Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3

"The best Mario game to date has gone portable! *cue angelic chimes*"

Super Mario Bros. 3, came out in America in 1990. It was re-made for Super Mario All-Stars on the Super Nintendo a few years later and has now been released on the GBA as Super Mario Advance 4. The game is still just as fun as ever and proves that Mario can still stand the test of time.

The Background

The story behind the game is relatively simple, but since when has Mario been about a compelling and deep plot? It's not an RPG. This Mario game introduces the Koopalings, Bowser's "children" (though the game never says how they got there). The Koopalings have been sent by Bowser to steal the magic wands from all the kings in Mushroom Land and turn the kings into various creatures. So Mario shows up, as usual, to save the kings and defeat Bowser and the Koopalings.

Still as Legendary as ever

This Mario improves on the last two Mario games (Super Mario Bros. and the "real" Super Mario Bros. 2) by adding new power-ups, introduces Mario's ability to fly (which has been re-used in many newer Mario games), and adds a "world map," where Mario moves around the map to visit different levels. This new feature allows Mario to run into other things besides levels on the world map, such as Toad Houses, (where you can win items from Toad) enemies that also move around on the map that give you prizes if you manage to beat them, a "magic whistle" item to warp around levels (instead of warping in the actual level, you find a flute in the level; you can warp whenever you want -- or don't at all) and various other bonus games to win lives, items, and coins. The world map is the biggest change in the Mario series, and adds a huge amount of depth to the game.
Along with the world map and other features, Nintendo delivers with a lot more levels than the previous games. Each world usually has around 6 normal levels, the end-world "boss" level, (which has Mario getting to the end of an airship; can you say Final Fantasy?) a mini-boss fortress level usually half-way through the world, and occasional other levels (such as a pyramid in World 2). This makes the game much longer than its predecessors are.

Like the other two games, this one has a multiplayer "co-op" mode, where one player controls Mario and the other controls Luigi. The multiplayer seems enhanced in this one though; since the levels are on a world map, instead of each character taking turns going through each level on their own, once "Mario" (player 1, say) beats a level, "Luigi" (player 2) can pass by it on the world map and do the next level, or go ahead and skip a couple of levels and grab that "magic whistle" before Mario gets to it. Instead of just going to on of the next levels though, Luigi can decide to take that Toad house that Mario just opened up. So, each thing you do on the game helps or hinders the other player; the two players can team up with each other to get through the levels, or go against each other; play dirty and steal Toad houses and bonuses, race through the levels to see who can beat more of them, etc, etc. This kind of thing opens up a lot with the multiplayer and makes it a much more enjoyable experience than the first two games.

The GBA version of the game introduces a bunch of extra stuff for the game to make it even more enjoyable. As with other Super Mario Advance games, it includes the re-make of the original Mario Bros. arcade game. It also adds a linked two player game, and Super Mario Bros. E-reader cards that you can use to add bonus level and an entire new world in the game. All these features add up to make the game even better than it was before

Telltale Tunes

Mario games never had amazing music, but it was good, and usually had the "get stuck in your head for the rest of the day" effect whenever you played it. I can recall the entire tune for the first level in my head right now. I feel Koji Kondo's work fits the game perfectly; a light, easygoing beat for the over world levels, a deeper, slower tune for caves, a dark, shifty tune for the dungeons, slow, flowing music for underwater levels, etc. Pretty basic, but still amazing in it's own way.

"OMG, you stole my P-wing!!"

The game is amazing; as usual, Nintendo delivered with the gameplay more than anything else. The levels are all enjoyable, with a bearable difficulty curve. Not too easy, but not that hard either, until you get to that last world… ugh. (Save those P-wings ;) ) The levels are unique, each world has it's own theme as usual, (Desert world, Ice world, a sort of "piranha plant" or "pipe" world, a world in the clouds, and even a world where everything is super sized! There are goombas big enough to stomp Mario!) and each level in each world has it's own idea, nothing is rehashed, the levels don't feel the same as you go through the game.

"Hey, I didn't know you could do that!"

Going along with usual Mario style, the game has secrets galore. You could play the game for years and still find out something new when you're playing the game or watching someone else. From going through walls to finding hidden 1-up blocks, discovering secret passageways and (a Super Mario classic) ways to get a star card every time at the end of a level and places where you can get unlimited 1-ups, the game will always have something new for you. (Unless you're one of those sad, pathetic creatures that will actually use a guidebook or walkthrough for a game like this =P)

The secret behind Mario's longevity

The Super Mario games have always had this unique ability to be both a pick-up-and-play game and a game to be engrossed in for hours, and this one is no exception. You can easily play a Mario game for a ten or twenty minute session one day and be happy, and the next day, play it for five hours straight without getting bored of it. This is one reason why Mario has been so successful over the years and a reason why his games are so appealing to so many people. Super Mario Bros. 3 is worth playing more than any other game I have ever played before. I've been playing it since I was a wee little tyke and my mum showed me how to hold a controller and play the game, and she's been playing it before me.

Buy, rent, or burn?

Definitely a buy. You can get it pretty cheap, and used copies aren't really hard to find. The measly $10 for a used copy of the game is more than worth it.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/06/07