I finally completed Super Mario Advance today, so my review should be up by tomorrow if all goes well.
Also, I take back what I said about not having hand cramps when using the Game Boy Micro. It’s still tolerable, though.
Monthly Archives: December 2008
Today I got a Game Boy Micro in the mail off of eBay for a fairly good price. When the Micro came out, I was skeptical because of the release of the DS, and I felt I didn’t need a Micro. After my recent urge to play GBA games, I realized that the GBA emulation on DS isn’t very good because of the A and B buttons are reversed on the DS, so it makes it tougher to play fast paced games, so I went back to playing GBA games on my old GBA SP. I started reading up on the Micro after that, and a lot of people seemed to like it, so I checked eBay and found this one, which also came with Super Mario Advance 2 and Metroid Fusion which sweetened the deal. After an hour or so of playing Super Mario Advance on the Micro, I’m really starting to like it. The form factor is a huge plus, and my hands don’t seem to cramp as they do with the GBASP, despite being smaller. I can’t completely retire the GBA SP though. As good of a GBA player as the Micro is, there are some significant compatibility issues with the it. First of all, it can’t play Game Boy or Game Boy Color games. Second of all, it can’t link up to other GBAs or the GameCube (as far as my limited knowledge of the system goes anyway). Finally, it is not compatible with the e-Reader. For what it does do though, it does very well. It’s not exactly something I would call retro, but I felt that it’s worth noting, since it plays games that are 7 and a half years old.
Comparison shot between the Micro, SP and DS Lite
Here are a couple of pics of my “new” (it was used, but came in very pristine condition along with all the packaging) system:
It has a brighter screen than the original GBA SP
Comparison shot between the Micro, SP and DS Lite
Oh, and I just finished the ice world in Super Mario Advance, so I’m getting closer to beating the game. The review should be up within the next 3 days if all goes well.
Merry Christmas!
After finishing Super Mario Advance 4, I had a sudden urge to play the original Super Mario Advance. As big of a Mario fan as I am, I’ve never actually completed Super Mario Bros. 2. I skipped over it in Super Mario All-Stars in favor of the original SMB or SMB3, and played about a half hour of my friend’s copy of Super Mario Advance when the GBA launched. I got my copy off of eBay a couple of days ago and started playing it last night. To my surprise, it’s a lot more fun than I remember. There are a couple flaws, but so far I’m really enjoying it. Hopefully the review will be up within the next few days, depending on how easy/hard the rest of the game is.
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 Review
Today we’re going to take a look at Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, a portable remake of the NES smash-hit Super Mario Bros 3.
As the final game in the Super Mario Advance mini-series, Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 follows the same tradition as its predecessors as a means of giving new as well as experienced gamers a way of playing Mario games from the 8 and 16-bit eras. As the title of the game may suggest, SMA4 is a remake of the NES game Super Mario Bros 3. for the Game Boy Advance. Even for players who have played the original SMB3, there are still many reasons to give SMA4 a chance.
The objective in SMA4 is simple. It’s up to Mario (and his brother Luigi) to save seven kings from their respective worlds, who have been turned into animals by King Koopa’s kids. Granted, the story isn’t featured prominently in the game, for better or for worse. As far as the gameplay is concerned, Mario’s goal is to progress through each 2-dimensional level and reach the end with many obstacles and enemies to overcome. There are eight distinct worlds containing roughly 10 stages with a final castle stage. Each level is displayed on an overworld map not too different from the one from Super Mario World.
First stage of the game
Similarly to previous Mario Advance titles, Mario is aided with several power-ups to help achieve his ultimate goal. The mushroom makes Mario larger, allowing him to take an extra hit, the fire flower allows Mario to throw fireballs to kill most enemies, the starman allows Mario to gain temporary invincibility and a feather which allows Mario to fly after gaining momentum from running. Overall, the items are balanced, though with the aid of the feather, you are able to fly through some entire levels. Unlike the stages in Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2, the stages in SMA4 are more linear, with fewer chances for exploration. However, there are still some hidden areas and items that can be found through exploration such as the warp whistle, which allows the player to advance to another world instantly.
The level designs are masterfully crafted to add some challenge to the game and play against the expectations of the player. This is especially true if you have played previous Mario titles, because you will often find yourself dying by making a leap of faith that you might have made in the past. The level design shows its age in one aspect. Comparatively to SMA2, the levels are much shorter. This isn’t a big problem overall though, because the actual meat of the levels give an illusion of being longer. Each world has its own distinct theme. For example, the second world contains levels with a desert theme, and the fourth world contains levels in which everything including the enemies are much bigger than Mario. Each theme presents new obstacles for Mario to overcome, giving the game more variety as a result. The boss stages are tough, especially the later stages, with bullet-bills and cannon balls bombarding the screen. Basically it is a hybrid of classic Mario gameplay and a vertical shooter, as you try and get to the end of the level while dodging bullets.
The precursor to Tiny Huge Island from Super Mario 64
Due to the nature of portable gaming, you are able to save the game after completing a world or a mini-castle, unlike in the original NES version. If you get a game over, you are not penalized in any way, so you can inch your way to beating the game while constantly dying with no repercussions. This makes the game significantly easier, and much friendlier to kids and new gamers.
For those who are familiar with SMB3, SMA4 is more reminiscant of the Super Mario All-Stars remake of SMB3 in terms of its graphics and audio. The character sprites and backgrounds look nearly identical to the ones in SMAS. The levels are far more colorful in SMA4 than the limited original NES version. Mario looks way more detailed, though not quite as good as his SMW rendition. The audio and sound effects are also nearly identical to the audio heard in SMAS. However, due to the limitations of the GBA hardware, the audio quality isn’t as sharp. Also, SMA4 contains limited voice acting for Mario and Luigi. Upon picking a level, Mario says “Let’s-a-go!”. When he dies, Mario says “Oh, mamma mia!”. These voice clips feel out of place and are one of the few additions that are unwelcomed, though the voice acting isn’t nearly as obtrusive as it is in the original Super Mario Advance (Toad, anyone?).
SMB3 experts will find new things to do with this iteration thanks to its e-Reader support. The e-Reader functionality allows players to gain access to new levels, items and demo levels, perhaps making SMA4 the definitive experience for SMB3. However, you will need access to all the cards, two GBAs and a link cable to experience these new additions. The hassle is ultimately worth it, though.
As with the previous SMA titles, SMA4 contains the original Mario Bros. game, in which you try and get a high score by defeating all the enemies in a single-screen area. The game is more of a diversion though, and is only meaningful to play in extremely short bursts.
Overall, SMA4 provides a great gameplay experience even by today standards, that few games have surpassed in terms of level design and simple platforming. The only Mario game that can even compete with SMA4 in those regards is SMW, which arguably has more depth. It’s a game that any new gamer has to play, but is still worth playing for people familiar with SMB3 for the e-Reader functionality alone.
Looking through my video game collection, dating back to the Nintendo Entertainment System, I came to a realization that I should combine the two loves of my life (video games and writing) and start reviewing games.
As a game industry aficionado, I feel that the bulk of the industry in its current state tends to focus its attention on future game releases or ‘new” games. The problem I have with this ideology is that games progress so quickly in terms of graphics, sound, controls, AI and overall gameplay mechanics that a well-received game that came out as early as two years ago could provide a frustrating experience for the player by today’s standards. For example, the distinction between Playstation 2 games that came out in 2000 and 2003 are quite evident. To put it more simply, games start to lose their “new car smell”. In any case, I plan to carve out a niche by reviewing console games that might not garner much current media attention, meaning games that weren’t released three days ago. Reviews will show up sporadically, but often.
In terms of the review process for this blog, I will articulate my thoughts on each game in terms of individual game mechanics and the overall experience (hopefully as seemlessly as possible), and state whether the game still holds up. Due to the fact that gameplay experiences are highly subjective (especially older games), no numerical score will be given to any of the games.
Well, I’ve done enough babbling, let’s get on with the reviews!
Review Archive
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros 3
RetroDuo v2.0 console
Arkanoid DS Paddle Controller
PSone Hardware Review
New Super Mario Bros. (DS) revisited
Retrospectives
Nintendo GameCube
Microsoft Xbox
Playstation 2
Remakes/Compilations
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest differences
