Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3

"Mario's here again to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser!"

Mario stars again in the Super Mario Advance series, in possibly the last Super Mario Advance game for the Game Boy Advance, in another side-scroller where the objective is to save Princess Peach from the clutches of an evil Koopa named Bowser. Join him on a quest through a level-oriented (not the same as the World 1-1 numbering system found in classic Super Mario games) Mushroom Kingdom. In this game, Luigi can join Mario on his quest as a playable character. Read on to hear what I have to say.

Gameplay:

The game tries to be in the style of old Mario games, and I do believe it is a loose re-make, but you can tell it is not an exact port. If you don't feel like playing Super Mario Bros., though, the game does offer a nice game of Mario Bros. which is an exact port of the 1983 arcade game, featuring POW blocks and everything. The Mario Bros. game is found in every Super Mario Advance game, but it loses its touch after a while. You'll find yourself playing the main game, Super Mario Bros., more, although it truly depends on what type of gamer you are. If you are buying this game for Mario Bros., though, you will be deeply disappointed and will not want to buy this game. 7/10

Sound:

The music for Super Mario Advance 4 will not get stuck in your head. They are very forgettable tunes. The background music lineup for Super Mario Advance 4 does not feature the classic Mario song we all know and love, as well. It does feature some happy sounding tunes, though, but they get extremely repetitive. Don't buy this game for the music. 6/10

Graphics:

The graphics in Super Mario Advance 4 are obviously remastered, and do not have any classic charm or feel to them. However, the Mario Bros. side game has old graphics. Since the graphics are smoothed out, and look nice, I will give the graphics a high score. 9/10

Controls:

Much similar to every other side-scrolling Mario game, regardless of platform, the controls are very simple. A makes Mario jump, B makes him do an attack if he is in his cat outfit, which can be obtained by getting a Mushroom first. The D-pad controls make him move. What I do like about the controls, though, is the Sleep Mode feature; if you press L or R on the Super Mario Bros./Mario Bros. select screen, the screen changes from the game select to a section titled "Options", and the two options are "Easy Sleep" and "Auto Sleep". Auto Sleep makes your game go to sleep after a period of inactivity (That's good if you don't always have it plugged in like I do when I'm not on the go,) 7/10

Story:

It's the same Mario storyline as every single other Mario game you've ever played. Princess Peach has been kidnapped by Bowser, and you need to go through a series of challenging and headache-inducing levels. Don't get me wrong, the game is very fun, but the storyline is not different. However, since I love the Mario storyline, I will give this category a good rating. 8/10

Replayability:

Super Mario Advance 4 is a great game to replay. I love to play the game over and over again. There are so many different outcomes of levels that if you play a level over again, you might win it a different way than you did before. Super Mario Advance 4 is one of those games that you will not want to lose if you are disorganized, like I am. 9/10

Difficulty:

Super Mario Advance 4 is an extremely hard game. You will definitely not win it your first twelve times through, but you can eventually beat it, just like I did. I had to practice a heck of a lot before I beat it, though. The entire line of Mario games were designed for gamers looking for a challenge, not more subtle gamers, so if you love the Mario games, you will not be intimidated by the difficulty. I shied away at first, but after I played the game more it became easier for me. You will probably feel the same way, as well. 8/10

Overall, Nintendo's Super Mario Advance 4 tries very hard to be a remake of Mario games of years and consoles past, but it ultimately fails to duplicate the feel of the older games in the end. This is not to say that older is necessarily better; I love Super Mario Advance 4, and regard it as one of the better GBA games I own. The key factor to this game not getting a 9 out of 10 or a perfect score would most likely lie in the music used. This game is more of a score with classic gamers, especially the Mario Bros. side game, but even if you are a new style gamer, you might like this game. However, if you are a new style gamer, you will want to try it first before you buy it. If you are a classic gamer, I am almost sure that you will love this game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/16/05