Super Mario Advance
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| Super Mario Advance | |
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| Developer(s) | Nintendo |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Designer(s) | Shigeru Miyamoto |
| Release date(s) | March 21, 2001 (Japan) June 10, 2001 (USA) June 22, 2001 (Europe) |
| Genre(s) | Platform game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone |
| Platform(s) | Game Boy Advance |
| Media | 32-Megabit cartridge |
Super Mario Advance is a remake of the 1988 NES/Famicom hit game Super Mario Bros. 2 ("Bros." being omitted in-game), known in Japan as Super Mario USA, and was released in 2001 for the Game Boy Advance. This version is ported from the Super Mario All-Stars version of Super Mario Brothers 2.
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[edit] Background
Due to its unusual background, the game features gameplay that dramatically differs from other games in the series. The reason is because originally it was not a Mario game at all. Nintendo of America regarded Super Mario Brothers 2 (known internationally as The Lost Levels) as too difficult of a game that would not be popular. In response, Nintendo took Doki Doki Panic, made some graphical, sound, and storyline changes, and released it in the United States as Super Mario Bros. 2. The game was an enormous hit, although its gameplay differed drastically from Super Mario Bros.
[edit] Reception
Nintendo's decision to choose it as the Game Boy Advance launch game was seen as misguided; GameSpot in particular thought that Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World would have been a far better choice for as a launch title considering their popularity.[1] (Both of those titles would eventually be remade as part of the Advance series.) However, IGN praised the choice, calling it "one of the most polished and creative platformers of the era." [2] Nonetheless, it was a best-selling launch game, showing that the game still appealed to Nintendo fans. Recently, the game has become part of the Nintendo Player's Choice for Game Boy Advance.
[edit] Version differences
While Super Mario All-Stars contained ports that almost identically corresponded to their NES counterparts with the only real change being a graphical upgrade, Super Mario Advance contains numerous differences from its previous incarnations. Here are the primary differences from Super Mario Advance and the NES version. For the differences between Doki Doki Panic and the NES version of Super Mario Bros. 2, please refer to the respective article for each game.
- Graphics for the GBA version are based off Super Mario All-Stars, and the game has been given a complete graphical overhaul.
- All main bosses and the four playable characters now have voices, much to the chagrin of numerous players and professional critics.
- Two bosses have been changed. In the NES version, Mouser appears at the end of 1-3, and 3-3. Tryclyde makes two appearances, one at the end of 2-3, and 6-3. In SMA, a new boss named Robirdo has replaced Mouser as the boss of 3-3. Robirdo is essentially a giant mechanical Birdo that rolls on wheels, shoots larger eggs, and can shake the ground. The displaced Mouser, not content to be left out, replaces the 6-3 Tryclyde. This is not the first time the bosses have been changed. In Doki Doki Panic, Mouser has three appearances, the already aforementioned 1-3 and 3-3 appearance, and also at the end of 5-3. When Nintendo was converting Doki Doki Panic to Super Mario Brothers 2, they replaced the third Mouser with a new crab boss, Clawgrip.
- The character selection screen is now different. In the NES version, the player would select the four players in a single row; now whichever one you select is center focus, with the characters now being chosen like a revolving door. Also, the four now have star ratings (ratings are bassed on a one to five scale) for three categories: Power, Speed, and Jump.
- The very first opening segment of 1-1 has been changed to include a large Shyguy and a platform that springs when a player steps on it.
- There are now what can be best described as super enemies and vegetables. These enemies and vegetables giant-size in compared to the rest of the game’s sprites.
- Hearts: in the original, a player could gain a floating heart that would restore hit point of health by wiping out several enemies at once with a single vegetable. In the GBA version, they are much more plentiful, and can even be pulled up in vegetable patches and can be seen floating freely in the air.
- The timing has been changed on the bonus chance game to win extra lives. You can also bet more than one coin at a time and has the 7 icon which was present in the SNES version but not the NES.
- There are now 3 mushrooms per level, which gives the player five hit points rather than four.
- There are several new vases spread throughout the game that lead to new, single room screens not present in the original.
- The inside of a vase looks completely different and has new music.
- Koopa shells are larger (and more grainy). When they hit a wall, they bounce back now instead of disappearing. Also, when they defeat enemies, hearts always appear. Finally, shells can now hurt you.
- There are several places where additional enemies have been added to individual levels.
- In the NES version, a player is bound to whichever character s/he chose to complete the level until that level is complete. In All-Stars, this was changed so when a player dies, s/he may select another character to try to complete the level with. This change was retained for the GBA version as well.
- When a player dies and restarts a level, s/he starts fully small, and must gain heart pieces to grow in stature. In the NES/SNES version, when you restart a level after dying, your hit points are fully present. This may be why hearts are much more numerous in the GBA version. Due to this change, boss rooms that previously had no grass patches now have vegetable patches which give the player hearts. Birdo’s room is a good example of this.
- Five red Ace Coins have been added to each level, and when all five are obtained the player gets a 1-UP and a red mark on the level map indicating that all coins were collected for that letter.
- Some 1-Ups’ locations have been changed, and some include a bubble which takes three strikes by either vegetables or enemies to make the 1-ups accessible.
- After finishing Super Mario Bros. 2, a new mode called Yoshi’s Challenge becomes available, where the goal is to collect two Yoshi eggs per level.
- A save system has been added.
- The beginning of level 1-1 now has a background.
- The Japanese version lists the cast exactly the same as the English version as in previous incarnations, except Princess is Peach, and Toad is Kinopio. The rest of the names are identical to the other releases, except Shyguy is now properly Shy Guy, and Sub Con is now Subcon. Ostro and Birdo's names have also been fixed. In the English release, a few additional touchups were done to this version's names, including changing Hoopstar to Hoopster, and Clawglip to Clawgrip.
[edit] References
- ^ Ahmed, Shahed. Super Mario Advance for the Game Boy Advance review. June 5, 2001.
- ^ Nix, Marc. Super Mario Advance review. June 14, 2001.
