Super Mario Advance 1 Review (no fat)

Game Description

Game Description

One day, Mario was taking a nap when he had a strange dream. In his dream, there was a long, long stairway that led to a door, and on the other side of that door a strange and surreal world spread out before him. After waking up, Mario, the Princess, Luigi, and Toad decided to go on a picnic. While on the picnic, the gang discovered a strange cave. In the cave was the long stairway leading to the doorway to the world from Mario’s dreams.

Super Mario Advance is a remake of Super Mario Bros. 2 (known as Super Mario USA in Japan) and the original Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros. 2 is much different from Super Mario Bros. and features a wide array of platforming levels that span as much distance vertically at times as they do horizontally. Experience the uniqueness of playing as each of the Super Mario characters.

Introduction

In Super Mario Advance, there are remakes of Super Mario Bros. 2 and Mario Bros. The remake of Mario Bros. is more or less the multiplayer mode of the game. Super Mario Bros. 2 is the main course. Anyone who played Super Mario Bros. 2 for the Super Nintendo has a really good idea of what to expect on the Gameboy Advance—essentially this is the same enhanced game that was found in Super Mario All-Stars barring a scattering of new features.

But what’s immediately desirable about Super Mario Advance is that it is a great first entry on the Gameboy Advance. In all its vibrant glory, the Gameboy Advance gets to show off its capabilities, and for the first time one of the all-time greatest Super Mario games is playable on the go.

Graphics

Overall, Super Mario Bros. 2 looks exactly as it did in the Super Mario All-Stars compilation. With a few additions such as large turnips and large enemies, most of what makes this Super Mario Bros. 2 stand out is that it makes excellent use of the Gameboy Advance’s power. The game remains as colorful as ever and has a few new twists to it.

Popping into vases got pretty boring in the past. It always seemed that there were very few surprises to be found in the vases. Occasionally a one-up mushroom or a potion would turn up, but most of the time there’d be a lone shy guy waiting for you. Now there’s the ever-so-popular Ferris wheel of platforms. I mean, vases were meant to have Ferris wheels in them. They literally beg for it. In any case, this is an awesome addition if only to give us something new to look forward to when we see a vase and inevitably can’t keep from going into it. Moreover, this adds a new background to the vase that looks pretty cool.

Everything else about Super Mario Bros. 2 falls on par with the original remake. The cast of Mario, Luigi, the Princess, and Toad now feature additional detail to their sprites and some new animations to boot. It’s nothing that radically changes the game, but it’s nice to see a port of a classic game take advantage of new hardware. The extra polish will also make this feel like a worthy purchase.

Sound

Among all the classic tunes from the Super Mario Bros. series, Super Mario Bros. 2 is no slouch. Its soundtrack is one of the more memorable ones, and like Super Mario Bros. 3 it had a lot of its themes incorporated into the Super Mario cartoons. For the Gameboy Advance, the synthesized tunes come out quite nicely.

What’s new to the game is the bevy of voiceovers given to the wily cast of characters. Mario says the new sound clips are “Just what I needed!” But as a friend of mine sarcastically remarked, “Not what I needed!” The new voiceovers can be quite obnoxious and obtrusive at first. Eventually, they will grow on you, or you will turn the volume down and get used to playing without sound.

My first impression was that the voiceovers were very hard to ignore. As I continued to play, I found them to be more bearable. The voice clips give the game quite a bit of charm, actually, and I think I’d rather have the additions than not. Overall, the audio is one of the highpoints for Super Mario Advance.

Gameplay and Control

Anyone who played Super Mario Bros. 2 for the Nintendo Entertainment System should know what to expect in terms of control. Mario is the most balanced of the characters, sporting no special abilities, and with the Gameboy Advance setup there are only two buttons to be concerned with: a and b. One button makes Mario jump, and the other picks stuff up or makes Mario run.

The most unique aspect from the original Super Mario Bros. 2 was the unique ability each character was given. Luigi’s super jump has since become his trademark, and it’s something that has turned up in the other Super Mario Advance games. Toad has really good strength (in addition to his super annoying voiceover) and pulls up turnips faster than anyone else. The Princess has her hover ability—thanks to her dress, because you know dresses and baggy MC Hammer pants make people hover when they jump.

In all, the special abilities of each character make for a very interesting experience. Mario represents the normal gameplay experience. If making the power jumps is not your strength, then playing as Luigi can remove some of the high jump obstacles. If pulling up turnips is a problem, then Toad comes in handy pulling up turnips/coins or bashing baddies. Princess Peach can be a really cheap means for completing platform intensive stages. It really is a matter of strategy and wit.

Some of the changes I am less enthused with. Adding large baddies and equally large turnips is a fun and unexpected change. Adding hearts for each of the big baddies and turnips that do nothing but turn into hearts makes for a whole lot of hearts. In the grand scheme, this makes for less intense gameplay and fewer deaths, but it’s not as if it eliminates dying. That still happens aplenty.

The most annoying thing for me was getting to the stage boss battle where the cool stage theme has actually been replaced, the birdo now speaks to you (and sounds like Roseanne Arnold/Barr), and there are hearts littered all over the level. You can’t jump up without finding a heart hovering in the sky. It makes a simple challenge even less of a challenge and makes for an anti-climactic battle.

But for all it’s worth, the additional hearts hardly detract from a great game. The meat of the game is intact and worth every minute of playing. Super Mario Bros. 2 along with the remake of Mario Bros. makes for a huge variety of platform gaming that won’t get old quickly.

Value

Not much has been said of the bonus Mario Bros. game. For those who’ve played it before, you recognize this as the arcade original brought back to life. Its last incarnation was the battle mode in Super Mario Bros. 3 where Mario and Luigi could battle it out bashing baddies and grabbing coins.

In the same vein, this is an enhanced version Mario Bros., featuring new animations, backgrounds, sprites, and bonuses. Mario Bros. serves as an interesting single player excursion and an exciting two player challenge mode. As if Super Mario Bros. 2 would get old and stale after thriving for almost two decades, Mario Bros. will extend the life of Super Mario Advance by a healthy margin.

Final Verdict

Gamers eager to buy a top notch platform game for their handheld ought to look no further than Super Mario Advance. It features one of the more unique platform experiences in the Mario series and is a lot of value packed into one cartridge. It’s worth the purchase for anyone who loves Mario or loves addictive games.

Review written by Donny Simpson.