A Game Boy Advance remake of the (American) classic, SMB2, Super Mario Advance has its upsides and flaws.
But there was a bit of a misunderstanding during the making of SMB2- Nintendo of America didn't like the Japanese game, so they decided to give the Americans a completely different game, yet still call it Super Mario Bros. 2.
Years later, this game has been ported to the Game Boy Advance. I must say, it has improved from the NES version, but I still don't care for it very much.
I have beaten it several times through, and it's a decent game worth playing, but aside from that, here's what I say:
What do you do in Mario games from the NES and SNES eras? Well, you have to jump on enemies, progress through a sidescrolling 2D platformer, fight bosses, and save the princess. Since many Americans who played SMB1 also bought its (American) sequel, I'm sure 70% of them were confused as to the controls.
I was- I had played Mario games before, and when I got this game, I tried stomping on enemies, and it didn't do a thing. The first time I played it, I was clueless as to what was supposed to happen, and I tried getting through a stage without dying. Needless to say, I didn't have much luck.
So I was browsing through the manual, and it turns out that, unlike any other Mario game one can think of, you can't kill enemies by jumping on them. You have to, of all things, pick up vegetables in the ground and knock out enemies with them.
I was thinking, "What kind of concept is that! You don't have to do that in any other Mario games, so why this one?"
The answer is long and complicated, but basically SMB2 was different from its sequel and prequel, so the GBA port was different, as well. Once you hear the reason, it doesn't seem so outlandish, but for beginners, it's just surprising and hard to get used to.
The graphics can't be complained about much, because it's based off an 8-bit game. However, the graphics were much improved in this game, in terms of the background, the character and enemy sprites, and more color was used than the original version.
The music is what bothers me the most. Like most NES games, for every single stage you get to hear the same old tune over and over again. In games like SMB1, when the timer reached a certain point, the music sped up a bit, but in this game there's no timer. Which means that you are "treated" to hearing the same bland tune over and over again. It was improved from the NES version, but it is still exhausing to hear over and over again. The tune that plays all the time in SMB1, among other games of the Mario franchise, is catchier and I feel that it is more fun to listen to.
Completing the game is a daunting task, but it's fun. Plus, you get to play as one of four characters- Mario, Luigi, Toad, or Peach. Each has their own skills and disadvantages. The game even offers a special side task after you beat it- you can go through all the stage again and look for Yoshi eggs. Find all 40, and you've officially beaten the game. I have done this twice, and I must say it is not easy.
As fun as it is, I just can't get over the fact that Mario suddenly decides that he doesn't want to kill enemies by jumping on them, and instead decides to pick things up and hit enemies with them. It just goes against the very nature of the Mario series.
Here is my individual scoring of each of this game's criteria:
GRAPHICS: 8
SOUND: 5
GAMEPLAY: 7
ENTERTAINMENT: 8
OVERALL: 28 out of 40 (7 out of 10)
Thank you for reading, and have a good day.