Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
released on Jul 11, 2003
Super Mario Advance 4 is a GBA remake of Super Mario Bros. 3 for the NES. Super Mario Advance is a four-part series for the GBA with Super Mario games of the NES and SNES era. The remakes came with adjusted graphics, sound and additional content. Each game of the series includes additionally the arcade-classic "Mario Bros" which can be played in multiplayer via link cable.
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Really great way to experience the original Super Mario Bros. 3
I get that out of the options available, most prefer the original NES version and I tend to agree. This feels like an ungraded version of the All Stars version which has upgraded graphics and a save system. There are a few additions, some voice clips and rough use of rumble were the most obvious to me. It also keeps track of completed worlds, which is cool.
I love playing these tightly packed levels and by finishing the game you can go back and replay or tidy up uncompleted levels.
Less obvious is the inclusion of Level Cards which was a rudimentary form of DLC. These are included in the Switch Online release, and were on the Wii U release. These borrow elements from Super Mario Bros. 2 with turnips and World with the criss crossing quad cannon shots and Chargin’ Chuck. In a time where the last new 2D Mario to release was probably Yoshi’s Island this is a welcome inclusion and sort of paves the way forward to New Super Mario Bros and Mario Maker series going forward.
I get that out of the options available, most prefer the original NES version and I tend to agree. This feels like an ungraded version of the All Stars version which has upgraded graphics and a save system. There are a few additions, some voice clips and rough use of rumble were the most obvious to me. It also keeps track of completed worlds, which is cool.
I love playing these tightly packed levels and by finishing the game you can go back and replay or tidy up uncompleted levels.
Less obvious is the inclusion of Level Cards which was a rudimentary form of DLC. These are included in the Switch Online release, and were on the Wii U release. These borrow elements from Super Mario Bros. 2 with turnips and World with the criss crossing quad cannon shots and Chargin’ Chuck. In a time where the last new 2D Mario to release was probably Yoshi’s Island this is a welcome inclusion and sort of paves the way forward to New Super Mario Bros and Mario Maker series going forward.
Actually way way better than expected. Movement is awesome, the secrets really cool and overall a really really fun game.
It even susprised me how you can express jokes just with gameplay visuals, I really laughed with the fish in world 4
Just what I needed! Lucky! Bravo!!!!
It even susprised me how you can express jokes just with gameplay visuals, I really laughed with the fish in world 4
Just what I needed! Lucky! Bravo!!!!
I don't find myself enjoying Mario Advance 4 as much as the original SMB3, but it's still a perfect example of Nintendo competently porting over one of its 2D platformer classics. The inclusion of the eReader content was a brilliant way to round out the package too. I never got to experience those levels until the Wii U eShop rerelease, but there's some good stuff in there for sure.
The e-reader levels are really as good as everybody says.
The better and improved version of the original NES game! The art sprites look prettier, and the voice lines (while not having much variety) made it more charming!
Pros: It's gotta be the e-reader card stuff, they added so much replay value to this game, in ways that, hell, even the Super Mario Maker series still hasn't given us. The e-reader was a separate GBA device that let you scan the barcodes on physical trading cards, that would then upload elements into the game. Here, there are plenty brand new stages and a few classic old ones too thanks to the e-reader, with varying levels of challenge. And the added content is rich, there's even power-up cards, like, the entire cape power-up from World is in this, and it's just as great as it was in SMW, there's also a new boomerang weapon you can use too, which, isn't really a power-up, but it's a boomerang that you can catch and throw as often as you can keep catching it, neat! There's also stages that have you plucking vegetables just like in SMB2, stages that have you running on walls and ceilings like SMW, and stages with "no-return" exit gates from Yoshi's Island. It's a best of Super Mario Advance collection!! These stages were locked to the e-reader, so one could consider that a con, but I had the e-reader, I collected the cards, and man, that too was fun, so for me, it's definitely a pro!
Also, the entire game of Super Mario Bros. 3 is here too, of course, heh, with Luigi and his added abilities from Super Mario Advance 2! Changes things up enough to play the game again in a different way. It's a great port of the All-Stars version of SMB3, and hey, they fixed Mario's gloves! He's actually wearing them now!
Also another fun little minor addition, Game Boy Player support, where if you played the game on a Gamecube with the GB Player, you'd have rumble support on the Gamecube controller, heh, not bad!
Also also, every Super Mario Advance included a remade version of Mario Bros., and it's no different here, the same game is included, but now that there were four Super Mario Advance games, we now had four game paks with Mario Bros, which allowed four player bouts of Mario Bros. with all of the benefits and options of doing four-game pak mode, it was really genius of Nintendo to allow multiplayer of that mode with any version of Super Mario Advance!
Cons: SMB3 itself is still not my favorite of Mario games, it's great, don't get me wrong, but I would've loved these e-reader additions to a better game like Super Mario World, using that game's base engine instead. Still, it's hard to complain about all added bells and whistles here, it's certainly the best version of SMB3, period.
What it means to me: This version of the game was the first time I ever played SMB3 from beginning to end, first time I ever beat it, in fact! And so, naturally, it means more to me than the other Super Mario Advance series game releases, it just gave me so much more. And even with later releases on Wii U and Switch, they pre-set all of the e-reader stages on them, even the e-reader stages that were never available in North America, due to the cards for them only releasing in Japan. So years later I got even more enjoyment out of this game! It's the game that keeps on givin'!
Also, the entire game of Super Mario Bros. 3 is here too, of course, heh, with Luigi and his added abilities from Super Mario Advance 2! Changes things up enough to play the game again in a different way. It's a great port of the All-Stars version of SMB3, and hey, they fixed Mario's gloves! He's actually wearing them now!
Also another fun little minor addition, Game Boy Player support, where if you played the game on a Gamecube with the GB Player, you'd have rumble support on the Gamecube controller, heh, not bad!
Also also, every Super Mario Advance included a remade version of Mario Bros., and it's no different here, the same game is included, but now that there were four Super Mario Advance games, we now had four game paks with Mario Bros, which allowed four player bouts of Mario Bros. with all of the benefits and options of doing four-game pak mode, it was really genius of Nintendo to allow multiplayer of that mode with any version of Super Mario Advance!
Cons: SMB3 itself is still not my favorite of Mario games, it's great, don't get me wrong, but I would've loved these e-reader additions to a better game like Super Mario World, using that game's base engine instead. Still, it's hard to complain about all added bells and whistles here, it's certainly the best version of SMB3, period.
What it means to me: This version of the game was the first time I ever played SMB3 from beginning to end, first time I ever beat it, in fact! And so, naturally, it means more to me than the other Super Mario Advance series game releases, it just gave me so much more. And even with later releases on Wii U and Switch, they pre-set all of the e-reader stages on them, even the e-reader stages that were never available in North America, due to the cards for them only releasing in Japan. So years later I got even more enjoyment out of this game! It's the game that keeps on givin'!