Nintendo has a weird habit of taking a perfect idea and then changing it until it's unrecognizable. You see it with Paper Mario, and you definitely see it with the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series. But if you look back at the DS era, specifically 2006, you’ll find Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 March of the Minis. It wasn't just a sequel. It was a total identity shift that worked way better than it had any right to.
While the original Game Boy Advance title was a spiritual successor to the 1994 Donkey Kong—all about Mario's backflips and hammer swings—this DS entry pivoted. It put you in charge of a swarm of wind-up toys. It’s chaotic. It’s stressful. Honestly, it’s one of the best uses of the DS touch screen ever made, even if it occasionally makes you want to snap your stylus in half.
The Day the Toys Took Over
The plot is classic Nintendo fluff. Mario and Pauline are opening Super Mini Mario World, a theme park that is basically a lawsuit waiting to happen. Donkey Kong shows up, gets jealous because Pauline chooses a Mini Mario toy over his Mini DK toy, and kidnaps her. Again. It’s the same song and dance we’ve seen since 1981, but the "March of the Minis" twist changes the gameplay loop entirely.
You aren't controlling Mario. You're poking, prodding, and dragging little mechanical versions of him.
The genius—and the frustration—lies in the momentum. Once these little guys start walking, they don't stop unless they hit a wall or you manually intervene. You have to draw paths, flip switches, and time elevators perfectly to get them to the door. If one dies, you don't just lose a life; you lose your sanity trying to figure out how to save the rest of the pack while the timer ticks down. It’s a Lemmings-style puzzler wrapped in a Mushroom Kingdom skin.
Why the Touch Screen Actually Mattered Here
In the mid-2000s, every developer was trying to force "touch features" into games where they didn't belong. Remember those shoehorned "draw a circle to cast a spell" mechanics? Yeah, those sucked. But Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 March of the Minis felt like it was built from the circuit board up for the DS hardware.
Using the stylus to flick a Mini Mario into a jump or tapping them to stop feels tactile. It’s physical. There’s a specific tension when you have four Minis walking toward a pit of spikes and you’re frantically tapping them to stay put while you wait for a platform to move into place.
💡 You might also like: Hogwarts Legacy PS5: Why the Magic Still Holds Up in 2026
The dual-screen setup was actually useful here too. The top screen showed the map and the goal, while the bottom was your direct interaction zone. You didn't have to pause to check where you were going. You just looked up. It’s a simple design choice that modern single-screen consoles like the Switch actually struggle to replicate without feeling cluttered.
The Level Editor: A Forgotten Masterpiece
Before Super Mario Maker became a global phenomenon, we had the Construction Zone.
This was the sleeper hit of the game. You could design your own levels using the same assets as the main campaign and share them via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. For 2006, this was groundbreaking. I remember spending hours trying to make the most convoluted, "impossible" levels just to see if the AI pathfinding could handle it.
The game gave you eight different themes, from the classic Mushroom Mayhem to the lava-filled Magma Mania. Each one introduced new mechanics like pipes, conveyors, or those annoying Shy Guy toys that block your path.
- Mushroom Mayhem: Basic platforms, lots of pink blocks.
- Tropical Island: Water physics and moving bridges.
- Pipe Works: Teleportation puzzles that hurt your brain.
- Toadstool Castle: Moving walls and verticality.
People forget that Nintendo was experimenting with user-generated content long before it was their primary marketing hook. The March of the Minis community was vibrant for years, proving that if you give fans a grid and some sprites, they’ll build things the original devs never even dreamed of.
The Difficulty Spike is Real
Don't let the cute aesthetics fool you. This game gets mean. By the time you hit Floor 6 or 7, the timing requirements become frame-perfect.
📖 Related: Little Big Planet Still Feels Like a Fever Dream 18 Years Later
There’s a specific level in the Spooky Attic (Floor 4) that haunts my dreams. You have to juggle three Minis across disappearing platforms while ghosts chase them. If you're a second late with a tap, the whole run is dead. It’s not "Mario" in the traditional sense; it’s a high-speed logistics simulator.
The boss fights against Donkey Kong at the end of each floor also flip the script. You use the Minis as ammunition, firing them out of cannons or guiding them to hit switches that drop weights on DK’s head. It’s a rhythmic, chaotic showdown that rewards patience—something I definitely lacked as a kid.
Comparing March of the Minis to the Rest of the Series
If you look at the timeline, this game is the middle child that defined the family's future.
- Mario vs. Donkey Kong (GBA): Pure platforming, direct control.
- March of the Minis (DS): Indirect control, touch-heavy, puzzle-focused.
- Minis March Again (DSiWare): Basically a level pack for the second game.
- Mini-Land Mayhem (DS): Introduced the "draw bridges" mechanic, making it even more of a bridge-building sim.
- Tipping Stars (Wii U/3DS): Focused heavily on the social sharing aspect.
Most fans argue that Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 March of the Minis struck the best balance. Later entries, like Mini-Land Mayhem, felt a bit too much like a "line drawing" game. In March of the Minis, the toys felt like characters with weight and momentum. You weren't just building a path for them; you were managing their behavior.
The recent Switch remake of the original Mario vs. Donkey Kong returned to the GBA style, which is great, but it leaves the "Minis" fans out in the cold. There's a specific itch that only the stylus-driven, toy-managing madness of the DS era can scratch.
Technical Limitations and Quirks
It wasn't all perfect. The voice acting consists of Charles Martinet doing high-pitched "Mama Mia!" sounds for the toys, which is charming for the first twenty minutes and then becomes a sensory assault.
👉 See also: Why the 20 Questions Card Game Still Wins in a World of Screens
Also, the save system was a bit rigid. If you wanted to get the Gold Stars on every level—which you needed to unlock the secret levels—you had to collect every "M-A-R-I-O" letter and get all Minis to the door at the exact same time. The "Combo" bonus was the real killer. You couldn't just get them to the door; you had to have them enter within seconds of each other. This meant "parking" your Minis near the exit and praying a stray enemy didn't wander into them.
Legacy of the Mini Marios
Why does this game still matter in 2026?
Because it represents a time when Nintendo was incredibly brave with their hardware. They took their biggest mascot and stripped away his ability to jump on his own. That’s a massive risk.
It also pioneered the "Toy-to-Life" vibe before Amiibo were a thing. The menus, the music, and the way the Minis rattled when they walked made them feel like physical objects. When you see Mini Mario today in Super Smash Bros. or as a cameo in other games, this is where that personality was solidified.
The game is a masterclass in "indirect interaction." It teaches you to think three steps ahead. You aren't reacting to a Goomba; you're anticipating where a toy will be in five seconds and ensuring the bridge is ready before it gets there. It's an engineering game disguised as a platformer.
How to Play It Today
If you still have an old DS or 3DS lying around, the cartridge is usually pretty cheap at used game stores. It hasn't seen a modern port, and honestly, it might never. The reliance on two screens and a stylus makes it a nightmare to port to the Switch without losing the soul of the controls.
Emulation is an option, but playing with a mouse feels wrong. It lacks the frantic "stabbing at the screen" energy that defined the original experience.
Next Steps for Players
- Check your hardware: Dust off your DS or 3DS; this game is best experienced with a physical stylus for the low-latency response times needed in later levels.
- Aim for Gold: Don't just finish the levels. To truly see the depth of the mechanics, try to trigger the "Chain" bonus at the exit door. It requires parking all Minis and timing their entry to the millisecond.
- Explore the Boss Strategy: In the DK fights, remember that the Minis move faster when they are on a roll. Use the environment to speed them up rather than just waiting for them to walk slowly toward the cannons.
- Check the Construction Zone: Even though the official servers are long gone, you can still play the built-in custom levels to see how the developers intended the "sandbox" mode to be used for high-level play.