How to complete level 8-3 in Mario vs Donkey Kong

Level 8-3 is the third level of World 8, the Twilight City, in the 2024 Nintendo Switch version of Mario vs Donkey Kong. It’s the same as level 6-3 in the original 2004 version of the game on the Game Boy Advance, and this walkthrough will make it less difficult.

As with all regular levels in Mario vs Donkey Kong, level 8-3 is divided into a door stage, where you have to get a key and unlock a door, and a Mario toy stage, where you have to reach a Mario Toy. To get a perfect rating, you also have to collect three gifts along the way.

In this walkthrough, I’ll explain how to complete the level with a perfect rating, and I’ll pay special attention to the really tricky bit of the door stage, which is where I’m guessing you’re stuck.

Mario vs Donkey Kong level 8-3 walkthrough

Door stage

Hit the blue button, then head to the right and jump onto the yellow robot’s head. From there, jump up to get the red gift, then continue under the door all the way to the right. Use the spring to bounce up to the chains, then grab the chain dangling below the yellow robot patrolling on the right side. Ride across to the chain in the middle, hanging above the spikes, and grab that chain.

Now, at this point, you might have figured out that you need to be in “red mode” to get to the key, but that when you’re in “red mode,” you can’t reach the yellow robot on the left. But I’m about to show you how to solve that problem. When the left robot reaches you, grab its chain, but don’t let go of the middle chain. Do this by just tapping left, not holding left. This will stop the robot from moving. Hold on until the other two robots are as far left as they can go, then tap left and drop back down to the buttons.

Wait until the two robots on the right side of the screen are on the left side of the red blocks, then hit the red button. This should also trap the robot on the left side of the screen on the right side of its red blocks. Now, you can go to the right and up to the top again, and this time jump between the platforms and chains to get to the key. Once you’ve got the key, drop down and use the spring one more time to reach the door.

Mario Toy stage

Head right and wait until the spark has passed before jumping up and grabbing the cable. Shimmy about halfway across, then drop off to avoid the spark, before quickly jumping back up to avoid the laser. Use the next cable to swing up to the upper platform, then wait for the yellow laser to go on and off before jumping into the gap below the spikes. Go about halfway across the gap and then duck (push down) to avoid the yellow laser, then continue left and hop out of the other side of the gap.

Use the spring to get up to the next platform, then carefully go right across the conveyor belt, making sure you avoid the lasers along the way. Get the yellow gift and hit the white button to reverse the conveyor belt, then hit the blue button and carefully make your way back across the conveyor again. Now swing up from cable to cable to reach the blue gift, then jump across to the right to get the Mario Toy.