Super Mario Advance
Reviewed by Psycho Penguin
When Nintendo first announced the new portable
console, Game Boy Advance, I knew they were going to
launch a Mario game with it. It may have seemed like
common sense, but let's think about it. Have you ever
heard of a Nintendo console that's launched without a
Mario game? It's never been done before (although I
am almost positive the Gamecube is going to break
this trend), so of course Nintendo was going to
release a Mario launch game with the launch of the
Game Boy Advance. There's only one small detail I
didn't really expect, that ended up occuring, and I
was pretty shocked.
You see, they did launch the Game Boy Advance with a
Mario game, but guess what, it's not a totally new
game! Instead, they brought back one of the old
classics from the NES days. Sadly, they chose the
worst one, but even the worst one of the bunch was
still pretty good. Yes, Super Mario Advance is
just a souped up version of.. Super Mario Brothers 2.
Now, this really isn't a horrible thing, since I
enjoyed playing Super Mario 2 back in the day, but
even I couldn't really get into Super Mario Advance.
The addition of the classic Mario Bros. game helped,
but the fact remained at the end of the day that this
game was really just Super Mario Brothers 2 with a
paint job, and they somehow seemed to make it less
fun to play.
The storyline was really innovative for its time, I
thought. Not innovative in a epic tale of romance,
love, and war, mind you, more innovative in the fact
that it's a Mario game that doesn't have you trying
to save the princess from Bowser. Hell, Bowser isn't
even in the game. Yeah, this was definitely right up
there with Mario World 2 as weirdest storylines in
the Mario series. Basically, you have been summoned
in a dream to save Dream World from the evil Wart.
That's pretty much it. You are basically in a dream
the entire game. It may sound weird, and it is, but
let's face it, it's the most innovative storyline in
the Mario series so far.
As some of you may already know, Super Mario 2 was
the most unique Mario game of all time, mainly
because it wasn't even originally a Mario game. The
original Super Mario 2 got vetoed for American
release, so Nintendo took a Japanese game, slapped
Mario characters in it, and released it as Super
Mario 2 in America. Needless to say, this plays a lot
differently than any other Mario game out there. The
only thing really that stayed the same from Mario 1
is the fact that this game is also a platformer.
Otherwise, it's totally different. You go around
hitting enemies with vegetables (you pick a vegetable
up from the ground, and then hit an enemy with it).
You can also use stuff like bombs and keys to hit
enemies. Moving around, this game plays a lot like
Super Pitfall. Plenty of ladders, and vertical and
horizontally scrolling stages are present. Some
stages are quite large, as some will have yo going
into several different tyes of areas. There is not a
points system, and you get hit points, in the forms
of hearts. If you collect enough cherries, you will
soon see a heart floating up. Using the heart gets
you a hit point back. In the secret areas (using a
warp potion), you can get extra hit points by
collecting mushrooms.
Also, in the secret area, you can pick up the
vegtables to get coins, as opposed to vegetables. You
can then use these coins as credits for the final
stage mini game. Basically, at the end of each stage,
you get to play a slot machine game to determine if
you get any extra lives. The more coins you have, the
more times you can play. You can get a lot of extra
lives by matching up 3 of the same logo. Different
combinations have different rewards, just like a real
slot machine. I really enjoyed this aspect of the
game, as it was fun to try to get different combinations.
As you start off the game, you get one of four
characters to choose from: Mario, Toad, Luigi, and
Peach. Yeah, the Princess is a selectable character.
Each character has a different ability. Mario is
average in all areas, Toad is good at picking up
stuff, but a bad leaper, Luigi is a mad crazy jumper,
and Princess can fly but is weak at picking up stuff.
It leads to a certain amount of strategy, because
each stage you can use a different character, and
different characters are better suited for certain stages.
The stages are really awesome, and there is certainly
a nice variety of them. You get all the classic Mario
series stages, like ice, and desert, but this time
they are a tad more unique. For instance, in the ice
stage, you can slip on the ice, and fall off the
ledges. There are also whales, which blow out water
out of their blowhole every once in a while. Stepping
on the blowhole before the water comes out enables
you to go on top of the water, acting as a platform
to go to the next ledge. If you hit the water
directly, you lose a hit point.
A lot of enemies are like that in this game. In the
desert stage, there is a cactus like enemy which has
several sections. Jumping on top of the cactus and
pushing down enables you to pull off its head, which
you can then throw at the rest of the body. You can
also throw stuff at the cactus, and the area in which
you hit it determines how much of the enemy dies.
Let's say you throw it at the bottom of the cactus.
The whole thing will be destroyed, but if you throw
it in the upper section, only the top half will be
destroyed. I really liked finding out how to kill the
various enemies. It definitely added a little to the gameplay.
As you may expect, Nintendo added a lot to the game.
The main addition is now you can find coins in each
stage. Each stage houses a certain amount of Yoshi
coins, and the more you get, the higher percentage of
the game you complete. Yes, the game keeps track of
how much percentage of the game you have completed,
sort of like Donkey Kong Country. There is also a
"sort of" world map in the game now. It basically
looks like the warp zone screen in Super Mario Bros.
3. It would have been really cool to see a world map
in the game, but it's not a major concern that it's
not in there. Also, the enemies and everything are a
lot larger now. Finally, you now can get points in
the game, as opposed to the Nintendo version.
The addition of the classic Mario Bros. game was just
what the game needed. For those of you that have
never experienced this game (it's a mini game in
Super Mario Brothers 3, in case you didn't know), it
is a little arcade like game. You are on the bottom
of the screen, and enemies start to come out of pipes
on top of the screen. It is your job to use the
platforms to get underneath the enemies, and then hit
them, jumping up, using the platform. Basically, the
enemy has to be on the platform directly above you
when you jump, and then the enemy flips over. Hit the
enemy, and the enemy dies. Clearing out all the
enemies ends the stage. You can also use a POW box to
kill all the enemies on screen. Sometimes, you get a
special stage, which has you getting coins out of a
pipe, but fireballs come out of it, as well. It's fun
as hell.
I may have made this game sound really fun, but I am
sad to say I just did not enjoy it as much as I
expected to. Nintendo kind of tampered with the
classic game feel of it, in my opinion. Super Mario
All Stars was the perfect translation, as it was just
as fun as the NES version. This one, however, is not.
It's fun and all, but it's not up to par with what I
expected. It just seemed like another average game as
I played through it. Collecting all the coins was not
as fun as I expected, and I just got bored a lot. I
am sorry to say this, but Mario Advance is a
disappointing game when I add it all up.
Controlling all the characters are a breeze, however,
and may control even easier than the NES version.
There is a lot of precision jumping in the game, so
good control is a must. Fortunately, Nintendo came
through in that regard. Each button has its own
purpose, and the control setup is really nice. You
can even change it to fit your own individual needs
if you want. I was really impressed with the control
in the game, as everything handled smoothly, in an
effective control setup. What more could you and I
possibly ask for?
Graphically, Super Mario Advance is top notch. It's
basically a visual upgrade of Super Mario Bros. 2,
but what an upgrade. The backgrounds are much more
nicely designed. You can now make out more individual
details, like the rocks in the background of a
building, or the clouds floating in the sky as you
make your way up the sky, using vines. The enemy
designs are much improved, as some of the enemies are
now larger than before. The vegetables were shocking
to me when I first played this game. There is now a
new larger vegetable, that has a lot of detail in it.
Nintendo really did a solid job with the graphics
here. I think it's one of the few things they managed to improve.
Music wise, the game could have benefitted from more
tunes and less of the remixed stuff. I liked the
classic Super Mario Bros. 2 music as much as the next
guy, but I was getting a little sick of it by the
time I played this game, so remixing some of the
themes and leaving some of the original themes in the
game was really not the brightest ideas. It will be
good for people that have never played the game
before (are there any?) but for veterans of the
series, the music gets annoying quickly. Speaking of
annoying, the voices in the game get annoying after
about five minutes. Mario sounds like a little whiny
kid, or my mom. Same difference. Really bad voices
that get annoying. The rest of the sound effects are
decent enough. The hitting enemies sound in the
original game was taken out, though. That's not a
good thing, that's a bad thing!
I dissed the game pretty bad a few paragraphs up, so
what do you expect me to say the replay value of the
game is? If you even feel like getting to 100
percent, you won't feel like playing it after you get
to 100 percent. The replay value was horrible. I
can't believe Nintendo made the game this boring. It
just doesn't have the same feeling. About the only
cool replay value of the game is playing multiplayer
classic Mario Bros. mode. It's really fun to go
against your friend and try to take him/her out in
the game. However, the Super Mario Bros. 2 game is
just plain boring. I was really disappointed with how
little replay value the game had.
Mario games have never really been much of a
challenge, and this game is no exception. About the
most challenging aspect of it is trying not to fall
asleep as you play through it. The bosses are pretty
simple for the most part (besides the final boss, who
is near impossible until you figure out how to
beat him, which is easier said than done), and most
of the stages are pretty basic in challenge. There
were only a few tough stages, and most of them
involved ice, whales, and keys. That should give you
a hint as to where the challenge level of the game lies.
Overall, I don't care how good I made the game sound.
It was fun, on Nintendo, and Super Nintendo. On Game
Boy Advance, it's just not very good. The only reason
to get this game is to play Mario Bros. on the road.
Playing Super Mario Bros. 2 on the road could have
turned out to be such a mega cool idea, but Nintendo
just seemed to mess this game up in terms of replay
value and fun factor. It's just not as fun as I
thought it would be. Maybe they added too much, maybe
they took away too much, maybe it's the small screen,
who knows? All I know is that this game disappointed
the hell out of me, so I'd advise renting before
buying.
Good Points
-This is a good way to see how innovative Mario games could be.
-Mario. Bros and Super Mario Bros. 2 are the most underrated games
of the series.
-The graphics were much improved for the most part.
-Two player Mario Bros. rocks the world.
-It's Mario Bros. 2 in portable..
Not So Good Points
-Too bad it stinks.
-The game is just not fun.
-It's not the most challenging game out there.
-Collecting all the coins gets tedious.
-The music and voices are horrible.
-It's just not worth the money.
The Bottom Line: This absolutely disappointed the
heck out of me. It's just not as fun as I expected it
to be, and it pretty much bored me. I don't know what
Nintendo did to mess around with this game, but
whatever they did, they really messed it up. Stick
with Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario All Stars
instead of this dud. Mario. Bros is the only reason
to even rent this stinker. Stay away from Super Mario
Bros. 2, as I have already mentioned, it is fun at
all! I can't believe how disappointing this game was.
Storyline - 9.1/10
Graphics - 9.3/10
Music - 3.7/10
Sound Effects - 2.4/10
Control - 9.7/10
Gameplay - 3.3/10
Fun Factor - 3.1/10
Replay Value - Below Average
Challenge - Below Average
Game Length - 3-5 Hours
Rent or Buy? - Rent, at best.
Overall - 3.2/10