Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3

"Urge to kill...rising...rising... (kills Bowser) ...gone."

...and those were my last words as I played the final level of this game. Yes, I had beaten the final level of Super Mario Bros. 3, hailed as one of the best games of all time. While I do think it is a great game, I also think that it doesn't match up to the sequel, Super Mario World. Read on...

Super Mario Advance 4 is a port of Super Mario Bros. 3 for the NES, but you probably knew that. As with most old games, there is barely a storyline. All you need to know is that you have to go and kill every turtle that stands in your path in order to rescue your girlfriend Peach from the clutches of Bowser. Why Bowser wants to kidnap her, I do not know, but it better not be what I think (shudders). What I do know is that this game is hard as hell, and I'll stick with the current generation of games.

Gameplay: 8/10
If you think this is the greatest game of all time and you see the score I gave gameplay, please do not send me hate mail. The controls are simple. A is jump, B is attack. When on the world map, press L to bring up the items menu. Don't worry, all they do is make you Super Mario, Raccoon Mario, Fire Mario, and a whole bunch of other crazy costumes. The goal in every level is simple: run right, jumping on or over enemies, and hit the box at the end of the stage. My first complaint about this game is that the levels are too short. Although there are about 80+ levels, they can take anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes (the maximum) to complete. Now, the early levels are incredibly short. Just when you start to get into it, it's over. About halfway through the game, the levels get tougher. These are the best levels, in my opinion. They offer a fair amount of challenge, and there are a perfect length. Now, the later stages are hell. As proven by my opening line, you can get very, very angry trying to complete them. You will want to hurl your Game Boy across the walls, then get a hammer and smash it into pieces. Now, the game is divided into 8 worlds. Each of these worlds have 10 levels, a fortress or two, and the ship at the end. Levels are pretty average. Run, jump, grab power-up, etc. Fortresses have a little more challenge, and you have to fight some freak turtle at the end. The ships have set cameras, so you won't be able to move at your own pace. At the end of a ship, you will find a turtle with a magic wand that you have to kill by jumping on the head. Weird, weird stuff. And to Mario veterans: I KNOW THEY'RE CALLED KOOPAS.
Now, I think the one thing that sets Bros. 3 apart from World is the suits. Yes, there are a lot of crazy suits in Super Mario Bros. 3. There is Fire Mario (lets you shoot fire), Racoon Mario (you grow a tail to hit enemies with, and for unknown reasons, can fly with), a Bear suit (how this enables you to fly, I'll never know), a Frog suit (ugh...), a weird Shoe power-up (believe it or not, this is the coolest thing in the game), among other suits. You may have seen screenshots with Cape Mario or with Mario holding a mushroom. Those things are only obtained with the E-Reader and some Super Mario Advance 4 cards. Trust me, it's not worth it to buy an E-reader just for this game.

Graphics and Sound: 7/10
Yawn. Nothing that impresses here. No special effects, no superb voice acting, nothing. It got the score it has right now because the music's ok and the levels aren't that bad. (And hearing ''Mama-mia'' every few seconds on the later levels because of death isn't pleasant to the ears.)

Value/Replayability: 7/10
It's not that long of a game. Since levels are short, you'll have it beat in a few hours or so. Once you beat a level, you can't go back to it unless you start a new file. Nintendo really could have done something to spice this up a bit. A decent multiplayer mode, or something other than that dang Mario arcade game (which I played to death on Advance 1, 2, and 3) would have been nice. Hey, they did it for Zelda, why not Mario?

Fun Factor: 8/10
Even with all these complaints, it's still a fun little game, and a classic for sure. Buy it if you're a hardcore Mario fan, but if not, get Super Mario World (Advance 2). It's a lot more graphically pleasing, longer, and funner. Well, that or Mario and Luigi.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/20/04