As many of you know, Super Mario Advance 4 is a remake of Super Mario Bros. 3, with Mario Bros. included.
While Super Mario Bros. 3 may be my favorite game ever, you may be wondering why to even waste your
money on this game if you already have a previous SMB3 and don't care about playing it in a portable fashion. By the end of this Review, you'll know exactly whether it's worth it or not.
This game, yet again, is on some zero
to four star scale that has found its way into 2004. Also, I will be scoring
this game differently than most games. As you may know, SMB3 is my favorite
game ever, and it
gets lots of high scores. Instead of
just typing in what you can read in my Reviews of the NES and SNES
versions, I'm going to grade this game
on how it changed SMB3, for better or worse. And if you happen to see any
math signs, remember that + is better than the original SMB3, - is worse,
and = is about the same.
Graphics: ***
I can't complain about these graphics,
which are even better than Super Mario All-Stars' graphics (if only
by a little bit). The game looks pretty
good, with nice effects to it. Now of course I care little about graphics,
but if you're looking for a pretty-looking SMB3, you've got it right here.
(+)
Sound: no stars
Wow. Talk about a huge change from the
original. The music in this game sounds so bad, you'll wonder if
this is the Atari. As I said in some
places two months ago or so, the music sounds like you taped the game on
your VCR and are now playing it 10
years later. It's got such a resounding, awful effect to it. The Fortress
music and Doomship music makes this effect most obvious, enough for you
want to turn off the sound to your GBA. It's absolutely horrible. Come
on, Nintendo, this is the 32-bit GBA. How come you couldn't get the sound
of an 8-bit game right? (-)
Difficulty: *
I always thought SMB3 was an easy game, or at least once I beat the first Fortress in the game. After that, I've had an easy time with this game, and Nintendo decided that it was a little too hard, so they added little things to make the game easier. 1-1 starts out with a Piranha Plant, not a Venus Fire Trap. 1-4 makes it incredibly easy to get the first 1-Up Mushroom. 3-6 has an extra block on each side of the final pipe (it's a really hard jump to that pipe). If you're big and you hit a leaf or flower block, but get hit before picking up the item, you still get to be fully-powered up once receiving the item (instead of being only big in the original game). Green Cheep Cheeps swim in a much wider formation, which makes things so much easier in certain levels with them (2-4 bonus area, 3-4, 3-5, and 6-6, for example). Most of these are things you can't just avoid in order to give yourself more of a challenge. They are actually things that you can't avoid, meaning it's easier on you whether you like it or not. I don't like the fact that SMB3 was considered to be too hard, though I have seen my sister struggle through this game and I now see why. I'll put the minus here for my own sake, though for beginners' sake, this is a good thing that it's easier. (-)
Controls: ****
The controls are the same as the original
controls, or at least pretty much. Mario games always had the best
controls, or at least I felt, for the
longest time (before recently). SMB3 was another one in the long line of
success stories when it comes to controls, and SMA4 keeps the great controls.
(=)
Gameplay: ****
The fact of the matter is, the slight
easiness added to the gameplay does not make it any worse. The game
is still as fun as it was before, and
that doesn't change. (=)
Mario Bros.:
Single Player: no stars
Multiplayer: ***
Now that my sister has her own GBA,
I can finally play the Mario Bros. multiplayer mode, I can say I am quite
pleased with it. Classic is a cooperative
mode like the single-player mode, but with multiple people, you can work
together to clear the levels. That doesn't make it that much easier, at
least not for me, only quicker. As for Battle, it is very reminiscent of
the old Mario Bros. found in SMB3 and Super Mario All-Stars. There are
more features now, like Bowser (who spits fire) and a garbage can in two-player
mode. Overall, I like the multiplayer mode, which breathes life into the
dying Mario Bros. game. Yes, I am saying something good about the original
Mario Bros. for once.
e-Reader stuff:
Demos: *
Power-Ups: ***
Levels: ****
I waited to review this game until I
got the e-Reader stuff, that way I could talk about the only thing that
really makes SMA4 stand out above the
other SMB3 versions: extra levels, items not in the original SMB3, and
some demos of how to beat levels.
The demos are kind of bland: all you're
doing is watching how someone beat a level. However, seeing
Mario zip through level 1-1 in that
little time, then seeing Frog Mario escape Venus Fire Traps and their
fireballs in 7-2 was something else.
You may want to watch these just for entertainment.
The power-ups are very good, because
they are very necessary in the e-Reader world. That world is where
you play the e-Reader levels, and you'll
need extra lives and items to help you out. Also, it is really, really
fun to have a Cape in the original levels, not that I prefer the Cape to
the Super Leaf (I still struggled with the Cape when using it), but that
it's so interesting to bring a new item into an old game and see what happens.
I've barely tried out the Cape in the game, and I want to see it underwater.
You can also use a couple of switches, like one that makes SMB2-like sprouts
appear in the levels, so you can now use vegetables just like in SMB2.
There's also one that makes fireballed enemies turn to coins a la SMW.
These special things make SMA4 more fun.
The best thing added via the e-Reader
is the fact that you can play brand new levels. And these aren't your
average cheap level, either. A couple
of them are mazes... you'll really have to rack your brain to figure them
out. Another one is a ride on Parabeetles, similar to riding on Albatosses
in SMB2's 6-2, but a lot harder. You can also play the original SMB1's
1-1, though that level is probably the blandest. Basically, almost all
of these levels are very high-quality, with many of them being on the hard
side. Believe me, this is the biggest reason to own SMA4, as it is a small
part of what many of us have been wanting all along: a brand-new Mario
side-scroller. Now just imagine a Mario game with 100+ of these type of
levels...
Replayability: *1/2
I'll be honest here: if you've played the original SMB3 as much as I have, you will really find yourself bored pretty quickly after beating this game. This game adds a few new things (like something special outside the Desert Land Pyramid), but really it isn't enough to keep you interested for a long time. Now if you get the e-Reader stuff, you'll have more things to try out in SMB3 itself (like trying to fly with a Cape while holding onto a vegetable). The brand-new levels also add some replay value to the game. If you don't have the e-Reader stuff, you'll be bored awfully fast.
Fun Factor!: ****
SMB3 is still very fun, and the new levels make it even more fun. I can't say the fun factor is diminished any over time. It still is the same fun game it was back on the NES.
OVERALL: ****
The four-star score is necessary because
this is still SMB3, just with more things added to it. But, does that mean
you should buy this game? Yes, if-
-You have never played SMB3 before.
-OR-
-You have access to two GBAs, an e-Reader,
a GBA link cable, and are willing to buy the packs of cards.
-OR-
-You have access to a Game Boy Player,
a GBA link cable, and are willing to buy the packs of cards.
If not, then you're not going to find Super Mario Advance 4 worth the $30 price of admission. Yeah, it may be SMB3, but the portability alone is not enough to warrant wasting $30 on this game (unless you travel a whole lot).
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