Nintendo releases a quirky title staring a couple of their marquee mascots... did I buy it? Of course I did. I feel almost obligated to. Did I like it? Lucky for me, I did. Say all you like about Nintendo, they always manage to release some quality software that tends to fill some voids that many companies ignore.

Enter Mario Vs. Donkey Kong. Apparently, time doesn't heal all wounds as Donkey Kong still seems pretty pissed off at Mario. I guess I would be pretty ticked too since there constant reminders of that friggin plumber all over the place in the form of annoying little Mario toys. Obviously, Donkey Kong has to steal all of the toys and make Mario's life just a little more of a living hell than it already is. Being the consummate video game hero, Mario isn't going to take it bending over.

Mario Vs. Donkey Kong is a mix of platform and puzzle genres and the mix is finely tuned. The game is broken up into levels consisting of 6 main game stages, a 'mini Mario' stage and a boss stage. The basic game covers 6 of these levels with options to unlock plenty more.

The gameplay is easily the biggest draw of this cart. Using your platforming skills, you need to figure out the best ways to navigate through each stage which consists of two parts each. Before each screen, you are shown a brief training video giving you a little hint about what challenges lie ahead in the following level.

The moveset for Mario basically consists of abilities found throughout the little plumbers' gaming history. You have access to everything from picking up objects over your head and throwing them to back flips and even the hammer from the original classic arcade game. Learning all of the moves is easy sine the first couple of worlds are basically training. As with just about every first party Nintendo game, the control is spot on and even though you have a serious arsenal of moves, they are all easy to pull off and use. I can't really think of any situations where a stage was blown due to a failure in the control set.

The bulk of the levels feature the main course of platforming and puzzle solving. After the sixth level, the game switches gears to something that might remind some people of a game of Lemmings-lite. As Mario, you need to successfully guide the mini-Mario's, which you saved, back to their storage box while avoiding obstacles and keeping them away from harm. The final stage is a boss stage, where you take on the big monkey himself in some fun encounters. Not only are the basic stages diverse and ultimately fun, but the mini-Mario levels and boss encounters are equally enjoyable and different.

The look of Mario Vs. Donkey Kong has that pre-rendered glossy look that has been employed since Rare's Donkey Kong Country. The end result is decent. Like just about every other Nintendo game, Mario Vs. Donkey Kong is extremely colorful and littered with basic structure. Most of the elements found in the game will be instantly familiar to fans of the series since they have been lifted from previous games.

Music is what should be expected from a light hearted game from Nintendo. The music is the standard far from Nintendo on the handheld. Bubbly midi tunes with some classic bits thrown in such as the invincible hammer theme as you pummel various baddies. The sound effects are pretty high quality. Everything sounds pretty crisp and the game is littered with voice clips.

One thing that annoys me about the gameplay is that it keeps track of lives. It's ok to have the time limit for a puzzle game, but lives are a little annoying, especially later on when it actually takes some thought to get through the levels. You do have a chance to acquire more lives in between stages as long as you collect all three presents per stage at least. Sometimes you might need to actually grind away at some early levels just to get some extra lives. It's just an odd choice for a puzzle game and it smacks of creating artificial replay value.

In the end, Mario Vs. Donkey Kong is a great handheld pickup for people looking for something a little different. The gameplay is addicting, fun, and full of what you should expect from a developer like Nintendo. The all important save features of the cart are transparent to the user. If you turn off the game, your lives and level are automatically saved. You can't make it any better then that. Check it out for a little fun on the go.