New Review Posted: Mario vs. Donkey Kong

[Daniel Weissenberger]

Andrew Fletcher reviews Mario vs. Donkey Kong, and feels that:

"He’ll never win, of course. There’s something cruelly ironic about that “versus” in the title. After all, if Mario ever really vanquished any of his enemies, he’d only have appeared in about three or four games. Which is why Nintendo, realizing that such an ill-fated prophecy would be better suited to the character than the company, have constantly reset the battle lines for every outing in the beleaguered plumber’s 23-year career. Hence, as usual, this is no fair fight: Mario remains the underdog and Donkey Kong remains, well, king Kong."

The rest of the review is available at: http://www.gamecritics.com/review/ma...onkey/main.php

[David Stone]

A well-written, well-thought review, but - being the pleeb that I am - what's up with the number? Nowhere in the review are there any faults with the game, but for some reason the score seems woefully low given such a glowing review.

[Chi Kong Lui]

Originally Posted by bassbeast

A well-written, well-thought review, but - being the pleeb that I am - what's up with the number? Nowhere in the review are there any faults with the game, but for some reason the score seems woefully low given such a glowing review.

The number is unofficial right now. We don't have the actual rating for Andrew as of yet and we're working on clarifying that right now.

Chi

[QXZ]

A typo, perhaps? I'm hypothesizing Andrew's finger slipped off the keypad 8 and wound up placing the impact on the 5.

Just a thought.

[frogofdeath]

Good review, the first I've read on this site, or any other, in a long time. Gamecritics.com still has it as far as I am concerned. I may have to check this game out to play between teaching and homework.

[Avptallarita]

Fat Italian Plumber Wrestles Gorilla To Save A Princess.
The gorilla was wearing a tie.

In an astounding act of heroism, 1,20 m high Italian plumber Mario M has saved a woman from a tie-wearing gorilla in the aftermath of a tragic accident occurred yesterday. The gorilla, a large male of an unnatural brown colour with jaw paralysis called Donkey Kong, had kidnapped for mysterious reasons Mrs. Peach, a woman who was strolling casually with her flat-mate mushroom. The woman was carried to the top of a strange construction made of ungodly absurd traps - the reason for Donkey Kong's clamber on *that* construction of all places is unknown. Following the dramatic event, Mario M, who was present at the scene, refrained from calling the firemen and set on climbing the construction on his own. After devouring alive Peach's mushroom flatmate, he set out to bolting like a rabbit all over the construction, finding strangely logical solutions to every trap. Perhaps due to his healthy Italian diet, or maybe out of sheer heroism, the little man succeeded in wrenching the woman from the gorilla's grasp, but there was no predictable sex scene. "Mamma mia," he later commented when asked on the experience. The woman, who claims to being a Princess, is still under therapy. Serious traumas are to be expected out of any prolonged permanence with a gorilla wearing a tie and it is even hypothesised he might have kissed her (which would also explain the gorilla's jaw paralysis). The ape's whereabouts are unknown.

Inside - why are younger generations confused? A study by doctor Davies Malcolm on modern youth crises and their solutions.

[Andrew Fletcher]

Just a quick note from the author about my review (thanks for all your comments by the way, keep 'em coming.)

About the score(s). It seems that bassbeast and QXZ saw a 5 at the bottom of the page, whereas I appear to be looking at a rating of 8.5. Well, neither is right. It seems that the final draught of the review was published quicker than expected, leaving no time for a definitive mark.

So here it is: 8.0

It'd be interesting to note if this makes any difference whatsoever to readers' opinions of the game or of my review.

But hey, what's in a number?

Andy.

[David Stone]

No, and 8.0 at least makes sense. A 5.0 doesn't. We've had the number debate before. GC numbers don't mean the same thing as a magazine's - with 5.0 meaning "average" according to the rating system. An 8.0 denoting a purchase without fear at least adds up in my head.

(And I had an idea about that, btw. Perhaps, on top of the number - which is needed for things like gamerankings.com - perhaps a "final thought" or a precise definition. For example, in MVDK:

8.0 Purchase Without Hesitation

or

8.0 A fun quirky game. Not without its flaws, but solid overall.

Either that, or put a precise definition guide up on the site. I'm lucky I have access to that guide! )

[Andrew Fletcher]

Originally posted by: Perhaps, on top of the number - which is needed for things like gamerankings.com - perhaps a "final thought" or a precise definition. For example, in MVDK:

Yeah, this is a fair suggestion. I never write a review with a score in mind (that's just a formality that I have to force out at the end), so it can often seem like the score that I do give has no direct justification within the main text. A short sentence explaining the reasoning behind the score would probably be a good idea.

[ior]

Whatever happened to Fay Wray?
That beautiful satin-draped frame...
The way it clung to her thigh,
Oh how I started to cry...