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Nintendo announced a brand-new Mario Vs. Donkey Kong game for Nintendo Switch during the September Direct, the first time the Super Mario spinoff series has seen the light of day in seven years. The new Mario Vs. Donkey Kong is called just Mario Vs. Donkey Kong, which is fitting, since it seems like a soft reboot for the series that streamlines some of the more chaotic elements.
The premise is this: Donkey Kong, fueled by an undying love of shiny toys, seizes a factory’s worth of Mario minis and flees with his ill-gotten gains. It’s essentially the same Mario Vs. Donkey Kong setup as always, but with a few minor differences from the later games.
Mario Vs. Donkey Kong first released on Game Boy Advance before marching onto the Nintendo DS with more complicated touch-screen puzzles and an ever-growing army of mini-Marios to shepherd through each stage. In the Switch version, you’re guiding only Mario through intricately designed levels filled with traps, enemies, and obstacles.
Your goal is grabbing a key and maybe recover some of the stolen Mario toys before moving on to the next level, and there’s a boss fight with Donkey Kong at the end of each themed world.
Mario Vs. Donkey Kong on Switch launches Feb. 16, 2024, and pre-orders are open now.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF