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Super Mario Advance
Pretty good game, not as good as some of the Mario games. Nice game for kids between 4 and 7. I enjoyed this game 15 years ago and had to buy it for my Nintendo DS.

excellant
My nine year old son used his money to purchase this game and had loads of fun.

Too Much From Origonal?? (Rating: 5 out of 10- -2.5 stars)
Now I myself personally love me some Super Mario. If you checked my reviews, you'll see that I've given Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros 3 & Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance all high ratings. When I purchased those two games, I've noticed that Nintendo made some changes with those games since the last time I've owned them on Super Nintendo. So here I am with Super Mario Advance, which is Super Mario 2 on Game Boy Advance, and I have to say that I've not impressed at all with this one. I understand that video games "evolve" over time and creaters try to make them better, but there is a difference between making the game better than the origonal, and making it complicated than the origonal. Nintendo did the latter with this game.

Changes for the good are nice for me. On this one you can pick you character each time you die (actually you could do that since the Super Mario All-Stars game, and I didn't know you couldn't do that on the origonal NES game until I was playing my cousin's Wii a few days ago). Also it tells you each characters power under them on the select screen. Another helpful change is when you collect the star which makes you become invincible for a few seconds. Back then when you collect a certain amount of cherries, a star would just randomly float from the bottom of the screen. On here you'll hear some kind of tone which warns you the star is comming.

Not so good changes are very visible. First of all, what got me was during the beginning of the game, there is a long drop before you reach the bottom and start. They changed that too, which sucks. Also on the origonal game you started off big (the status you are when you have at least two hearts on the left side of the screen). Here you're small (with one heart on the left side), which really isn't a problem because you can find hearts anywhere to make you grow. Back then if you kill enough enemies, a heart will float from the ground and you gain more life. Here, hearts are inside the plants you pick up from the ground and sitting idle in high places on levels. And what really ticks me off is the red shell that you can pick up from the ground. Back then you threw the red shell at an enemie and it would have hit the wall and dissapeared. Here if you throw a shell, it will bounce off the wall and keep going, and if it hits you, you loose a heart or die (come on now!). And whats the deal with those huge Shy Guys and Turnip Plants? And like every Mario game, the characters speak (Peach doesn't know when to shut up). Hell even Birdo speaks (that purple dinosaur that shoot out eggs), and half the time I don't even knows what she is saying.

There you have it with Super Mario 2 on Game Boy Advance. What I believed happened was that Nintendo received feedback since 1993 when this game was reissued on SNES on how difficult the game was and tried their best to make it easier and more fun for new and younger Nintendo gamers, because I played the origonal on the Wii and it was the exact version on the NES and it was way harder. Older guys like me will definately find this game flawed if you've had it in different formats. Nintendo has made some great reissues with great modifications, but they shot a brick with this one big time. Peace.

P.S.- The Arcade game appears on all Super Mario Advance games.

For nostalgia's sake alone
Mario's first appearance on the GBA came with the first Super Mario Advance game, which is an updated port of Super Mario Bros. 2 for the original Nintendo console. For those that don't know, Super Mario Bros. 2 was a departure from the classic, standard setting original game, as Mario now pulled radishes out of the ground to hurl at enemies among other changes (the reason behind these is because the original Super Mario Bros. 2 was deemed too difficult when originally developed, so another in-development game got a Mario facelift and was released as Super Mario 2 here in the states, while the other Mario sequel would see somewhat of a release as Super Mario All-Stars on the Lost Levels segment), but despite it all, the game still offered some solid platforming action and fun. Choosing to play as Mario, Luigi, Toad, or Princess Peach; you hurl radishes and other items at enemies, look for secrets, and more besides. The game is pretty simple to get into, and the graphics and sound have been updated for the GBA, but there are some flaws. The controls aren't as tight as we've seen on Mario games before and after this, and there are moments where the game really doesn't feel like a Mario game (and it's really not, for reasons mentioned above), but despite it's flaws, the first Super Mario Advance is a fun diversion, even though it is the weakest of the four Super Mario Advance games that came out for the GBA over it's lifespan. All in all, if you're still looking to get some quality, triple-A titles for your GBA before it completely bites the dust, here's one to pick up if you haven't already.

A little disappointing...
I bought this game without knowing that it was the same as Super Mario 2. This was my least favorite Mario game for the NES. I also think it was kind of pointless to include the original Mario Brothers game. (You remember the one with the POW barrel) That game is not fun, and requires a connector cable and an opponent for any kind of real game play. I recommend Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros 3 for some classic Mario fun.