Customer reviews:

Customer Rating:
Summary: A great port of Mario 3, and then some.
Comment: Do I even need to give this game an introduction? When Super Mario Bros. 3 came out, it blew everyone away. The first two Mario games were great, but Mario 3 did everything those games did, and took it to another level. World maps, bonus stages, hidden areas, the ability to fly(!), and much more. I remember being a little kid when it came out and wondering how any game could top it. All these years later, I got this GBA version for my daughter, who's already into the Mario games at just 3 years old. What's funny is that, eventhough I got to replay the game on the SNES with Super Mario All-Stars, and played it until I sold my SNES a few years ago, playing this version really took me back to the good ol' days of the early 90s. I won't be biased in this review- I try to be fair on everything, and point out flaws when they're there. But really, Super Mario Bros. 3 barely has anything wrong with it, and this GBA port just might be the best iteration of the game so far.

Basic Mario premise- you play as Mario (or Luigi) and save the princess from Bowser, traveling through a wide range of worlds in the process. You'll run, jump, fireball and tail smack your way through the stages while collecting coins and taking out the bad guys. Located on the world map are mushroom houses that let you take a quick break from the action and get a random power up. Where the first Super Mario Bros. only had the mushroom, fire flower and star, you get much more here. Those original 3 are back, as well as a leaf that gives you raccoon ears and a tail (allowing you to fly and smack enemies with a spin attack), a tanuki suit (a souped up raccoon costume that also lets you turn into a statue for a few seconds, giving you invincibility), a frog suit to maneuver in the water easier, and a Hammer Bros. costume, which protects you from fireballs (on your back) and lets you throw hammers that take out damn-near any enemy. And yet, there's more. One level gives you a giant green boot to hop around in, and you can also get cool power ups for the map, like a hammer that can take out rocks that block shortcuts, and a cloud that lets you skip a level. You can store a lot of these in a menu on the map screen, and select which one you want to use going into a level or right then and there if it's the cloud/hammer.

Fortunately, after 20 years since the original version, I can enjoy Super Mario Bros. 3. I was surprised by the number of times I'd die in certain stages, thinking that everything would be a piece of cake since I played it so many times over the years. Nope! I felt like a kid again when a couple of quick enemies would be coming right for me, while I panicked looking for a power up so I wouldn't die with one hit. And trying to remember how to get the special flying ship levels without looking it up online was a fun challenge. Trust me when I say that I'm not a Nintendo fanboy (far from it), but I can't think of anyone who's hated this game. It's a fun platformer for everyone, and tons of people still try to set world records for speed runs and maxing out the score. Did Nintendo create a timeless classic with this? I think so.

But what about the GBA additions? Well, it's not as bad as the additions to the Super Mario World port, but I still could've done without them. The graphics are enhanced a little bit from the Super Mario All-Stars version. I noticed some new background effects here and there. There are also some added in sound effects, like one when Mario slides down a hill. These are cool, but my problem lies with the added voices. Yep, Mario now says things like "Lucky!" and "oh-ah no!". Thanks a lot Nintendo. Then there's the change they made to Luigi once again. Yeah, he does his weird jump, and lands faster than Mario for some reason. Somehow, Nintendo didn't make the jump as good as it was in Mario Bros. 2, so playing as him is more of a challenge than anything this time. But I can't give them too much of a hard time since the music and sound effects sound perfect. No fuzziness like Super Mario World got- everything here sounds perfectly clear. They also included the original Mario Bros. arcade game, yet again, making this the 4th time it's appeared on the GBA.

What are you waiting for? Anyone who wants to play a classic should pick this up immediately. And if you were disappointed with New Super Mario Bros. for the DS, go on and relive the days when you didn't get 5 1-ups in a level for barely doing anything. This is old school platforming at its finest.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent!!!
Comment: When this game first came out it further expanded the awesomeness of Mario. It went back to the original style of gameplay like in the original Mario Bros. unlike Mario Bros. 2 which was a port of a different game with Mario and friends super imposed(but still great game). This game is as good as the day I first played it and all the bonus items are always great. The new items were a great addition and all the levels just made it even better. Like always it has the warp zones but this time in the form of a warp whistle. I don't think I have to explain much to anyone who wants to get this other than that this version is the port from the Super Mario All Stars game and not a direct port of the original NES version. You'll have to get an emulator system(unless your NES still works, wow!) and pop in the original cartridge to get the true 100% original feel. I love this game and I always will appreciate what this game did to the evolution of the video game. You can't hate this game, it's just not possible.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Just What I Needed!
Comment: In 1990 Nintendo released "Super Mario Bros. 3" for the original NES system, and it was hailed as the most commercially successful video game of its time. In 2003, a remake was translated from the Super NES title "Mario All-Stars" to the Game Boy Advance's "Mario Advance" series and it still sells at GameStop for $25. I shelled out half as much for a copy elsewhere and I never looked back.

Aside from the fact that you don't have to beat the game in one sitting with what is otherwise a limited power source, you can win power-ups from minigames before you play through a level. As with every Mario Advance title, SMA4 includes a remake of the classic Mario Bros. arcade game. New copies of the game also include special 'level cards' with bonus content for use with Nintendo's short-lived e-Reader device. While this captures the look and feel of the original SMB3 game, it's not a completely faithful remake; the music's that made me dance along as a kid is slightly toned down. Otherwise, the updated graphics are pleasing to the eye, the gameplay still excites (and frustrates) the player and the added voiceovers are "just what I needed."

This game is rated E for Everyone: Violence.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Best money I ever spent
Comment: This product didn't come with anything but the game cartridge, but thats alright I remembered how to play. I couldn't put the game down. It was the best money I have ever spent.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Never got the Super Mario Bro games. This is no exeption
Comment: I never got the Super Mario Bro games. This is no exception. I do not like it. After an hour of trying to beat level two I gave up.

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