Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3

"A great remake"

I first picked up this game and WOW! I must first of all say that Super Mario Bros. 3 is possibly one of the greatest NES games of all time. This GBA version allows you to save after completing each level, a must have for any handheld. It contains all the secret Mushroom Houses, Warp Whistles, Coin Ships and other secrets and now it integrates e-Reader cards into the game. I haven\'t gotten a chance to use these e-Reader cards, but they supposedly can make the game easier and also more fun. One of the most impressive differences I\'ve noticed in this version is the graphics. The backgrounds are much more beautiful and everything else is just all around better.
(The overall score is an average of the below categories and is the score given in the review).

Storyline 5/10
Mario (and Luigi if you want) must retrieve the Magic Wands from Koopa\'s various sons. You travel through 8 Worlds or Kingdoms, thwomp various goombas, koopas, etc and then board the Koopa Kid\'s airship where you fight the Koopa Son. By fight I mean you stomp him three times while avoiding the flying shell attack and his/her Magic Wand beams. Of course, everytime you save one of the kings in each world, the Princess will reward you with some sort of powerup, usually the Flying-P or a Cloud (described further in the game play).

Controls 8/10
The controls are quite responsive and easy to use. This game only uses the Control Pad and the A and B buttons while playing the game, but while navigating on the map, the L and R buttons are also used to reach certain options.
Try and run full speed with Mario and turn him around and he skids for a few feet, it was programmed like that and it can get a little annoying sometimes.

Game Play 9/10
Challenging, but not easy. This game is both addicting and fun. The ability to save part way through gives it a definite advantage over the NES version. Not much has changed though, except now your points and lives are at the top of the screen where you have lost the blue status box. The P Bar is at the bottom and much smaller and you only see your Level Cards when you get close the black screen at the end of the level.
You can pick up powerups from the Princess, Mushroom Houses or fighting a Hammer Brother or multiple Hammer Brothers. These powerups can be used before you get into a level and can allow you to skip past the level (like the cloud does) or allow you to fly as you please throughout the entire level, (I call this the Flying-P) or give you the normal Mario power-ups, a Mushroom, the Flower, the Raccoon Leaf, a Frog Suit and my favorite the Hammer Brothers Suit. You can also play a matching game that will give you coins, 1-Ups and other rewards. A matching game allows you to match up a picture in slot machine style and earn additional 1-Ups. With the many different levels available, you will never get bored and there is plenty of exploring to do.

Difficulty 8/10
You\'ll find the most of the World\'s levels are pretty easy to get past. Sometimes you can just run through a level with your eyes closed and not get hurt. You\'ll also notice a steady increase in difficulty forcing you to cultivate your gaming skills. When you do finally get to King Koopa\'s world, you\'ll find the difficulty sky rocket. (Because of how difficult it is, I suggest not using Warp Whistles, because you\'ll need to accumulate all the power-ups and extra lives you can). I was never able to beat this game on the NES, but using the GameBoy Advance and the ability to save and even retry levels, it will be much easier to succeed.

Sound 10/10
Not as good on the little inferior GameBoy speaker, but still much better and more varied than other games. You\'ll hear almost four or five different tunes in each world. You\'ll actually enjoy, yes enjoy the sound of your GameBoy.

Graphics 10/10
I must invent a new word to describe the graphics. It\'s better than great, it is scrumptchalescent. Almost everything was given a face lift in this port and looks even better. I also must note that the backgrounds are quite impressive and detailed. A perfect job in remaking and improving the graphics.

Overall 8/10
This is a must have for any GameBoy Advance owner when it finally reaches the US after another delay. If you can\'t wait buy the import, there is very little text to scroll through and if you ever played the original version, you get the gist of what it says. The only problem would be in the new saving menus and the such. Of course this game is packaged with the original Super Mario Bros. arcade game so you can play that if you ever get frustrated.

Final Comments
Buy this game. I believe this game will be the biggest seller since Advance Wars. This is definitely a worth while investment.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/30/03, Updated 08/06/03