Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move

Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move (known as Mario & Donkey Kong: Mini Mini Carnival in Japan) is a Nintendo 3DS eShop title. It is the fifth installment of the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series, and the first made specifically for the Nintendo 3DS console.

Story
After a huge success with the Super Mini Mario World Theme Park in Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!, the Mario Toy Company decides to host an annual Mini Toy Carnival. Donkey Kong joins Pauline to run a game arcade inside the carnival.

Gameplay
The basic objective of Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move is the same as the previous three games, in that the player must guide the Mini Marios to the goal within the time limit. In this game, however, the path is cut off in sections, and the player must either drag tiles into place or rearrange them (depending on the mode) in order to create a path leading to the goal; filing in the path to the goal causes the mini to automatically speed to the goal; at this point, the timer automatically stops and the player cannot place any more tiles. Additionally, tapping one of the mini icon on the touch screen causes it to have a short burst of speed. If at any point the mini falls off the pathway or is blocked, the player fails. This also occurs if they do not move the mini out of the pipe before a certain amount of time passes, or if the player runs out of time during a stage. The player can use the and  buttons at any time to change the camera angle on a course.

In Mario's Main Event and Giant Jungle, the player gets pieces of pathway by tapping the "tile pipe," which causes a piece to fall in that the player can place on the path. The tile pipe can only hold five tiles at one time, and not clearing one before another enters results in failing. Occasionally, the player may also be given a bomb tile, which removes a tile that has been placed. In some courses, there are also "trash cans," in which the player can place any unneeded tiles; filling them up gives the player a "magic tile" as their next tile, which takes the form of a tile required to fill the path. In Many Mini Mayhem, the player rearrange the given path to guide multiple minis to the goal, and in Puzzle Palace the player must use the tiles given in order to create a path to the goal.

Within each level in every mode minus Giant Jungle are three M-Tokens; collecting all of them within a level and beating it earns the player a star, which allows them to unlock things such as extra modes and Minis to view.

Modes
The Main Game mode features four modes total, each unlocked after collecting a certain number of stars. The first two modes have sixty stages each. There are also additional expert levels that can be unlocked in the first two modes by clearing the first 60 stages of each mode. Many Mini Mayhem contains 50 and Giant Jungle contains three.


 * Mario's Main Event - "Use the falling tiles to get the Mini to the goal!"
 * Puzzle Palace - "Use the tiles given to find the best path for the mini!" (unlocked by collecting ten stars)
 * Many Mini Mayhem - "Shift and rotate the tiles to get all the Minis to the goal!" (unlocked by collecting twenty stars)
 * Giant Jungle - "Collect the Stars, and get the Mini all the way to the goal!" (unlocked by collecting thirty stars)

Playable characters

 * Mini Mario
 * Mini Peach (unlocked after Puzzle Palace is entered the first time)
 * Mini Toad (unlocked after Many Mini Mayhem is entered the first time)
 * Mini Donkey Kong (unlocked after Giant Jungle is entered the first time)
 * Mini Pauline (unlocked by playing each original minigame and then entering any mode)

Hosts

 * Mario
 * Donkey Kong
 * Pauline

Enemies

 * Mini Shy Guys
 * Catapult Kongs
 * Capture Kongs
 * Mini Fly Guys
 * Bullet Bills

Minigames

 * Mini Target Smash: A minigame where the player flings Mini Marios into multiple targets.
 * Fly Guy Grab: A minigame where the player fires a claw at Fly Guys and reels them in to earn points.
 * Cube Crash: A minigame where the player flings Mini Marios into cubes to get points.
 * Elevation Station: A minigame where the player must use the touch screen to position a Mini Mario into the paths of coins.

Elements
There is a large variety of elements in the game, mainly appearing in Mario's Main Event. Here's a list of them.

Toy Collection
As the player earns stars, new Minis will be added to the Toy Collection. In this mode, the player can view and polish his/her toys. There are a total of 12 toys that can be unlocked.