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Awesome classic!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: December 11, 2003
Author: Amazon User

It's simply awesome to have the classic Mario gameplay back, and on Gameboy Advance, too! After getting my PS, PS2 and Xbox I stopped playing Mario for a while, partly because the game franchise was getting a bit stale. But after all these years, it's refreshing to be playing this all-time classic on a portable console. The graphics looks excellent on GBA SP with the backlighting. If you are an old-timer Mario fan this is nothing new but it provides fun on the run. If you have never played a Mario game before, this is the one to start with and you'll see why so many of us "old people" got hooked in the first place.

Excellent Mario game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: October 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Super Mario Bros 3 was the best selling game of all time, and with good reason. It's a great game and is very challenging. The graphics are unbelievable(for NES in 1990), the game plays well, and, overall, it's just a good gaming experience. I wouldn't say that this was THE best Mario game of all time, it's certainly one of the best, but I think Super Mario World is probably the best. It just has more depth while not overwhelming the gamer. Overall, this is and excellent Stone Cold CLASSIC that you will love and is a wonderful introduction to the old great Mario games, before they got terrible Cough-Super Mario 64-Cough-Super Mario Sunshine-Cough

Still Fun, After How Many Years?? (Rating: 9 out of 10- -4.5 stars)

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: December 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I'm so glad they reissued this game on Gameboy Advance. I've owned this game in many formats, origonally on Nintendo. Then it was on the compilation of Super Mario called "Super Mario All Stars" on SNES. Now we have this on Gameboy Advance. Pretty much everybody has said all the great things about this game. It's still fun to play. Mario's super powers are awesome (racoon tail, frog suit, fire flower, etc.). Some of the levels are still difficult for me to beat, but it's always been like that for me.

There are a few things I didn't like. Ever since Nintendo as well as Mario have evolved, he's becomming a little more involved in the game. Now they have him talking in this game. That's not necessarly a bad thing, but if you had this game on Nintendo or even Super Nintendo, you would remember he didn't say a word. Here, he talks, like for example: when he dies, he say "Oh! Mama mia!" Or when you enter into a level, he says "Letsago!". I for one wish they didn't add that in this game.

Also this game comes with the arcade Super Mario game. Thats the game where you have two players, and those enemies come out of pipes and you have to hit the blocks under them to flip them over and kick them off the screen. It's kind of fun, although they modified it a little bit. Both games are fun to play, and I highly recommend this game to any gamer out there. This is one of the classic Nintendo games ever created.

The Best Mario Advance Yet

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: December 09, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Nintendo could learn a thing or so from its past. Being a gamer of the NES generation, I was never really taken in by Yoshi's Story, Super Mario 64, or even Super Mario Sunshine. The concepts in those games seem remote, complicated, and foreign.

I don't doubt that these are great games in someone's mind, but then again, I was exposed to Super Mario Bros. 3. And after you've played SMB3, you realize that Mario probably hit his peak in this amazing title.

In SMB3, we learn that beyond the Mushroom Kingdom lies the Mushroom World. True to his nature, King Koopa abducts Princess Toadstool. And this time, Koopa isn't alone. He unleashes the seven Koopalings - his ill-mannered children - to wreck havoc in their airships all across the Mushroom World. And to add insult to injury, they've used their Magic Wands to transform the rulers of the Mushroom World's seven realms into animals! Naturally, it's up to Mario to restore the peace.

Unlike SMB2 which had you throwing vegetables around, SMB3 gets back to basics by making Mario stomp on enemies to destroy them. Of course, traversing 87 levels would be uninteresting if this were the only gameplay mechanic and Nintendo knew this. In addition to Fiery Mario (who can shoot fireballs), SMB3 marked the introduction of Raccoon Mario and flight in general. That's right - Mario can fly in this game and you'll need this ability to reach the multitude of secret areas here. But that's not all. There are also the special Frog, Tanuki, and Hammer suits, Lakitu's Cloud to float over troublesome areas, P-Wings to allow constant flight for one level, Anchors to prevent airships from escaping, Music Boxes to put the Hammer Bros. to sleep, and the list goes on! Needless to say, there is a ton of stuff to do in SMB3, and I haven't even touched on the mini-games.

This version of SMB3 primarily borrows graphics from the 16-bit Super Mario All-Stars interpretation, but adds some new features of its own. Aside from various graphical embellishments (the walls closing in when you approach Boom-Boom the fortress guard, or the new intro sequence), some gameplay elements have also changed. Coins seem sprinkled more liberally now. Additionally, the spade square on the world map is now complemented with heart squares and others that allow you to get up to seven extra lives rather than three. Personally, I never found SMB3 to be that difficult and it's somewhat mysterious that Nintendo would make it even easier. Sound is akin to All-Stars once again, but most of the sound effects are lifted from Super Mario World. Like the other Advance titles, Mario has the gift of gab here and speaks in his pseudo-Italian accent. Lastly, you can save your progress on the world map (something that was conspicuously missing in the original SMB, but resolved in All-Stars).

Overall, this is a superb game and argubly one of the best NES titles period. I still remember buying that big yellow box about ten years ago and how I couldn't wait to play SMB3 on the NES. Now that it's on the GBA, I can do it all over again. And this game is just as sweet today as it was ten years ago and I would recommend it to everyone who owns a GBA. Truly an astonishing game. 5/5 stars.

Classic Mario never looked better!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

With the never-ending onslaught of SNES re-releases being pumped out onto the GBA, it is surprising that it took them this long to release "Super Mario Bros 3", which is in my opinion the best of the entire series. As with the earlier Mario ports, the translation is flawless, and there are a few tweaks that bring it up to date for the GBA.

I first played this game and beat it many times, so sitting down to play it again was like riding a bicycle...you never really forget. I quickly adapted and remembered all the hidden portals, the hidden 1 ups, and all the extra perks that made this game so much fun. As far as the port goes, it is very similar to the one on "Super Mario All Stars" for SNES, but with the graphics and music slightly pumped up. The game itself needs no introduction, except for the fact that it is one of the best video games of all time. The challenge, the new improvements made on an old concept (remember, this game was a product of the late 80's video game craze), all the classic elements are still here. There are some who would complain that the GBA is just a portable SNES, but what is the problem with that? It is great to this game made available for a whole new generation.

The minor quibbles I have are nothing to do with the gameplay itself, but with the "extras" that are included. For starters, the addition of the original arcade version of "Super Mario Brothers", which is the exact same one they have included on the other two Mario ports on the GBA. It would be nice to have different games to play as extras, and the same game gets pretty tiring after a while. The other annoyance is the horrible voice characterizations in the game. Mario, in his cheesiest Italian accent, says "Mama Mia!" when he dies, and "Just what I needed!" when he gets a power-up. These were amusing for about 2 seconds on the other Mario ports, and are just annoying now after hearing them a million times!

This is so far the best NES/SNES port to the GBA, and I had no hesitation about purchasing it again, despite knowing the game like the back of my hand. For any fan of classic gaming, this is essential. For the uninitiated, Mario never got better than this, so this is essential! Highly recommended.

The Greatest Game Just Got Better!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: November 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Back when this was first shown in the movie "The Wizard" I knew it was going to be a great game, and I was right. To this day SMB3 is my favorite game of all times, and when I heard that it was being ported to the GBA I was ecstatic.

For anyone who hasn't played this game, think of the original Super Mario Bros. and take it up a few...dozen notches. Just like the other SMA games they ported over the SNES/Super Mario All-Stars version, which is fine with me, but the inclusion of the e-Reader cards is what gives this version an advantage over the previous two versions (BTW, in regards to an earlier review, the e-Reader IS compatible with the GBA SP).

There are three different types of cards. The first are new levels. Each level has a rating of difficulty, and the hardest of them is quite a challange, so this is a plus for anyone who thinks the game is a breeze. For those who still live in the past (like me) there is also a classic level within the first two packs released (I can't remember which pack) which is level 1-1 from Super Mario Bros. The next type of card is the demo card, which simply demostrates various techniques in the game. This can be anything from getting 99 lives in one stage to beating 1-1 in 11 seconds (game time, not real time). Finally there are item cards, which can accomplish one of three tasks: give you items for use in any world (imagine the Hammer Bros. Suit in Grass Land), give you new items not seen in SMB3 (like the cape feather from SMW), and activate new abilities using P-Switch cards (currently you can pick up and throw vegies like in SMB2 and turn enemies into coins like Super Mario World).

Overall this game is a great port of an old classic that I still play to this day. For anyone who is a Mario fan, a fan of the NES, or even for those who just got their first GBA (or DS even) this game is an awesome one to own.

How can you not enjoy this game?!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: April 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

An already great game has been made portable and has extras! This game is awesome! The story is that Princess Peach has been kidnapped again, by Bowser and his 7 kids. Mario must go through 8 worlds to rescue the Princess and save the Mushroom Kingdom. Each world is harder than the last(Pipe Land may be an exception though). The worlds go in this order:

Grass Land
Desert Land
Water Land
Giant Land
Sky Land
Ice Land
Pipe Land
Dark Land

The levels range from rediculously easy to downright evil. The enemies are very diverse, and often match the world they are in perfectly. Get this game, along with New Super Mario Bros. as well.

Sometimes too hard for younger players.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: February 22, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game is fun, but, it is hard for some younger players (under 9). There are many different enemies and it is difficult to know when they are going to attack you. Sometimes, they are camoflauged which also makes it hard to defend yourself from them. Overall, I think this game is very hard for some younger players. You probably need to be at least 10 with some good Game Boy experience to handle this game.

This classic NES game definitely stands the test of time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: August 20, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Considering the Super Mario Brothers series is widely regarded as one of the best video game franchises ever, the fact that many long time Mario fans call this their favorite Super Mario game should be enough to convince you to try this game.

Super Mario Brothers 3 took the fantastic gameplay elements of the original Super Mario Brothers and improved upon them in many ways. Several new powerups were added to compliment the mushroom, flower, and star. These come in the form of 'suits,' and give Mario an array of abilities and forms. The Raccoon suit, for example, allows Mario to fly, the Tanooki suit lets him turn to stone for a few seconds, and the Hammer Brothers suit allows him to, well, throw hammers. This is one of the reasons this game remains so popular today--most of the suits are unique to this game, and they're all a lot of fun.

This game also features an overworld map with several stages per "world." Instead of being simply linear like the original Super Mario Bros, players have some choices in the order they play the stages. There are also bonus squares on the map, which have little mini games that offer powerups (which you can store and use later). The game allows you to save after passing an airship or a fortress, but this version of it also allows you to save at any point (though you can only continue once from that location) if you have to interrupt play in between save points.

The Game Boy Advance version of Super Mario 3 (which they call Super Mario Advance 4) is a pretty faithful port of the original game. The graphics and gameplay are essentially the same, which causes fans of the original (like me) to breathe a sigh of relief. The original soundtrack to the game, which was excellent, remains intact, although Mario's voice (the one that started popping up around the time of Mario 64) pops up from time to time. Apparently this bothers some people, but I don't find it intrusive or something that hinders the experience. The game also includes a version of classic Mario Brothers which can be played by up to 4 people.

While I would have preferred to get this on my Wii's virtual console, the idea that I now have a portable version of Super Mario 3 to take with me on the go is pretty exciting. The price tag may seem a little steep to some, but I consider it worth every penny (even though I have the original NES version). I'd definitely recommend this title, regardless of if you're a fan of retro video games or if you're a relative newcomer to the Mario series of games. This game is every bit as fun as it was when it first appeared many years ago.

The greatest NES release now on GBA...how can you go wrong?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: November 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

You can't. Oh yeah, it's back. Now, mind you, I never once owned the NES but this game did have arcade playability (remember those 6-in-one arcade machines where you had to dump in quarters for playing time?) Well, although they're probably absolete now, I was victim to playing this game almost every morning before going to elementary school, using an endless amount of pocket change. Now I look back, 14 years later, through all the 3-D stimulating crap surfacing on overly-priced state-of-the-art machinery, retro games are looking and playing a whole lot better. Thus, we have Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3.

Anyone who's anyone, who was old enough to remember, has played this gem or heard about it or seen some screenshots ("The Wizard"). What can I say about this game? The graphics are top-notch, the controls are still the same, and don't let the shortness of each level fool you....after conquering some of the most challenging and mind-numbing puzzles and paradoxes laid before you, you'll be glad to find that pipe and clear a level.

The many costumes Mario can acquire is genius. The flying raccoon, the jumping frog, the Hammer suit, the Tanooki suit....it gave an unique twist all it's own (don't forget the rabbit ears in Super Mario Land 2 on GB, in which he glides) The secrets, mini-games, bosses, level designs....who needs an eloborate story? It's straight-forward: save the land!

I guess the next question now would be what's SMA5 gonna be? Until then, grab a feather and come fly with Mario in an unforgettable adventure!

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