The Mario vs Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars release date falls on March 5th, 2015 in the USA and March 20th in Europe & Australia. It appears exclusively as a digital download on the Nintendo eShop on both the Wii U & 3DS. This marks the 6th game in the puzzle-centric, Lemmings-like Mario vs. Donkey Kong series; and is significant in that it is the first Nintendo game ever to support “Cross-buy”, this means if you buy the game on 1 platform you can also download on the other platform for free! 😀
Here is the new gameplay footage and details on Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars from Nintendo Direct Europe.
“Cross-buy” is a feature that several games on other platforms support, but has yet to infiltrate Nintendo’s marketing strategy… until now. Cross-buy means that if you buy the Wii U version of Mario vs Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars, you get the 3DS version for free, and if you buy the 3DS version, you get the Wii U version for free! Let’s hope we see much more of this in the future.
Here’s the Mario Vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars image gallery.
Click on any of these image thumbnails to see the full-size photos:
The biggest new feature in Tipping Stars however is the “Tip” system, whereby players earn Stars by beating levels, which they can then use to both unlock new Construction Set pieces for the user-created Level Editor mode (which lets you create and share your own levels online), or allows you to give those Stars away to other players by leaving a tip, in the form of Stars, on your favorite user-created stages. You can rate them anywhere from 1-5 Stars. This will hopefully encourage the best or funnest user-created levels to get ranked the highest and float to the top, eliminating all the crappy levels from clogging the system.
The gameplay in Mario vs Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars returns to a side-scrolling viewpoint ala the original game, which will certainly be a kick for longtime fans of this underrated franchise.
Mario vs Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars for 3DS was proceeded by:
* Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move (3DS, 2013)
* Mario vs Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! (DS, 2010)
* Mario vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! (DSiWare, 2009)
* Mario vs Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis (DS, 2006)
* and Mario vs. Donkey Kong (Game Boy Advance, 2004)
Synopsis:
Mini Toys, Maximum Fun
Get that ‘Aha!’ feeling over and over as you guide “Minis” – toy versions of Nintendo characters – to the exit in each puzzling stage. Tap objects, like bridges and springs, with the stylus to perfect your strategy. You can create, play and share stages online, and use the new tipping system to reward your favorite creators and unlock more content! If you like a level someone built, tip them some Stars and they’ll be able to create more imaginative levels using the Stars you tipped them!
As a bonus, anyone who buys the Wii U version will receive a free download code for the Nintendo 3DS version, and vice versa!
Key Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars Features:
* More than 80 puzzling stages to solve and master.
* Create your own levels and share them worldwide with others through Miiverse!
* Reward creators who make your favorite levels using the all-new tipping system.
* Unlock additional workshop tools using tips received from other players.
* Share and play levels cross-platform between the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS versions.
* Players who buy one version will receive a free download code for the other version!
* Earn special stamps to customize your posts in the Miiverse community.
I’ve always wanted to play the Mario vs Donkey Kong games but never have!
I remember when the first one came out for GBA, and I was so shocked, and pleasently surprised to see Nintendo return to a “Mario versus Donkey Kong” theme rather than the tired old “Mario vs Bowser” theme!
These games are absolute must-plays for Puzzle-Genre fans, and well worth checking out.
And now with Cross-Buy, you really have no reason not to dig into this one since it’s essentially buy one, get one free!
Are you excited about Mario vs Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars?