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Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a puzzle game for the Game Boy Advance with gameplay based on the Game Boy game Donkey Kong, but with better graphics/sound and new level designs.
Story[ | ]
Mario starts up a toy factory that creates miniature versions of Mario called Mini-Marios. It is extremely successful and the Mini-Marios sell out everywhere. One day, Donkey Kong sees a commercial for them that encourages people to "buy them all!", so DK decides to do just that. When he reaches the store, he finds that they have sold out. He sees a Mini-Mario factory nearby and steals all the Mini-Marios, putting them into a big sack. So Mario must chase after DK and get the 'Marios back.
Gameplay[ | ]
Mario can walk, jump, duck, grab, and throw. Grabbing grabs keys and some enemies in Super Mario Bros. 2 "hold-over-head" style. Throwing throws grabbed objects. If Mario ducks and jumps, he does a handstand. During a handstand, Mario can move slowly or jump upright again. Shortly after landing from a handstand jump, Mario can jump again to perform a really high jump upward. If Mario walks in one direction, turns around, and jumps, he does a somersault, which sends him far upward as well.
Format[ | ]
The game is made up of six worlds. Each world has six normal levels, a Mini-Mario level, and a boss level.
The normal levels have two areas. In the first, Mario has to get the key and bring it to the door, which leads to the second area. In the second, Mario simply has to find the Mini-Mario's crystal ball and grab it.
The Mini-Mario levels start with six Mini-Marios following Mario wherever he goes. Mario must have them grab the letters T-O-Y without leading them too close to danger. After all letters are collected, Mario has to find the toy chest, bring the Mini-Marios to it, let them hop in, and grab the chest. You can lose up to five of your Mini-Marios and still beat the level, but the number of Mini-Marios you save affect your lives in the boss stage.
The boss stage is simply a fight against Donkey Kong, usually involving barrels. Every time either Mario or Donkey Kong is hit, they lose a life. Donkey Kong gets three lives and Mario gets a life for every Mini-Mario he saved in the previous stage. If Mario directly goes to the boss fight, he only has one life.
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After the final boss fight, the credits roll and a small cutscene shows DK falling off the building onto a delivery truck full of bricks and Mario must fight him afterwards.
The plus worlds have the same names and themes as the normal worlds, but have different gameplay and levels. Donkey Kong drops a Mini-Mario at the start of the level that has a key. Mario has to get to the Mini-Mario to make it follow him, then get it to the door. If the Mini-Mario dies, Mario dies too. There is no second area or Mini-Mario stage.