Now Playing: Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (2003)
Topic: GameBoy Advance
Aside from the clunky title - Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 - there isn't much wrong with this game. In my opinion the original Super Mario Bros. 3 for the NES (1990) is the greatest video game ever created, and is also my personal favorite of all time (perhaps I am bias...I think not!). So a portable version playable on your GameBoy Advance, or your Nintendo DS if you should so desire, sounds like a perfect idea - for the most part it is.
Nothing was lost in translation when the game was ported to the GBA handheld. Actually, the version seen here in Mario Advance 4 is not the original NES game, but rather the SNES version from Super Mario All-Stars as it boasts the same impressive and timeless visuals from the 16-bit era. The Mario All-Stars version of Mario 3 was also an identical version of the original, just with the improved visuals and SNES sound effects. Anyway, Mario Advance 4 adds a few small surprises and nuances throughout the game. Extra visuals here or there, like a "Level Clear" screen at the end of each world is added for eye candy. Other slight adjustments like added enemies here or there are noticed, but I would say 98% of the game is exactly the same as it was back in the day - and that is a good thing.
With the few liberties taken in Mario Advance 4, it is a game I will obviously recommend considering how much I have enjoyed it on the NES and SNES. It's only shortcomings are that the game simply plays better on a regular console and television. Perhaps I am so used to playing it as a console game for so many years that I can't see past my own preferences, but regardless, it is still my preference. Naturally a game with a bigger screen is easier to play and navigate, and it's just the same with Mario 3. Also, the controls themselves are not quite as stellar as they were on the console versions. Perhaps that is my own perspective, but it just seems that the controls on the DS are just a tad looser than on a regular control - at least for Mario 3, because many DS control wonderfully. I must state though, that these are merely minor gripes and DO NOT detract from the overall experience.
What you will get is the greatest game of all time in a portable form and you really couldn't ask for a better one. Super Mario Bros. 3 is the finest example in Nintendo's vast library of great games with supremely designed levels and incredible gameplay. Mario Advance 4 is a valiant effort to bring the greatest game and usher it in to a new generation of gamers by way of a medium of portable handhelds whose technology nowadays is top notch. Whether you play it on the GameBoy Advance, the DS, or DS Lite (which is my choice of play), it is a great game. You won't be disappointed by this - and how could you be? It's the greatest game ever in a portable form.
-Kurt L.
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