Platform guide
All Donkey Kong DS games
Three Donkey Kong cartridges came out for the Nintendo DS in Europe, and two of them have Mario’s name on the front — which is why searching for them gives you half a list. There is one game where you play as Donkey Kong himself, two puzzle games where you do not, and a fourth that was download-only and therefore cannot be bought at all. Here is which is which.
The short answer
March of the Minis (2007) → DK: Jungle Climber (2007) → Mini-Land Mayhem! (2011). Buy Mini-Land Mayhem! for the puzzles and Jungle Climber if you want to be Donkey Kong. Minis March Again! (2009) was DSiWare and never had a box, so no second-hand copy exists.
Tested Donkey Kong DS cards in stock
Opened, checked against the label and started on a real DS before they are listed.
Every Donkey Kong DS card, in release order
| Game | Released (EU) | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis | 9 March 2007 | Puzzle — stylus only |
| DK: Jungle Climber | 12 October 2007 | Platformer — the only DK-led DS game |
| Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! | 4 February 2011 | Puzzle — the polished one |
Game by game — the buying notes
Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis (2007)
Donkey Kong steals Pauline again and you get wind-up Mini Marios back to the exit, drawing girders and flipping switches with the stylus. It is the first of the two puzzle games and the rougher one: the Minis walk where they like and the levels are shorter. It has a level editor you can share over local wireless, which was the selling point in 2007 and is a curiosity now. Europe got it six months after America and a month before Japan.
DK: Jungle Climber (2007)
The one game on this list where Donkey Kong is the character you play. You climb by grabbing pegs with L and R, one hand at a time, and the two screens are stacked to make one tall level — it looks like nothing else on the console. It follows DK: King of Swing on the GBA and has the Donkey Kong Country look rather than that game’s cartoon one. Up to four players. Odd, physical, and the DS Donkey Kong game people actually remember.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! (2011)
March of the Minis rebuilt properly. You do not steer the Minis any more; you lay down the girders, ladders, springs and conveyor belts and then let them walk, which turns it from a game of reflexes into a game of planning. Two hundred levels, a full editor, and the best-reviewed of the three. If you only buy one DS Donkey Kong for the puzzles, buy this one.
The fourth one you cannot buy
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! came out in 2009 as DSiWare — a download from the DSi Shop, which Nintendo closed in 2017. It never had a cartridge and it never had a box, so there is nothing second-hand to find. If you see one listed as boxed, it is either a reproduction or a mislabelled copy of one of the other two, and it is worth a close look at the label before you pay.
Or buy one that has already been checked
Counterfeit DS cards are common, and the puzzle games in this series are copied often enough that we open every one. Each card we sell is checked against the label and the shell and started on a real DS before it is listed. We have been doing this since 2019, with 1400+ verified reviews at 5.0★, and we ship tracked to all 27 EU countries.
How to check a used DS cardQuestions we get asked
How many Donkey Kong games are there on the Nintendo DS?
Three on a cartridge: Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis (2007), DK: Jungle Climber (2007) and Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! (2011). A fourth, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!, was released in 2009 as DSiWare — a download on the DSi shop, never a boxed cartridge — so it cannot be bought second-hand at all. Donkey Kong: King of Swing, which people often expect here, is a Game Boy Advance game.
Which is the best Donkey Kong DS game?
Mini-Land Mayhem! for the puzzles and Jungle Climber if you want Donkey Kong himself. Mini-Land Mayhem is the one that fixed the series: you build the route instead of steering, which makes every level a small design problem rather than a test of patience. Jungle Climber is the odd one — a climbing platformer built around the shoulder buttons — and it is the only DS game where you are DK rather than Mario.
Why are two of them called Mario vs. Donkey Kong?
Because they belong to a separate series that began on the Game Boy Advance in 2004, itself a follow-up to the 1994 Game Boy Donkey Kong. In those games Donkey Kong is the antagonist and Mario is the lead, so they are shelved under Mario as often as under Donkey Kong — which is exactly why searching for “Donkey Kong DS” turns up half a list. Both are genuine Donkey Kong games; neither is a platformer.
Can I still get Minis March Again!?
Not legitimately. It was DSiWare only, sold through the DSi Shop, and Nintendo closed that shop in 2017. There was never a cartridge, so no second-hand copy exists. If a listing offers you a boxed Minis March Again!, it is either a reproduction or a mislabelled copy of one of the other two — worth checking carefully before you pay.
Do DS games work on a 3DS?
Yes. Every 3DS, 3DS XL, New 3DS, 2DS and New 2DS XL has a DS card slot and plays all three of these. It does not work the other way round, and none of them works on a Switch. DS cards are also region-free, so a European copy plays on any DS or 3DS from any region — unlike 3DS cartridges, which are locked to their region.
What should I check on a used DS card?
The label print, the shell seam and the save. Counterfeit DS cards are common and usually give themselves away with a glossy or slightly wrong-coloured label, a shell that does not sit flush, and a back sticker with the wrong typography. DS cards save to flash rather than a battery, so an old card does not lose its save the way a Game Boy cartridge does — but it will still hold whoever played it before you, which you can clear in the game.
Do you ship Donkey Kong DS games across the EU?
Yes — tracked shipping from the Netherlands to all 27 EU countries, no customs charges inside the EU, and 30 days to return an order. Your country’s exact rate appears at checkout before you pay.
One console down: all Donkey Kong Game Boy games. The Mario vs. Donkey Kong series in order, or the whole franchise in order. Same card slot, different franchise: all Mario DS games and all Pokémon DS games.
Dutch reader? Nintendo DS-games — het hele aanbod in het Nederlands.