Super Mario Advance is a fun game for the Game Boy Advance. However it is nothing new.

The game itself is pretty fun. Unlike most every other Mario adventure there is no Bowser, Koopa Troopas, or anythiing else that will make you feel like this is a Mario game except for your characters. You can choose, at any time, from Toad, The Princess, Luigi, or Mario. Each character has different abilities that will help them succeed through certain levels of the game. Yes, strategy in a Mario game. Toad is the fastest character. The Princess can hover for about two seconds before she lands when she jumps. Luigi can jump higher and farther than the other characters. Mario is a balanced character with equal speed and jumping abilities.

Instead of stomping on enemies, the main idea is to jump on them and then pick them up. Once you do this, you can throw them into other enemies. You can also pick vegetables, bombs, and other weapons out of the ground, and use them to defeat enemies. The bosses usually throw items such as bombs or eggs that can hurt you, and your goal is to pick them up and throw them at the boss, so that the boss is hurt instead of you. A cool little slot machine game for power-ups awaits you at the end of each level, as well as the ability to select a new character, or retain the same one.

The other game in the package is Mario Bros. This is a multi-player game where players avoid dangerous creatures and attempt to be the last character to survive. A block in the middle will cause players (everyone except for the one that hit the block) to stumble a bit, which will allow the creatures to strike the characters. Somewhat fun, but gets tiring after a few games.

Overall the mix is pretty good, but it suffers from a few major flaws.

The major flaws is that the newest game of the two was released in 1988. That makes it 13 years old. And many players have already played this game. I played it so much that I could care less to play it again for quite some time. Both of these games were released for the Nintendo Entertainment System. If there were a load of additions it would make the package worth while, but the only differences are different enemy graphics. No new stages, No new characters, No new anything.

I'll take that back, there was one major addition, the addition of voices to the game. However since they are annoying, and will want to make you turn the volume off, I failed to mention them as a benefit.

If you have never played the game, and need it to be portable, then I would recommend the game. If you don't need it on the road, save yourself some money and get a used nintendo and both Super Mario Bros. 2 and Mario Bros. The system and both games will run you the same price as just this game.

If you want the game on a portable system, than this is a good remake. If you have already played the game, and are looking for something fresh and original, then take a pass on Super Mario Advance.

Recommended: No