Software:Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!

Short description: 2009 video game

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!
Developer(s)	Nintendo Software Technology
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Director(s)	Yukimi Shimura
Producer(s)	Shigeki Yamashiro Kensuke Tanabe
Designer(s)	Wing S. Cho Stephen Mortimer Masamichi Abe
Programmer(s)	Rory Johnston
Artist(s)	Brian McNeely
Writer(s)	Wing S. Cho
Composer(s)	Lawrence Schwedler
Series	Mario vs. Donkey Kong
Platform(s)	Nintendo DSi
Release	NA: June 8, 2009 PAL: August 21, 2009 JP: October 7, 2009
Genre(s)	Puzzle-platform
Mode(s)	Single-player

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! (マリオVSドンキーコング ミニミニ再行進!, Mario tai Donkī Kongu Mini Mini sai Kōshin!) is a 2009 puzzle-platform game developed by Nintendo Software Technology for the Nintendo DSi. The third game in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series, it is a follow-up to Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis. It is the first DSiWare game to feature a level editor in which players can create custom-made levels and send them to players on other devices via a wireless Internet connection.

Minis March Again! was released via DSiWare in North America on June 8, 2009, in Europe and Australia on August 21, and in Japan on October 7. The game received positive reviews from critics, who praised its puzzle design, level editor, and longevity, with criticism aimed at its lack of originality. A sequel, entitled Software:Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!, was released in 2010 on the Nintendo DS.

Gameplay

Minis March Again features puzzle-solving gameplay from the previous two games in the series. Just as in the game Lemmings, Mario must lead his Mini-Mario toys to the end of the level. Like with Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, players do not control Mario but instead miniature wind-up versions of Mario, Princess Peach, Toad, and Donkey Kong—referred to as "Minis"—in order to rescue Pauline from the game's antagonist, Donkey Kong. In each level, players must get all their Minis to the end of the level at a designated exit while avoiding obstacles and enemies (mostly consisting of enemies from the other games in the Mario series).

One difference from its predecessor is that all of the end of level bonuses are now required. In the previous game, extra points were earned by getting all Minis to the exit, getting them to the exit with no long time intervals between any two Minis, and getting them to the exit without stopping any of them. Also, in this game, the minis cannot be controlled. Only items and obstacles can be used to control their direction. Additionally, all minis must reach the door in time, otherwise, the door will lock up, and the player will fail the level.

Like with the first installment, there is a life counter system that uses M-Tokens. Players start with five lives, which are lost if a mini touches an enemy, touches spikes, traps, or any pitfalls, falls a distance of ten or more blocks, if the next mini fails to reach the door on time after one enters, or the timer runs out. Just like the first installment, the player can also lose a life if they restart or exit a level that they have not cleared. The game ends when the player runs out of lives, although they can replay the current level with five more lives by choosing "Retry". In each level, there is a Mini Mario card that must be collected (eight scattered in the levels and one in the Donkey Kong battle) to spell "M-I-N-I-M-A-R-I-O". When they are all collected, the player will unlock the special level.

At the end of each floor, the player must fight Donkey Kong to go to the next floor. The player always starts the battle with 6 Mini-Marios and Donkey Kong also starts at 6 hit points too, just like he did in the previous installment. The player must shoot the Mini Mario in a cannon to pummel Donkey Kong, except for the fourth floor, that if a Mini-Mario tries to hit Donkey Kong, it breaks. The player also has three minutes to defeat Donkey Kong. Sometimes, Donkey Kong will send blue clocks down, that when collected, it adds 30 seconds to the time remaining. Starting with the fourth floor, there will be steamed clocks that removes 30 seconds from the timer if collected. If the player runs out of time or all six Mini-Marios are destroyed, the player will lose a life and must restart the battle. There is also an "O" card in the Donkey Kong stages.

The game featured a level editor called the Construction Zone in which players could select the types and locations of power-ups, enemies, and traps in custom-made levels. More items were added, and more characters were unlocked as the players progressed through the main game. Players could either play them locally or share them with friends on other Nintendo DSi devices via a wireless Internet connection. Changes to the level editor were made such as increasing the number of levels one could create from only 8 stages in March of the Minis to 140 stages in Minis March Again. Also, unlike March of the Minis, created and downloaded levels used the same counter; there could be only 140 levels between the 2 types. All online features were retired in May 2014.

Story

Mario and Pauline are selling Mini-Mario toys. There is a long line. At the end of the line is Donkey Kong. As the line moves along, Donkey Kong finally ends up in the front. Just then, the Mini-Mario toys run out. In rage, Donkey Kong snatches Pauline from Mario. As Mario trips and tears Pauline's dress in pursuit of them, he sees the Mini Mario toys standing before him. Thus, Mario gets the idea of using them to catch Donkey Kong. After the credits, a secret ending appears. When Mario defeats Donkey Kong, he finds Pauline near a window, Donkey Kong turns out the lights, grabs Pauline again, and jumps out the window with her. Now Mario must play the Plus Floors to get Pauline back. After Mario plays all the Plus Floors and gets Pauline back he discovers that Donkey Kong was actually helping Mario by testing the minis.

Development

Minis March Again! was announced during E3 2009.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score Aggregator Score Metacritic 82/100 Review scores Publication Score 1Up.com B+ Edge 7/10 IGN 8.6/10 Nintendo Life Nintendo World Report 9/10 ONM 88%

The game received "favorable" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. IGN ranked it as the 14th best DSiWare game, praising it for helping them become less disillusioned with the service after many of its titles proved to be rehashes of retail Nintendo DS games. They also praised it for being significantly more customizable than its predecessor.

External links

• Official website
• Official Japanese website (in Japanese)
• Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! on IMDb
• Short description: Video game database

MobyGames

Logo since March 2014
Screenshot Frontpage as of April 2012
Type of site	Gaming
Available in	English
Owner	Atari SA
Website	mobygames.com
Commercial	Yes
Registration	Optional
Launched	January 30, 1999 (1999-01-30)
Current status	Online

MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small number of people paying to become patrons. Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It is currently owned by Atari SA.

Content

The database began with games for IBM PC compatibles. After two years, consoles such as the PlayStation, were added. Older console systems were added later. Support for arcade video games was added in January 2014 and mainframe computer games in June 2017.

Edits and submissions go through a leisurely verification process by volunteer "approvers". The approval process can range from immediate (minutes) to gradual (days or months). The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copyediting.

Registered users can rate and review any video game. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own subforum.

History

Logo used until March 11, 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999 by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, then joined by David Berk 18 months later, three friends since high school. Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience.

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount. This was announced to the community post factum and a few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.

On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San-Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art). Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel.

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million. The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.

See also

• IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions