This Review is rated from 0 - 4 stars,
not 1 - 5, so three stars is good, not average. Plus, since it is, in my
opinion, SMB3’s sequel, I have a +,
-, or = after every category, which is whether SMW is better (+), worse
(-) or the same (=) as SMB3 in that category. Mario Bros. is not considered
in any category except in the overall score.
Graphics: ***
For the time, these are good graphics.
The backgrounds are better, Mario and Luigi look a little better, and
there’s more front and back-type of
stuff. That is, you can go behind gates and Troopas are behind gates
and that kind of stuff. There’s no
improvement on the GBA, I assume, at least from the way it looks. But the
graphics are good enough. (+)
Sound: *1/2
The music is not that bad, but not that
good either. The ghost house music and castle music sometimes gets
on my nerves. The underground music
isn’t as catchy as the classic underground music, but the outside music
is pretty good. As annoying as the Switch Block music is, it is helpful
to tell me how much time is left on the Switch Block. Also, during the
opening movie with Mario and Luigi flying, there’s a part of the SMB3
credits music, which is one of the
best ever. Then again, the Koopalings don’t talk much, and come to think
of it, I haven’t heard any talking yet. But on the whole, the music misses
the mark. (-)
Difficulty: ***
Let’s see, it’s not overly difficult, yet there are more ways to die and most of the time, you have to jump to a certain place in advance or you’ll get killed when a moving platform comes back to you. Is it that difficult? No, not really. But it’s enough to make me mad at times. (=)
Characters: ****
These are most of the same characters
as SMB3, but there’s a lot of newbies. Plus, the Koopalings are in
the game! Yes, that’s enough to get
excited over. Wigglers, Chargin’ Chucks, Dino Rhinos, and the like
are good additions, not to mention
the helpful Super Koopas. (=)
Controls: 1/2
The first complaint. First of all, why
is the L Button for moving the screen around, and why can’t that be
used for getting the item on top to
come down? This game actually uses the Select button for something
useful, and I can’t reach it unless
I let go of the control pad, which then could get me hit. Why couldn’t
the L and Select buttons be switched? And then we have the flying situation.
Horrible. When I review the flying in a moment, I’ll explain everything
that’s wrong with it, but for right now, it’s absolutely terrible for flying,
the exact opposite of the easy SMB3 flying. The R button is the only good
control to this game, the spin-jump. (-)
Gameplay: I’ll split this into sections, instead of giving one big overall score.
Flying: 1/2
The flying is so hard to control, it’s
unreal. Instead of the easy continuous A Button tapping, you have to
hold down both buttons, continually
push in the opposite direction, have to hit the buttons in a certain order
for the landing, and it’s hard to attack in mid-air. It’s very annoying,
except that you can fly for a pretty long period of time. Overall, it’s
very stupid. (-)
Items: *
Arrrgh! This is the sequel to SMB3,
which had six power-ups. This game has three, the Feather, Fire Flower,
and Mushroom. No extra items, no hidden items, it’s just those items. I
do like the way you can get an
item from reserve, but occasionally,
I’ll have a Flower in reserve, be big, grab a Feather, and then I have
a Mushroom in reserve instead of a Feather. That’s maddening. Yoshi helps
with his eating skills, but jumping with Yoshi is dangerous, and Yoshi
doesn’t appear enough. The item situation makes me mad, on the whole. (-)
Levels: *
Ooh, just when I thought it would end, there’s the lack of levels. There’s usually four per world, and a ghost house and castle. In SMB3, there was six (plus fortress and doomship) just in Grass Land! Oh, the hidden levels. They aren’t necessary to complete, so I just skip them. In SMB3, most levels are mandatory, and the ones that aren’t at least can be played anyway. These can’t be played unless you sacrifice an item or life, possibly, to get to them. The midway bar makes things nicer, but even if the level is long, that doesn’t mean there should be less levels. Sure, you can go back, and that can help with power-ups. That’s one good thing to the levels. The hidden levels aren’t enough of a bonus to make me want to get them. (-)
Bonus Games: *1/2
The one bonus game that exists, the Hit the Blocks and hope for a Tic-Tac-Toe, is not that great. It’s all luck, and at least the SMB3 Bonus Games were partial luck and partial strategy (you could time the slot machine and match the cards with some memory). It’s not that bad, either. (-)
Replayability: ***
There is some stuff after you beat the game, like actually completing or finding the hidden levels. So, it’s replayable. (+)
Mario Bros.: no stars
Nintendo was so lazy, they “accidentally”
put Mario Bros. in both Mario Advances. That’s what’s pathetic
about it. What’s different about Mario
Bros.? The letters of “Phase 1” or whatever number spin when they
come up. That’s it. It’s all right,
but the fact that it had to be put in both games is what makes me mad.
Plus, I don’t know anyone who plays multiplayer on the GBA anyway. (no
comparison)
Fun Factor!: ***
Yes, you do have that excitement after beating a level or a boss. Not as much as SMB3, because the controls were easier in it, getting rid of some frustration. But, it’s still pretty fun. (-)
OVERALL: **1/2
Yes, a shocker. It’s not “the best game
ever”, nor “the best platformer ever”, nor even “the best GBA
game”. It’s not even a must-have, if
you own the original and it works. Since I don’t, yes, it is good to buy.
Why only two and a half stars? SMW is 3 stars, but it loses half a star
for the laziness of putting Mario Bros. in twice. The only thing I can
think of stupider than that is making remakes of Mario Golf and Tennis
for the Cube! Oh, wait, they’re doing that too. So is it better than the
first SMA? No, not really. It’s about the same. As for buying it, again,
only buy if you don’t have SMW already. If you do, skip it!