, repeated in every stage. Mario first has to track down a key and carry it to the locked door; that opens the second half of the level, where he finds the Mini-Mario toy to recover.

In between, the scenery turns into a little brain-teaser: conveyor belts, colored switches, retractable ladders, levers and enemies to dodge force you to think as much as jump. That balance between twitchy platforming and puzzle is the series' signature.

Progression follows a steady structure world after world:

  • Several classic levels built around the key + toy pairing.
  • A Mini-Mario level where you escort a line of toys to a gift box.
  • A boss fight against Donkey Kong, who must be beaten by throwing his own projectiles back at him, to close out the world.

A whole sub-series born from the Mini-Marios

The concept caught on so well that it spawned a genuine sub-series, this time built no longer around Mario but around the Mini-Marios themselves, whom the player only controls indirectly.

  • March of the Minis (2006, Nintendo DS): the first spin-off, played entirely with the stylus.
  • Minis March Again! (2009, DSiWare): the first DSiWare game with a level editor you can share.
  • Mini-Land Mayhem! (2010, Nintendo DS): the last Super Mario game released on the console.
  • Tipping Stars (2015, Wii U and Nintendo 3DS): the final entry, released across both consoles at once.

These entries (titles kept in English) drop direct action for a logic of path-drawing and management: you lay down walkways, belts and ramps to guide the little automatons to the exit. The sub-series thus pushes further the pure-puzzle side already present in the founding entry.

A mechanical Mini-Mario, a wind-up toy
The Mini-Marios spread far enough to carry a sub-series of their own.

The 2024 Switch remake, bigger and more welcoming

On February 16, 2024, Nintendo re-released the game on Nintendo Switch in an overhaul handed to NST: graphics entirely rebuilt in 3D, reorchestrated music and a modernized interface, for a look far more colorful than the GBA version.

The content grows by two brand-new worlds: Merry Mini-Land, an amusement park, and Slippery Summit, a snowy, slippery peak (names kept in English). They introduce new obstacles — fans, portable springs, teleport boxes, icy ground — and, with their variants, push the total to more than 130 levels spread across eight worlds.

The big addition is a local co-op mode: a second player takes on Toad alongside Mario. The levels are then redesigned and call for two keys, only one of which can be carried at a time, which forces coordination. On the difficulty side, you choose between a Classic mode, timed and faithful to the original, and a Casual mode, with no time limit and several hit points.

The commercial bet paid off: the remake sold around 1.12 million copies by March 31, 2024, proof that the founding rivalry between Mario and Donkey Kong has lost none of its pull twenty years on.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong at a glance

Title (French release) Mario vs. Donkey Kong (kept in English)
Original release 2004 (Game Boy Advance)
Developer Nintendo Software Technology
Genre Puzzle-platformer
Source game Donkey Kong (1994, Game Boy)
Switch remake February 16, 2024
New worlds (remake) Merry Mini-Land, Slippery Summit
Remake sales ≈ 1.12 million (as of March 31, 2024)

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FAQ

  • Which console did Mario vs. Donkey Kong originally come out on?
    On Game Boy Advance, in 2004. The game was developed by the American team Nintendo Software Technology, as a direct heir to the Donkey Kong of 1994 on Game Boy.
  • Why does Donkey Kong go after Mario?
    Jealous at not being able to buy a Mini-Mario toy, which was sold out, Donkey Kong raids the Mario Toy Company factory. Mario then chases him to recover the stolen toys.
  • What is the goal in each level?
    Find a key to open a door, then reach the Mini-Mario toy left behind by Donkey Kong. The game blends platforming and puzzles, with boss fights at the end of each world.
  • What does the 2024 Switch remake add?
    3D graphics, two brand-new worlds (Merry Mini-Land and Slippery Summit), a two-player co-op mode with Toad and a choice between Classic mode and Casual mode, for more than 130 levels.
  • Did the game get any sequels?
    Yes, a sub-series centered on the Mini-Marios: March of the Minis (2006), Minis March Again! (2009) and Mini-Land Mayhem! (2010) on DS, then Tipping Stars (2015) on Wii U and 3DS.

The whole saga

From Donkey Kong in 1981 to the Switch episodes: our guide retraces the whole Mario saga, console by console.

🎮 All the Mario video games →
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