Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars

European box art.
Developer(s)	Nintendo Software Technology
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Release Date(s)
Wii U	JP: March 19, 2015 EU: March 20, 2015
Wii U	JP: March 19, 2015 EU: March 20, 2015
3DS	JP: March 19, 2015 EU: March 20, 2015
3DS	JP: March 19, 2015 EU: March 20, 2015
eShop	NA: March 5, 2015 AU: March 21, 2015
eShop	NA: March 5, 2015 AU: March 21, 2015
Platform(s)
Classification(s)	This game uses the Nintendo Network
Genre(s)	Puzzle
Rating(s)
ESRB	03
PEGI	01
CERO	01
USK	01
ACB	01

Mario vs Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars <sup>(JPJapanese: マリオ vs. ドンキーコング　みんなでミニランド

Romaji: Mario vs. Donkī Kongu Minna de Minirando

Meaning: Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Everyone's Miniland)</sup> is the sixth installment in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS released in 2015 and the first game in the series to be released on a home console. The game is a follow-up to Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! and shares elements with most of the series, including navigating a number of Minis to their exits and allowing players to build their own levels. Players were able to share custom stages through Miiverse until it was shut down in November 2017. The focus of the game are the stars, which form a reward earned in accordance to how the player performs in levels. They are used to tip other players for their shared stages or unlock parts and new Minis for custom levels in the Workshop Store. The game is digital-only except in Japan. Game cases with download codes are sold in Europe. The Wii U version requires 0.93 GB of memory to be installed, and the Nintendo 3DS version requires 3,200 blocks.

The game supports a form of cross-platform play, where if one version of the game is bought off the Nintendo eShop, the buyer receives a free download code of the other version. Levels can be shared between the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U versions of the game.

Gameplay

This is a puzzle game similar to the other Mario vs Donkey Kong games. The Minis are Mini Mario, Mini Luigi, Mini Toad, Mini Kong, Mini Pauline, and Mini Peach must be guided to the end of each level by connecting vertices with lines drawn on either the Nintendo 3DS touchscreen or Wii U GamePad to create ramps or bridges to help the toys cross gaps or avoid hazards.

Every last level has a Cursed Mini Mario in which the player will need to guide the marching toy character, as Cursed Mini Mario can't enter the Goal Door. Each level the player complete rewards the player with stars, which can either used to reward players online with more stars or buy parts for making levels of their own. Tipping players will reward the player with stamps.

Worlds

Each world has 8 levels

• Rolling Hills
• Jumpy Jungle
• Runaway Warehouse
• Crumbling Cavern
• Dashing Desert
• Twilight Valley

Development and release

Before the game was revealed to be a full release title, several early levels were presented in the form of a tech demo at Game Developers Conference on March 2014. The demo was used to showcase the Nintendo Web Framework, a developer toolset used to program software onto the console with web compatible technologies like HTML and JavaScript. The demo contained the following levels:

• Level D-1, which would be shipped with the release version as Level 1-1.
• Level D-2, which would be shipped with the release version as Level 2-1.
• Level D-3, which would be slightly modified and shipped with the release version as Level B-7.
• Level D-4, which would be released post-launch as an official Nintendo level in the online community.

Later before E3 2014, Nintendo confirmed through a video presentation that the game would be launched on Wii U in early 2015. This was followed on January 2015 by the unveiling of the game's final title and release dates, as well as the Nintendo 3DS version and the cross-buy promotion between versions.

Reception

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars was unanimously said to deliver a challenging and worthwhile gameplay experience, even though it does not renew the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series in any significant way. Metacritic gives a metascore of 70/100 on Wii U based on 26 critic reviews and 70/100 on 3DS based on 15 critic reviews. On whatoplay.com, it holds an aggregate score (playscore) of 7.92 on Wii U based on 26 critic and 2,000+ gamer ratings while its 3DS release receives a playscore of 7.96 based on 22 critics.

In reference to its lack of innovation, Brendan Graeber of IGN evoked the disappointment players who have played previous titles from the series would have with the new game. Although he did acknowledge the new Cursed Mini Mario mechanic as "the highlight of Tipping Stars’ meager innovations," he added that it does not contribute much to the gameplay. Conversely, Graeber appreciated the rich content of the game, including the plethora of levels, the substantial level editor, and the "new and improved" community hub where players could share their created levels. He likewise regarded the in-game practice of earning and tipping stars to other players as a "brilliant model," although only in theory. He explained that the community was profuse in short levels that allowed players to obtain stars quickly, considering it disadvantaged the "many smart amateur level designers out there who [had spent] their time crafting challenging and creative levels for us to play."

Alex Olney of Nintendo Life offered a more positive review of the game, in which he praised the game's online service for having "a slick, easy-to-use interface," opposing it to Pushmo Worlds. He also emphasised on the ease of finding levels in the community, praising Nintendo for the "awful lot of thought" they put into such a modern online experience. Apart from the gameplay which he described as solid, Olney referred to the game's presentation and graphics as pleasant. In a separate review of the Nintendo 3DS version, he presented the game's SpotPass and StreetPass advantages, and noted the portability of this version over the Wii U version as well.

Damien McFerran of TrustedReviews stated that Nintendo was "surprisingly forward-thinking" with the utilisation of online features and appreciated how the Miiverse integration creates a "community feel." He considered the single-player mode to be only part of the complete experience, built to keep average players busy for a while before attempting to create and share their own levels. He admonished the graphical aspect of the game, stating that it is rather reminiscent of customary mobile phone games, but noted the soundtrack as "uniformly superb."

References to other games

• Super Mario Bros. - The Underground theme is arranged for the soundtrack of Crumbling Cavern.
• Super Mario Bros. 2 - The Overworld theme is arranged for the soundtrack of Rolling Hills. The "player downed" and "world clear" jingles are used as well.
• Donkey Kong Country - The "DK Island Swing" music theme that plays in jungle levels is arranged for the soundtrack of Jumpy Jungle.
• Super Mario 64: "Inside the Castle Walls", the music that plays while inside Peach's Castle, is arranged for the soundtrack of Swirling Courtyard.
• Mario Kart series - The Golden Mushroom item appears on some heraldic banners in the background of Swirling Courtyard.
• Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! - Tipping Stars utilizes the same framework this game was built on, reusing a number of its assets and graphics with various degrees of change. The soundtrack of Tipping Stars is also largely based on tracks from Mini-Land Mayhem! and is used in worlds with coinciding themes (e.g. the music of Dashing Desert from Tipping Stars is very similar to the music of Sandstorm Steps from Mini-Land Mayhem!)

References in later games

• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - The title theme and the first theme of Rolling Hills (titled "Rolling Hills A") appear as tracks in the "Super Mario" series playlist.

Gallery

Main article: Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars/gallery

Trivia

• This is the first Nintendo-published title to support a cross-purchase concept.
• This is the first Nintendo 3DS title to support Miiverse stamps.
• Cross-buy means that a single purchase on either the Wii U or Nintendo 3DS eShop allows the user to download the game on both devices.
• Cross-play means that the user's saved progress and user-created levels will appear on both devices.

External links

• Official North American website
• Official European website
• Official Japanese website
• Nintendo Direct 1.14.2015