I can remember the day I received an e-mail of the scan of the ad for what ultimately became Super Mario Brothers Advance. Everybody was trying to figure out what it was. There were screens of what looked like the original Mario Bros. and then there were screens of what sort of resembled Mario Bros. 2 for the NES. In the end, I was a little disappointed with what we finally learned. I never really played a whole lot of Super Mario Bros. 2 for the NES. Something about the difference between Super Mario Bros. 2 aesthetically displeased me. Going back to it, I’m not sure what it was. Maybe it was too different from what I loved about Super Mario Bros. for me to enjoy. But now it’s back, and upgraded with a few bells and whistles. When it comes down to it, is it just another Mario rehash, or is it worth adding to your GBA launch list? I’ve had the title since the Japanese launch, and have an early copy of the US version. Does a double Mario rehash merit a purchase?

Welcome to Subcon, the land of dreams! Supposedly Subcon is a place Mario dreamt about, and then actually found in a cave a few days later with his “friends”. This Subcon is a far cry from your typical Mushroom Kingdom. Obviously "Subcon" is short for Subconcious which is the subtle hint telling you “you’re not in Kansas anymore.”

Super Mario Bros. 2 takes many diversions from the normal path of a Mario title. That’s why people generally had problems with SMB 2. It’s kind of the black sheep of the Mario realm. It borrows a few elements from SMB1, but this game introduced a lot of things to the genre. Multi-character setups, bombs, mini-games, parallel universes, the heart meter, and more. There are plenty of innovations this game has made to the Mario series. Some have been loved, and some loathed.

Instead of just being able to play as Mario, you can also use Princess Peach, Toad, or Luigi. Each character has differences in attributes and abilities. Toad can’t jump high, but he’s quick and strong. Princess Toadstool (Peach) can float temporarily to access many different areas. Ironically, I believe Mario is one of the weaker characters in this game, with average but balanced abilities. I tend to use Luigi. With better jump capabilities and average power, but a little slow...I seem to be more successful with him. I guess it depends on which level demands what, which is obviously the purpose of introducing this multi-character setup. Fortunately, due to how old this game’s premise is, it doesn’t beat its multi-character basis to death like Donkey Kong 64 or Banjo Kazooie/Tooie. You can pretty much get through each level with whichever character you want. Depending on which character you choose, the level could be easier or harder.

You also don’t kill enemies by jumping on them. Instead you pick up items, or pull vegetables out of the ground and throw them at enemies. You can also throw one baddie into another. You can jump on top of enemies without injury, and use them to get to a higher level, or to get across to another platform. A switch from SMB, but an interesting one. It’s fun to try lining up 4-5 different enemies and throw a plant at them to get 1-ups, or dropping POW blocks. I think one of the main differences in this game is that you learn to develop strategies to maximize each level to get coins and 1-ups, and then survive it all. It’s a lot more work than just jumping on an enemy, or throwing a few fireballs.

Your life is measured by hearts. You originally get 2 heart containers and can find more in secret areas. Each time you hit an enemy, you lose one heart. If you lose all of your hearts, you lose a life. To refill your heart containers you need to find hearts. This was another one of the main differences between the NES version and the GBA incarnation. In the GBA version there are plenty of hearts inside each level. You can refill your hearts by killing the large enemies, pulling certain heart radishes, or taking out 3 regular size enemies in a row with one projectile. This does ultimately make the game easier. I thought the NES version was rather difficult, so to me, this was a pleasant surprise. Call me a wimp if you will, but realize, this game is a upgrade to an old game, and my patience isn’t what it used to be.

The level designs in Super Mario 2 are decent, but nothing all that different from other 2-D Mario titles. Even with all the differences between this game and the original Super Mario Bros., at its heart, it’s a Mario game. You’ve got your typical happy cloud levels, slippery ice levels, sand levels with deadly quicksand, creepy dark caverns, and basement hideouts. All of the levels are completely Mario-esqe. Unfortunately, there isn’t a water level that I’ve seen where you can swim. That was one type of level that I really enjoyed in Super Mario Bros and wished would have made a return in here.

There are plenty of all new enemies introduced in SMB 2: Beezos, Flurries, and Phantos, just to name a few. The only trace of a Koopa in Subcon is a red shell that you can drop on your enemies! There’s a couple of pretty cool bosses you’ll encounter in SMB 2 including Birdo, Mouser, and my favorite, Fry Guy. Also of course is the final boss, the toad named Wart. Plus, this is the first time we see certain characters, or items in a Mario game. Shy Guys, Grey Snifits, being able to use bombs to blow up walls, and the ability to grab keys and use them to open locked doors. It’s rather fun in a nostalgic sort of way to see these enemies in their original, albeit upgraded environment.

Yellow coins can be found in the game, but they have a different use. These coins give you credits in the Bonus Chance slot machine mini-game at the end of the level where you can win extra lives. There are also red cherries placed in each of the levels. Every fifth cherry releases an invincibity star. This title also includes a Mario DX similarity, the red Ace coin. To fully complete the game you’ll need to get all 5 Ace coins in every level, but ultimately they aren’t needed. But if you do succeed in getting all 5, you’ll be awarded another 1-up. There are also baskets that you can uncover that contain mystery power-ups like hearts, stars, etc.

There are tons of secrets in the game. I’ve been doing my best to not cheat, and win the game on my own...but there’s so many things I remember about the old SNES game from the little I played, or what I watched my friends do. Where to drop potions in the right place to open up portals, or which jars to crawl into, and the like. Also more 1-ups, hearts, and power ups available than you’ll know what to do with. Which I also like, because if I just play just for a quick game, I can rack up a couple one ups quickly, and play for 20 minutes happily. Others I know think this is too easy.

Nintendo has revamped Super Mario Brothers 2 to take advantage of the Game Boy Advance's graphical abilities. As expected, everything including the different characters and enemies have been given a facelift. The colors are about as vibrant as Yoshi’s Story on the N64. It’s really that colorful. But to really see this, you’ll have to be under good lighting conditions. Without it, some of the levels can be rather dark.

Each of the levels has detailed parallax-scrolling backgrounds. They are a far cry from their NES counterparts. Instead of just a bland color, with maybe a cloud in the sky, there will be plenty of cartoon clouds, rocky backgrounds, bricks, or whatever would suit the level. All in all, it looks a little bit better than Super Mario World did on the SNES.

On the Mario Bros. Classic and Battle mode side of the game, the graphics have also been much increased from the original. Mario Bros. has never looked this good. I look at it as an excellent enhancement to an already perfect formula. All of the environments, characters, and enemies are much more detailed. The backgrounds are more detailed than in SMB2, with moving animations of candles, waterfalls, and lava. These subtle additions were a nice bonus. Ultimately I think it looks better than SMB2, which isn’t too surprising due to the small size of the areas.

If you are a fan of classic Mario music and sound effects, you are in for a real treat. Once you turn on Super Mario Advance, you are presented with a bombardment of Mario sound goodness. It’s all in stereo sound if you toss on headphones (which is always recommended). Every sound has been transferred and upgraded. Everything in this game sounds very crisp, and it sounds like it actually has depth. Coins, 1-ups, bombs, boinks...it’s all Mario! Not surprisingly, Mario Advance utilizes the sound capabilities of the Game Boy Advance extremely well. Unfortunately there are no sound settings so you can’t turn on what you like, and turn off what you don’t, or change any specific audio settings.

You will be amazed at how much voice is packed into this little cartridge. Each of the main characters have different sayings for things like 1-ups, hearts, mushrooms, level completion, getting hit by an enemy, etc. Bosses will also have their own sayings as well. The amount of voices could be comparable to the in-race voices found in Diddy Kong, or more like Mickey’s Speedway USA. Once in a while with the main characters it get a little repetitive. If I would have been able to turn off the voice and just kept the sound effects that would have been great. One more “Lucky” from Luigi could make me snap.

Controls haven’t changed much since the original. A = jump, B = grab/dash is the same. The super jump is still there too...it's done by holding the D-pad down until the character starts flashing, and then hitting A. There is no controller setup option, so you can’t change anything. Pressing the L shoulder button moves the camera up and down, but you can’t move the camera from left to right. At least I haven’t been able to figure that out, and it’s not in the manual. I don’t understand why they couldn’t do something with the R shoulder button. It’s an alternate for dash! All they had to do was assign the R button for the left/right camera toggle. I guess I just got used to it in Super Mario World on the SNES and would have hoped Nintendo would have included it for use with the new wide screen of the GBA.

There not a whole lot of control elements in Mario Bros. Both A and B = Jump, but can be also be used as pick up and toss another player or a power up from the trash can. Extremely simplistic controls, which can help rookies pick up the game quickly.

Each of the players control just fine. They feel just like the NES counterpart. Obviously they have their individual attributes. My only complaint is the lack of left-right control with the camera.

Sure, you can play Mario Bros. by yourself, but the real fun is grabbing a couple buddies and a 4-player link cable (or a couple link cables), and going at it. You can play Mario Bros. in two different ways, Classic or Battle. All of the multiplayer modes can be played from one cartridge. Setup is rather quick and painless, as long as you hook the link cables up correctly, or have a 4-player link cable. The person who has the cartridge in his GBA picks what level you want to play at (easy, normal, hard), if you want fire balls or not, and if you want to use a handicap of coins for each of the players or not. The only benefit of each person having a cartridge is the fact that there is no load time. That’s it. The initial load time takes about 20-25 seconds for 2-4 players. And then it’s time for Mario multiplayer madness. Note I say Mario, because Luigi is nowhere to be found. There are 4 different color Marios. Odd since it’s a Mario Bros. game.

The Classic side is an easy way to play cooperatively. It’s fun to see how many levels you can tackle with a buddy. I logged quite a bit of time already doing that. This version of the game is basically the same as the original, with a few differences in some of the enemies. It looks like a slight upgrade to the SNES All-Stars version. I couldn’t figure out if you could take lives from your buddy though, like in the last incarnation. The documentation didn’t say anything about it. This was always a welcomed option when playing with a friend that you wanted to help out. Or be a little evil and swipe an extra life.

Super Mario Bros. Battle changes the rules a bit from the original. You play to get coins. The first player to get 5 coins is the winner. This can be a rather evil way to play this game. You can stun your buddy, pick them up and toss them into an enemy. There’s also the newly added trashcan that you can jump in and get a power up (stars, POW blocks, hearts), or even trap someone in by standing on top of it. The power up addition is very cool because you come out of the trashcan carrying it, and you have to throw it. From there, anyone can actually get the power up. Plus this takes time away from you getting coins, which is what actually matters. The gameplay is fun and frantic, and with a few polished players can get to be a very intense battle. It tends to get a little crowded in the area with more than 2 people, but I think that leads to more excitement.

Super Mario Bros. 2 is essentially just an upgraded, easier version of the NES game. If you didn’t like the original, you probably won’t like this upgrade. Its replay ability is found in its multi character setup, and its Mario DX-style red coin challenges. If you didn’t play the original, it’s new to you. It’s nice to go back to one of the more unusual classics once in a while and try new things, or old tricks. For me, I enjoy it. I play it once in a while and go one level at a time and save my progress. I don’t play it as intensely as I would an all new Mario game, but it’s fun to play when I have 5 minutes to spare.

I think where this game ultimately shines is in the multiplayer portion. If you were a fan of the classic Mario Bros. this will be a game you will have to have. 2-4 player fun is what this game is all about. Not only is it a total blast for Mario Bros. veterans, but it’s an easy game to pick up and learn quickly. With 4 players it feels a lot like Smash Bros... And the best part is that you only need one cartridge.

Regardless of the fact that I was disappointed with Nintendo for not producing a new Mario title for the GBA launch, I had never really delved into the world that was Super Mario Bros. 2. So to me...this was a whole new game. Even though I didn’t originally like it, I was willing to give it another chance. Plus, it packed in a Mario game that I did love, and gave it a new life...an updated and unique multiplayer version of the original Mario Bros. Good enough reason for me to purchase it, but isn’t Mario Bros. 2 supposed to be the meat of this game!? I think it’s fun, but it’s not as impressive as an all new Mario title would have been. Even though I really never played it before, to other people it’s old hat and already been experienced. Granted I am a purist...but still, I would have rather had something all new. Or why couldn’t there have been a new type of Mario All-Stars? There’s plenty of room a GBA cart can handle. GBA cartridges can be upwards in size to 256 megabits! Granted, price plays a factor, as well as Nintendo’s revenue-generating business model. But I don’t want to buy 2-3 more recycled Mario titles. The multiplayer Mario Bros. Battle, and the one cartridge link-up helps to make up for this. But still, there seems to be something lacking.

Overall, Mario Bros. Advance is a great classic package. It combines the best of the old with the technology of the GBA giving gamers a nice portable package of classic 2-D Mario action. If you are in dire need of your Mario, you’ll want to nab this game come June 11th. But if you are hungry for a completely original Mario game, this isn’t it.