The new Mario vs. Donkey Kong remake is one of Nintendo‘s biggest releases of the year so far, and they’re certainly proud of it. In the lead-up to the game’s release, Nintendo made the bold claim that the new game would have over 130 levels, all told, and right off the bat, some fans thought that was setting the bar just a little bit too high. The developers have promised a load of new content to go along with the original, re-polished levels from 2004, and now that Mario vs. Donkey Kong remake has come to the Switch, the question still stands: did they deliver on the level hype?
How Many Levels Are in Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Really?
The number of levels in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong remake is fairly easy to count if you start from the base game. The remake has eight worlds, compared to the original game’s six: Mario Toy Company, Donkey Kong Jungle, Fire Mountain, Merry Mini-Land, Spooky House, Slippery Summit, Mystic Forest, and Twilight City. Merry Mini-Land and Slippery Summit are new to the remake, taking their places as worlds 4 and 6, respectively. Merry Mini-Land introduces players to Wind Flowers, Warp Boxes, and Bob-ombs for the first time, while Slippery Summit – as the name suggests – works ice physics into its puzzles.
In the base game, each world has six normal levels, one Mini-Mario level, one Donkey Kong fight, and one bonus Toad level, which are shorter, non-replayable levels. Since all 8 worlds have nine levels total, when you add in the final battle against Donkey Kong – creatively titled “vs. Donkey Kong” – you’re left with a total level count of 73.
In both the remake of Mario vs. Donkey Kong and the original version, there’s also a set of levels called “Plus” levels. Once you complete the base game, you unlock a “Plus” version of each world, sporting six more levels and a Donkey Kong fight revamped from the originals. Each world in Mario vs. Donkey Kong has a “Plus” version, and there’s also a new version of the final Donkey Kong battle from the very end of the game. When added to the base game levels, that means the total level count is at 129.
129 levels is close to the “over 130 levels” promised by Nintendo, but it isn’t quite there yet – so it’s a good thing Expert levels exist. Similar to the original Mario vs. Donkey Kong, the remake version has added 16 Expert levels, which you can unlock after beating the base game. When added together, the 72 base game levels, the 57 “Plus” levels, and the 16 Expert levels bring the total level count of the Mario vs. Donkey Kong remake to 145, meaning that there are, in fact, more than 130 levels in the game, just as promised.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong is now available for the Nintendo Switch.
