idk if I should give this game more points for having the really cool e-Reader levels or deduct points for hiding them behind an obscure add on and selling them within trading card packs. Thankfully, the Wii U (before the eshop closed down) and the Switch's Online feature has every card available. I don't care for the fact you have to pay for the expansion online pack to play it, but it's there and appreciated it.

Even if you don't play them you still get Super Mario Bros 3, easily one of the best games of all time, ported incredibly with probably some of the best to the GBA with little to no screen crunch.

Actually way way better than expected. Movement is awesome, the secrets really cool and overall a really really fun game.

It even susprised me how you can express jokes just with gameplay visuals, I really laughed with the fish in world 4

Just what I needed! Lucky! Bravo!!!!

Pros: It's gotta be the e-reader card stuff, they added so much replay value to this game, in ways that, hell, even the Super Mario Maker series still hasn't given us. The e-reader was a separate GBA device that let you scan the barcodes on physical trading cards, that would then upload elements into the game. Here, there are plenty brand new stages and a few classic old ones too thanks to the e-reader, with varying levels of challenge. And the added content is rich, there's even power-up cards, like, the entire cape power-up from World is in this, and it's just as great as it was in SMW, there's also a new boomerang weapon you can use too, which, isn't really a power-up, but it's a boomerang that you can catch and throw as often as you can keep catching it, neat! There's also stages that have you plucking vegetables just like in SMB2, stages that have you running on walls and ceilings like SMW, and stages with "no-return" exit gates from Yoshi's Island. It's a best of Super Mario Advance collection!! These stages were locked to the e-reader, so one could consider that a con, but I had the e-reader, I collected the cards, and man, that too was fun, so for me, it's definitely a pro!

Also, the entire game of Super Mario Bros. 3 is here too, of course, heh, with Luigi and his added abilities from Super Mario Advance 2! Changes things up enough to play the game again in a different way. It's a great port of the All-Stars version of SMB3, and hey, they fixed Mario's gloves! He's actually wearing them now!

Also another fun little minor addition, Game Boy Player support, where if you played the game on a Gamecube with the GB Player, you'd have rumble support on the Gamecube controller, heh, not bad!

Also also, every Super Mario Advance included a remade version of Mario Bros., and it's no different here, the same game is included, but now that there were four Super Mario Advance games, we now had four game paks with Mario Bros, which allowed four player bouts of Mario Bros. with all of the benefits and options of doing four-game pak mode, it was really genius of Nintendo to allow multiplayer of that mode with any version of Super Mario Advance!

Cons: SMB3 itself is still not my favorite of Mario games, it's great, don't get me wrong, but I would've loved these e-reader additions to a better game like Super Mario World, using that game's base engine instead. Still, it's hard to complain about all added bells and whistles here, it's certainly the best version of SMB3, period.

What it means to me: This version of the game was the first time I ever played SMB3 from beginning to end, first time I ever beat it, in fact! And so, naturally, it means more to me than the other Super Mario Advance series game releases, it just gave me so much more. And even with later releases on Wii U and Switch, they pre-set all of the e-reader stages on them, even the e-reader stages that were never available in North America, due to the cards for them only releasing in Japan. So years later I got even more enjoyment out of this game! It's the game that keeps on givin'!

Happy Mario Day.

Sorry Mario World fans, this will always be the BEST classic 2D mario game, and Advance 4 is an excellent port.

But man FUCK that title. Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3. Bro that is like two steps away from a Kingdom Hearts title.

Played on NSO GBA

Played through the main game and the majority of the e-reader levels on a GBA with flashcart.

Bright vibrant colors for a GBA game thanks to being able to force a "Gameboy Player Mode".

Arguably the definitive Mario 3 experience with a bunch of fun bonuses to go along with it.

Classic Game.

- Overall very enjoyable. Played it for the first two worlds on console, but I was like “This is taking too long, I’m switching to emulation”. Did this one on emulation in my computer, didn’t use save states, just for the nicer looking gameplay.

- Honestly wasn’t as hard as I was expecting. Most bosses were piss easy (Boom Boom is probably the single weakest mini boss in any game).
- I never really found the Hammer Bros that annoying on the map, so never bothered using the music box, and basically only used tanooki leaves and suits.
- Level Design for 1989 is very creative, and for the time this game is amazing.
Nowadays, still good though some aspects like the jumping have aged.

At its core, the main game of Super Mario Advance 4 is just Super Mario Bros. 3 again, by way of Super Mario All-Stars. And it's good! But I have an opening here to talk about World-e, and I'm going to.

When I got this game as a kid, it came with an e-Reader card for an additional level. Since I, like most people, didn't own an e-Reader, I looked at this card over and over wondering about this level, but never being able to play it. Well, nowadays, via Virtual Console and NSO, Advance 4 has been re-released with all of the e-Reader levels made accessible, of which there are 38. So now that I can finally satisfy my childhood curiosity, what are these levels like?

The e-Reader levels are full of new gameplay elements - primarily, gameplay elements from the other Mario Advance games that have been spliced into the SMB3 gameplay. There are a few completely original elements, but a lot of things are repurposed from Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario World, and Yoshi's Island - enemies, objects, and even powerups like the Cape. It's fun to see the games' elements mixed-and-matched like this, although this ends up being mostly a novelty thing.

The actual level design of the e-Reader levels is... fine? It's kind of hard to compare, because these are levels with new-to-SMB3 elements grafted onto a re-re-release, years and years after the fact. The levels aren't must-play new content, but they are decent Mario levels. Honestly, when you factor in the mixed-and-matched game elements, they kind of feel like romhack or Mario Maker levels, in a sense. Not amazing ones, but still good ones.

With a solid base game in SMB3 and the most new content of the Mario Advance quartet, I'd say Advance 4 is the most worth playing of the four. I think the e-Reader levels make for a fascinating little time capsule of Nintendo experimenting with new 2D Mario level designs at a time between the '90s and the New Super Mario Bros. era.

Really great way to experience the original Super Mario Bros. 3

I get that out of the options available, most prefer the original NES version and I tend to agree. This feels like an ungraded version of the All Stars version which has upgraded graphics and a save system. There are a few additions, some voice clips and rough use of rumble were the most obvious to me. It also keeps track of completed worlds, which is cool.

I love playing these tightly packed levels and by finishing the game you can go back and replay or tidy up uncompleted levels.

Less obvious is the inclusion of Level Cards which was a rudimentary form of DLC. These are included in the Switch Online release, and were on the Wii U release. These borrow elements from Super Mario Bros. 2 with turnips and World with the criss crossing quad cannon shots and Chargin’ Chuck. In a time where the last new 2D Mario to release was probably Yoshi’s Island this is a welcome inclusion and sort of paves the way forward to New Super Mario Bros and Mario Maker series going forward.

Sempre quis zerar mario 3 depois que finalizasse o world e finalmente consegui na versão de gba, que infelizmente é consideravelmente mais fácil que a versão de snes, pois não tem um "game over" de verdade. Ao perder todas as suas vidas vc não volta no marco 0 do mundo atual mas sim na fase que vc acabou de perder. Tornando a versão de gba a mais fácil de completar.
Mas é um ótimo jogo, com várias inovações e criatividade com muitos desafios nas fases. Única reclamação que tenho são sobre os chefes. Os da fortaleza é sempre a mesma tartaruga, que vc precisa atingir 3 vezes pra ganhar, e que ao longo do jogo as lutas contra ela vão "dificultando", se movendo mais rápido ou voando ou o chão se mexendo... mas nada muito desafiador. Quanto aos chefes dos castelos são os kopalings, que são diferentes uns dos outros, mas que tem os mesmos movimentos. Sempre atiram raios do cetro mágico e quando vc pula neles eles entram dentro do casco e podem te dar dano. Apenas pule três vezes e pronto, as arenas mudam levemente de formato nao adicionando tanto desafio, mas basicamente eles são todos iguais. Diferente do world em que os chefes tem características totalmente diferentes, alguns vc derrota em uma gangora derrubando na lava, outro saindo de canos, outro que cai do teto... por isso que além dos gráficos, mario world é superior ao mario 3.
Outra pequena coisa que não gosto muito são as vozes do Mario sempre que ele pega vida, power ups, morre etc... se vc for ruim em mario igual eu, vai ouvir mil vezes " mama mia!" Um pouco irritante mas nada demais.