The Mario vs Donkey Kong series is one that never really appealed to me.
It looked fine and seemed like it would be simple fun, but that was never enough for
me to actually play one of the games.
So while I have little familiarity with the series as a whole, I do think it has potential
as a puzzler.
And that’s especially true in Mario vs Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars’ case as much of the
focus is on players creating and sharing their own puzzles.
But is that enough when the game as whole doesn’t seem like it’s changed that much
since the introduction of the minis?
The story of Tipping Stars is a complex and emotionally gripping tale that takes Mario
to a dark place and forces him to examine who is the real monster, Donkey Kong or himself
for sending miniature, seemingly sentient, toys of him and his friends to their doom.
Or, you know, Donkey Kong kidnaps Pauline and Mario gives chase as explained in a single
scene.
Mario has never been known for plot, and it’s not a detriment to the gameplay at all.
But it does show how the game lacks its own personality.
Despite that minor complaint, the gameplay is solid.
It works pretty much like the previous games in the series and the classic Lemmings games.
The player must guide all of the minis to a door using the available tools.
These tools can range from springs to extendable girders to conveyer belts.
The challenge is that there’s a finite amount of tools that you can use in each level.
So it becomes a question of swapping them to where they need to be at the right time
in order for the minis to progress.
Tipping Stars does change things up on occasion other than just different level layouts.
One type of stage tasks players with guiding each individual mini to its own door.
So Mario has to go to the Mario door while Peach, Toad, and Pauline have to go to their
own doors.
It changes things up just enough so that you feel like you’re solving a different kind
of puzzle.
But the different minis feel like a wasted opportunity.
The Mario mini acts no different from the Toad mini or the Peach mini.
It would’ve been much more interesting if the other minis did something unique, like
Peach falling slower or Toad moving faster.
There would have been a great variety to even the standard puzzles simply by changing which
minis the player controlled.
But as is, the only reason to have them be different is variation in what you’re guiding
and for the multiple door puzzles.
The other type of puzzle features one of the minis being possessed by an evil monkey that
will destroy the others on contact.
This means the player has to guide a mini to a hammer item and then into the possessed
toy in order to free it.
Some of these are quite challenging since you have to guide both the possessed mini
and your other minis.
It becomes a balancing of keeping the evil one away until you’re ready to confront
it with a hammer.
Despite this variation in the puzzles, simply getting the minis to the goal is rarely that
hard.
Eventually, you’ll be able to figure out the way.
The challenge comes in collecting every coin in the puzzle and making it the door quickly
enough.
Doing this awards the player points which then determine a bronze, silver, or gold ranking.
The better the rank, the more stars you’re given.
And it’s these stars that are crux of getting the most out of Tipping Stars.
With them, players can purchase new stage elements that can be used in the level creator.
More of these elements become unlocked naturally as you play through the game, but in order
to have everything at your disposal, you’ll need stars.
However, there is the potential of a great community with this level creator since you
can upload them and allow other players to try them out.
These players can then decide to tip stars to you in order show much they liked it or
even leave Miiverse comments offering advice or just a pat on the back.
Someone who gets deeply involved with creating puzzle levels could become addicted to offering
up content and seeing what people think.
But even you’re not interested in creating puzzles; there is still a wealth of content
of other people’s puzzles to play in addition to the main game.
When it comes to creating levels in games, I typically have a hard time figuring out
what I want to do and then making that vision come to life.
Usually I’m just not that creative when it comes to stuff like this.
But the creator is incredibly easy to grasp and comes with some pre-made levels that just
need whatever finishing touches you want to add.
And every type of puzzle that was available in the main game is at your disposal in the
creator as well.
The creation, feedback, and tipping of other players is excellent for those willing to
try it out in Tipping Stars.
Presentation-wise, the game looks simple yet good whether on 3DS or Wii U.
There’s not any difference between the two versions other than graphical fidelity.
It merely comes down to a matter of preference.
But there’s nothing in the game that pushes either system and there isn’t even any 3D
integrated into the 3DS version since everything is played on the bottom screen.
It’s a very functional style.
The soundtrack is surprisingly good with some very catchy remixes from past games in the
Mario and Donkey Kong series.
Many of them are taken from the less well known entries giving it a bit of a quirky
flavor.
Mario vs Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars isn’t the most exciting game.
It’s a completely functional puzzler that doesn’t seem to add much to the franchise
other than the level creator paired with the tipping feature.
That one element though could add a ton of replayability for those that are into that
sort of thing.
As for me, I like the game and think it plays really well.
It’s just doesn’t stand out in any real way.
Thanks for watching and be sure to stay tuned to GameXplain for more on Mario, Donkey Kong,
and other things gaming.