Present (Mario vs. Donkey Kong)

Presents are collectibles found in Mario vs. Donkey Kong. They are equivalent to Pauline's lost items in Donkey Kong for Game Boy. As their name implies, they are white presents with a red, yellow, or blue ribbon. There are three Presents in each level and are necessary to collect in order to surpass the level's goal score. Once all of the Presents in a level are collected, they let the player play one of two minigames involving the Presents.

At the beginning of these minigames, the Presents are shown to contain either a Donkey Kong head which does nothing, a 1-Up Mushroom, or another mushroom that rewards multiple lives, varying with each individual minigame. The first minigame has an arrow which goes through all three Presents, until the player presses the button to slow down the arrow so that it stops on one of the Presents, obtaining the item inside. The second one has Donkey Kong's fist hitting one Present at a time until one remains; the player has to quickly swap the Presents and try to protect the desired one to be awarded with the item contained within.