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The Lowdown
Pros: Classic Mario gameplay, e-reader support yields endless
possibilities. just as fun as it was over 10 years ago
Cons: No new multiplayer game, must have an e-reader and cards to unlock
new features
Purchase at Play-Asia
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Mario fans have been long awaiting a remake of Super Mario Brothers 3 for
the Game Boy Advance since the first Super Mario Advance. Time and time
again another Mario game was released and it started to look bleak for
the fate of Super Mario 3. However, Nintendo made it worth the wait. The
remix of Super Mario 3 is the best of all of the Game Boy Advance
remakes.
Super Mario Brothers 3 is a classic in platforming game play. It raised
the bar of what gamers expected in a platform game and created a host of
new features that would be drawn upon even in platform games today.
Super Mario Brothers 3 was the first game to have a RPG styled map
system where you chose which level you wanted to engage. For the first
time gamers had a choice to avoid levels that were annoying or hard,
because there were multiple paths to the same goal. Items were another
addition to gameplay. Yes, you can get items in levels, but you can also
stock up on items by visiting Toad's house. There are vast amount of
items in the game too. Mario has all his traditional powers like gaining
height and fire power from the mushroom and fire flower respectively.
There is also the addition of many new items. Most notably is the
inclusion of the super leaf, which gives Mario a raccoon tail so he can
fly. To go with the super leaf, there is the P-wing, which lets you have
unlimited flight for one level. Mario also has a variety of suits such
as the frog suit, hammer brothers suit and tanooki suit. Super Mario
Brothers 3 also included a vast number of mini games. One game is a
matching game where you try to line up three pieces of the same picture.
Another game has you duke it out with the hammer brothers on a small
field. The last game is a semi-secret game, which is a memory game. All
of these games provide you with either extra lives or valuable items.
What makes Super Mario Brothers 3 a true classic are two things. First is
the great level design. All of the levels are cleverly designed with
Mario's power ups in mind. 1-ups and warp pipes are hidden away in the
sky for Mario to fly to and certain areas require Mario to be small in
order to obtain secrets. The game is also designed with different themed
worlds. There is a desert world, water world, giant world, ice world and
dark world just to name a few. The number of themed areas keeps the game
fresh and interesting. Each world gets significantly more difficult from
the next. When you're in World 7, Pipe World, you may be pulling out
your hair from frustration. Even though there is some aspect of
frustration the game feels rewarding when you beat a level, which is the
second thing that makes Mario Brothers 3 a classic. There are also some
"super secrets" in the game like making the coin ship appear or the
white mushroom houses to appear. These extras are very rewarding and
provide more challenges for people to master.
While the game is an enhanced version of the Super Mario All-Stars remake
for the Super Nintendo, Nintendo added on a few extra features in the
game. First of all the graphics have been altered to make more vivid
backgrounds. The changes in the backgrounds are similar to the
enhancements seen in the other Mario Advance games. Nintendo also added
some voice sound effects in the game for both Mario and Luigi. While
these are cute at first, they are forgotten rather quickly. There is
also the addition of the original Mario Brothers game that can be played
via link play with a friend. However, this game was seen in three of the
other Mario Advance games and by now gamers want something new. Also
like the other Mario Advance games Luigi plays slightly differently from
Mario. Luigi is like the Luigi from Super Mario Brothers 2. He has a
higher and slower jump than Mario, which leads to some minor gameplay
differences between the two characters.
All of those enhancements are nothing to the e-reader capabilities of this
game. If you have an e-reader its time to get it out of the closet and
wipe the dust off it. Super Mario Advance 4 is compatible with special
e-reader cards that are one of three types. The cards can be item cards
that instantly give Mario an item. Nintendo has included cards with some
of the harder items to obtain like the Hammer Brothers suit and the
tanooki suit. The next card type teaches player tricks of the trade in
movie format. Some of these tricks include how to get 99 lives and where
some secret areas are. The last type of card is the most interesting.
There are cards with levels from other Mario games. One of the cards
that was packaged with the Japanese version of Super Mario Advance 4 was
the first level from the original Super Mario Brothers. However, you
have all of the powers from Super Mario Brothers 3, which means you can
fly over the entire level. This leaves the game with endless
possibilities. At this point it is unknown what type of cards Nintendo
will bring to the stateside, but it is expected that Nintendo will be
releasing special promotional cards so keep your eyes open.
If you remember the original game you'll love this remake with all of the
new features and if you haven't played the original (or SNES remake) go
buy this now.
Import Friendly?
The game is rather import friendly since you don't need to know any
Japanese to play the game, but the game is coming stateside so its
probably worth waiting to get in the US. A warning to importers: it is
believed that the e-reader cards will not be compatible between
different territories.
US Bound?
A US release is currently scheduled for October 20, 2003
Overall
If you have GBA you should get this game, its classic Mario gameplay
with a few new twists that everyone can enjoy.
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