Super Mario Advance

Super Mario Advance is primarily a slightly tweaked port of Super Mario Bros. 2, the (still) very popular side scroller from the days of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). So expect plenty of running, jumping, and hurling of items at many a foe.

The game's graphics and sound have been a given a nice overhaul from the original game, and are clear and bright enough to please old-school and new fans alike. While Nintendo did a good job shrinking the visuals down to handheld size, the tiny GBA screen can get very busy at times, making accidental death due to sometimes less-than-precise controls frustratingly frequent--at least in the beginning. Most gamers should overcome such mishaps with a little patience.

Also included is the still fun, if forgettable, original Mario Bros. game from many eons ago. Up to four players can engage in a coin-collecting battle mode or the classic mode. Super Mario Advance isn't the game to show off the power of the GBA, but it is a long, fun title that will satisfy today's gamers with a taste from the best of Mario's past. --Mark Brooks

Pros:

• One of the best NES games is faithfully ported
• Upgraded sound and graphics
• Gameplay is easy to get into

• Somewhat loose controls
• Neither fresh nor original for those who've played the NES version

_____So I got the new GBA (import) and Super Mario Advance, and started playing. Everything was going great; beautiful screen, nice sound. But then I started getting into some problems that really messed up the experience for me.

_____First off, the entire game screen cannot fit onto the game screen. This means two things: 1) you have to vertically toggle the camera view with the L button to see above or below you, and 2) it is extremely difficult to avoid enemies coming at you from the left side. This is because the camera likes to keep your character on the left 25% of the screen or right 25%, which means you are closer to the edge than you would normally be on the NES. And since you are always closer to the edge, you have a much much shorter reaction time to those enemies that charge at you from the left or right.

_____This problem, as well as a slight difference in controlling the characters themselves (they seem to slide a little more than on the NES), can make the game extremely frustrating at times. You can end up spending several lives just to get past one level.

_____Also a bit fristrating was the slot machine game at the end. On the NES version there was a way to get an extra life with every coin, by timing your button pushes a certain way. On the GBA it seems like they fixed this so it is not much much harder to get extra lives. And this is also frustrating. You can go through all your collected coins without earning a single extra life.

_____Mario Bros, on the other hand, was ported flawlessly to the GBA. I have yet to play it with the link, but I'm sure it will be fun. The game stays true to its simple premise: avoid enemies, bump them from underneath and kick them over. Some people might shy away from this game, but to me it is true 1980's gaming nostalgia. :)

_____I really wish I could say some nicer things about this game. The graphics and sound are top-notch, and the designers have added extras to enhance the gameplay (collecting coins, for example). But the camera problems just hurt this game too much for it to be that enjoyable.


A ruined classic but still a good game   October 26, 2005
M Felix (originally 4 CA cities. Now (Northeast) Tacoma, WA 98422)
26 out of 35 found this review helpful

This super mario advance is an updated version of the NES classic Super mario bros. 2. While it is still a good game, this updated version is ruined in a couple of ways. 1, They made Mario and the other characters talk which is annoying. 2. there are vegetables that can be picked up to throw at your enemies. They made those veggies Gigantic. they take up too much of the screen. they made Super mario bros. 1 on GBA a "Classic NES series" which left the game unmodified and the same as it was on the NES system near 20 years ago. S.M.B. 2 AND S.M.B. 3 should have been unmodified and "Classic NES Series" as well


Hours of Fun!   May 30, 2001
17 out of 20 found this review helpful

For those of you who still remember the Super NES version, this should be very familiar to you - essentially the same version, but with some additions (I'm still trying to find them), and of course, for the GameBoy Advance! Just got my hand on the Japanese version, and I can't get my hands off it!

This version of Mario is the one that's probably the most unique, in that unlike the other versions of Mario, you don't actually jump on mushrooms to get rid of them, but instead, you pull out radish, bombs, and throw at them at the bad guys. You also get to choose the 4 different characters, Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Peach - all with different abilities..

Sound's great too on the GBA - amazing for such a small machine - and yes, each character has his/her own voice too!

One more thing - SMA comes with a pumped-up version of Mario Classic, but what REALLY rocks is that the multi-player function for Mario Classic. Up to 4 GBAs can be linked to play one single game, and it's amazing that you need only 1 cartridge to play with 3 other people!

This is probably THE game to get with GBA - and no worries, I don't think anybody will regret buying this one!


Nothing groundbreaking, but still a fun game   July 3, 2001
16 out of 18 found this review helpful

There's a lot of griping about how disappointing Super Mario Advance (SMA) is. It's a 32-bit rehash of a 16-bit remake of an 8-bit game, blah blah. But lack of originality aside, is the game FUN? Yes it is.

SMA is classic Mario Bros. 2 and the original Mario Bros. and I can tell you, it's a helluva lot of fun. I always loved MB2, and this update adds a couple of new gameplay elements to make things a bit more interesting. And while it doesn't really push the GBA's technical limits, it does make use of the nice graphics engine in the handheld, for some cute special effects.

The original Mario Bros. that's included is great as well, especially in multiplayer. It gets a bit old in single player mode, but it's still fun nevertheless.

Anyway, it comes down to this - Super Mario Advance is a good game to add to your collection. It's nothing really new, but it doesn't change the fact that the games inside it are just as fun as the day they came out so many years ago, on their original platforms. Ignore the whining complaints about it, and check it out for yourself. I'm sure you'll like it.


Super mario Advance is GREAT!   April 29, 2001
12 out of 13 found this review helpful

Super Mario Advance is totally COOL! I played it at Toys R Us, and it was great! You can play the Original Super Mario Bros.the battle mode(hook up to four players for this, only using one game console,you can do this by downloading the game to other linked systems), or the new and improved Super Mario Advance.The new one has added baddies,or baddies in other places.And,to beat bosses(not all bosses are Bowser)and baddies,you don't just bop 'em on their head(as is in Super Nintendo),but throw items at them!This game is definatly a harder version than the original one as we know it on the Super Nintendo. Super Mario Advance is a good launch title for the Game Boy Advance.I give it a 10/10 in rating(ten being the best).If you get a Game Boy Advance,your first game has to be Super Mario Advance.It's GREAT!