During the latest Nintendo Direct, it announced a remake of the original Mario vs. Donkey Kong, launching for Switch on February 16, 2024.
The plot is that Donkey Kong has stolen all of the Mario Mini toys after they sold out and you, playing as the scorned Italian plumber, must get them back. Par for the course with the series. If you haven't played them before, they're a mix of platforming and puzzle solving, which is shown off in the new trailer, as you not only traverse levels as Mario but guide the toys to various exits.
The Mario vs. Donkey Kong series started in 2004 for the Game Boy Advance, paying homage to Mario's roots. Funnily enough, he didn't debut in his own game. In fact, he got his start in the 1981 arcade title Donkey Kong. You had to climb ladders and ramps while avoiding DK's barrels, making the angry ape his first-ever villain, predating Bowser by four years.
In the trailer, we see switch-driven puzzles (fitting for a Switch game) that unlock new areas, as well as a two-player co-op mode involving Toad that wasn't present in the original 2004 release. As it's a remake, it means we're revisiting the Mario Company's toy factory. These toys aren't just based on the fabled hero Mario, they're commissioned and designed by him and his namesake company - talk about a big ego.
The original Mario vs. Donkey Kong was fairly well-received, garnering an aggregate score of 81 on Metacritic. It's a short experience, taking around five and a half hours to beat on average, so you won't lose too much of your weekend when it comes out. That being said, it's unclear how much it will sell for, but pre-orders go live later today so it won't be long before we find out.
It's not the only Mario news we got at today's Direct. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is also getting a remake, launching sometime in 2024. Fans have been clamouring for such a remake for years. To boot, the untitled Princess Peach game has a name now, Showtime, and is set to launch on March 22 of next year. Depending on when Paper Mario releases, we could have a stacked first half of 2024 filled to the brim with Mario games.
If that isn't enough, we also got a better look at the Super Mario RPG remake with an extended gameplay trailer. Luckily, that's launching later this year, on November 17. But we'll be flooding in Mario starting next month when Wonder releases on October 20.