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Super Mario Advance is a series of four platform games released for the Game Boy Advance. The games were enhanced remakes of Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario World, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Super Mario Bros. 3 respectively. All four contained a new version of Mario Bros. as a two player minigame.

Super Mario Advance

Super Mario Advance was developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development, and was a launch title for the Game Boy Advance. The Super Mario Advance version of Super Mario Bros. 2 includes several new features such as the addition of the enemy Robirdo (a robotic Birdo acting as the boss of World 3, replacing Mouser), the addition of the Yoshi Challenge (in which players may revisit stages to search for Yoshi Eggs), and an all-new point-scoring system (a first for the game). Graphical and audio enhancements were also added in the form of enlarged sprites, multiple hit combos, digital voice acting, and such minor stylistic and aesthetic changes as an altered default health-meter level, boss-order, backgrounds, the size of hearts, Princess Toadstool being renamed to the now-standard "Princess Peach," and the inclusion of a chime to announce Stars.

Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2

In 2001, Super Mario World was ported by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development to the Game Boy Advance as Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2. Some levels were minimally changed, but the most noticeable alteration was making the game one player only instead of two. However, Luigi was still usable, but this time as an alternate character; he could jump higher than Mario, but he ran slightly slower. Mario and Luigi were also given voices. Luigi's sprites were changed once again with his appearance closer to the original Super Mario Advance game, which was based on Super Mario Bros. 2.

Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was ported by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development to the Game Boy Advance as Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 with added features.

The game featured no changes to its basic formula besides that voice samples from Yoshi's Story were used. There were two major additions, however: six new levels called "Secret levels" could be unlocked after beating the game, and the Mario Bros. mini-game that appeared on all the Super Mario Advance series. If a player completes the game and gets 100 points on all 60 levels in the game, a secret ending will occur.

On July 28, 2011, Nintendo announced that the Game Boy Advance remake of Yoshi's Island (i.e. Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3), as well as nine other Game Boy Advance games (and 10 NES games), will be available to Nintendo 3DS owners, via Virtual Console, to whom will participate in an upcoming Ambassador program after Nintendo officially issues a price-cut to the Nintendo 3DS starting August 12, 2011. This offer is available in all territories, and only to those who became eligible in the Ambassador program (by accessing the Nintendo eShop before the date of the price-cut). Nintendo currently has no plans to release this game, or any other Game Boy Advance game, to the general public in paid form.

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros 3

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros 3, released in Japan as Super Mario Advance 4 (スーパーマリオアドバンス4), is a platform video game that was developed and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance handheld game console. It was first released in Japan, and then later released in Europe, North America, and Australia. It is an enhanced version of the Nintendo Entertainment System video game Super Mario Bros. 3, and is based on the remake found in Super Mario All-Stars for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the fourth and final release in the Super Mario Advance series, and was first revealed at Nintendo's conference at the E3 2003 convention, containing several enhancements, including the addition of Mario and Luigi's voices by Charles Martinet, the ability to scan e-Cards into Nintendo's e-Reader to add certain content, and a multiplayer mode based on the original arcade game Mario Bros.

Reception

Super Mario Advance received generally positive reviews, garnering an aggregate score of 84% on Metacritic. One reviewer concluded "all nostalgia and historical influence aside, Super Mario Bros. 2 is still a game worth playing on the merits of its gameplay alone", also saying that "the only reason you may not want to pick it up is if ... you already own it in another form." However, GameSpot thought that Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World would have been a better choice for a launch game considering their respective popularity; both titles were eventually also remade as part of the Super Mario Advance series. Conversely, IGN praised the choice, calling it "one of the most polished and creative platformers of the era". The game was named one of the NES best games ever by IGN, saying that the game offers greater diversity in graphics and gameplay than the original, making it a great bridge game between the other NES Mario titles. The game was ranked as the ninth worst game in the Mario game series by ScrewAttack; they said that while it was a good game, it felt like a lie because they weren't playing the real Super Mario Bros. 2.

Like its two predecessors, Super Mario Advance 3 had generally positive reviews. It sold 1.6 million copies in the US and was re-released in 2006 as a Player's Choice title.

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 has received very positive reception, considered one of the best Game Boy Advance games ever made. It holds an aggregate score of 94 on Metacritic based on 25 reviews, making it the third highest-rated Game Boy Advance game. It is also the second highest-rated Mario video game on Metacritic as of May 20, 2010, behind Super Mario Galaxy. It also holds an aggregate score of 92.25% based on 37 reviews, making it the third highest-rated Game Boy Advance game and the 135th highest-rated video game. Super Mario Advance 4 has also been commercially successful; it sold in excess of 2.88 million copies in North America, 718,207 in Japan, and at least 100,000 copies in Europe, earning a Silver sales award from the ELSPA. The Guardian attributed an increase in revenue by 2.1% to sales of Super Mario Advance 4, which they describe as strong. It debuted in the United Kingdom as the 20th best-selling game of its week of release. For the week ending December 28, 2006, it was the best-selling Game Boy Advance game in North America. It has been nominated for several awards, winning some of them; it won best Game Boy Advance platform game from both IGN and its readers, the former calling the new levels "phenomenal". GameSpot nominated it for best platform game of the year, while its readers awarded it best Game Boy Advance game of the year. GameSpy named it the ninth best Game Boy Advance game of 2003, while its readers named it the sixth best. Pocket Gamer gave it a perfect score, calling it "Mario hop-n-bop action at its finest" and "as great as it ever was". GameNow similarly gave it a perfect score, commenting that it was designed to keep players playing. Play Magazine gave it a perfect score, calling the challenge perfect. They praised its quick save feature, as well as the additional e-Reader features. Electronic Gaming Monthly praised its controls and stages, as well as its visuals, nothing that they are good for an "old, trippy 2D game". Nintendo Power praised the game for remaining a quality game since its release. Yahoo! Games praised it as surpassing the original, including its Super Mario All-Stars remake. Author William Abner called it the "quintessential side-scrolling platform game", though noting that it showed the Game Boy Advance's limitations rather than its strengths. The Detroit Free Press' Heather Newman gave it a perfect four out of four stars, while USA Today called it a great game. Game Informer's Dan Ryckert criticized the naming system employed, describing it as "boneheaded", also criticizing the method by which players use the e-Cards. A Game Informer reviewer praised it as their favourite game ever, expressing delight that the game has a "finally ... high quality port". While GameSpy's Benjamin Turner found the e-Reader utilization neat, he criticized it as a means by Nintendo to get people to buy the e-Reader, calling it unfortunate that those without the device or the means to use it would be left out. He also criticized the Game Boy Advance's smaller screen for making the gameplay more "claustrophobic". However, he called it an excellent game for Mario fans and newbies alike. GameZone's jkdmedia commented that while fans found the lack of new content in previous games to be disappointing, the extra content was "shocking" to him, encouraging players to purchase an e-Reader to utilize it. He added that to kids of this era, it would be harder for them to appreciate it, comparing it to kids observing the change in television from black and white to colour or kids seeing Star Wars coming to theaters. 1UP.com noted that while the set up to get the e-Reader features was complicated, it was worth it. They commented that the demo cards were hilarious, though bemoaning the limited number of them. They also praised the game, commenting that younger players would get a chance to play it and older players would be able to play it again, praising its gameplay as well as its e-Reader enhancements. Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell commented that throughout the releases of the Super Mario Advance titles, he was waiting for Super Mario Bros. 3 to be re-released under the brand. He commented that this release was better than 90% of the video games of the 2004 Holiday season, praising Nintendo for the visual improvements over the Super Mario All-Stars release. However, they faulted Nintendo for giving Mario and Luigi voices, calling them annoying to the point where he would turn down the volume.

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