Metacritic Games

Super Mario Bros. 3: Super Mario Advance 4 (GameBoy Advance)

[Metacritic's 2003 Game Boy Advance Game of the Year] Bowser and his troublemaking kids have forced the land into complete chaos by transforming all the local kings into animals, and it's up to Mario and Luigi to stop them. In what many consider to be the best Mario game ever, players have to run, jump and stomp on enemies through eight enormous worlds, as they use new and classic power-ups. Dash past danger, swim treacherous seas and even take to the air, speeding toward a collision course with Bowser.

Nintendo
Action, Platform
Players: 4
E (Everyone)
Developer: Nintendo
Released October 20, 2003

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

94 / 100

Critic Reviews

100 Pocket Games
The bottom line is that this is Mario hop-n-bop action at its finest, with a goodly amount of minigames thrown into the mix for good measure... As great as it ever was. [Fall 2003, p.38]
100 Cinescape
While the game might be old - it's still one of the best games ever made. [Grade = A+]
100 GameNow
Pretty much perfect... The whole thing is designed to make you want to play more. [Grade = A+; Nov 2003, p.68]
100 Cheat Code Central
There's nothing that can take away the classic status of Super Mario Bros. 3. The game was released almost 15 years ago and is a platform game so unique and perfectly crafted that games today will still find themselves compared to it.
100 Play Magazine
The challenge is also perfect, the quick-save option makes the game more playable without being cheap, and the e-Card features are icing on the cake. [Dec 2003, p.95]
97 netjak
They just don’t make games like this any more, and this particular game really shows us how far we’ve come and that you don’t need flashy graphics and surrond sound to have a mind-blowing game.
96 Nintendophiles
This game still is one of the best, if not the best, 2D platformers ever made.
96 Gamer's Pulse
Overall, it’s just "Super Mario 3," but that’s like saying it’s just a Lamborghini Diablo. This is the cream of the crop of almost all games, and to have your own copy to go with you wherever you go is worth the money for the game.
95 1UP
The potential and flexibility offered by the game's eReader support alone makes the previous Mario Advance titles look like rip-offs in comparison. Unless you're allergic to replay value and quality game design, you need this game.
95 Game Informer
We finally have a high quality port of the game that is probably my favorite ever: "Super Mario Bros. 3." [Nov 2003, p.176]
95 Deeko
While lacking any truly new updates in graphics and sound, makes full use of the e-Reader, only adding to the overall potential that the game has to offer. It’s perhaps the first game to actually use the peripheral in any truly rewarding sense.
95 IGN
Its timeless design holds up well into its 15th anniversary. But the fact that players can continue the experience with brand new level designs is phenomenal and just opens up a whole new dimension for replayability.
95 GameZone
Whether you've taken the journey before or have yet to play this unforgettable classic, you can't stop yourself from being consumed.
95 Armchair Empire
A complete package.
93 Siliconera
What makes Super Mario Brothers 3 a true classic are two things. First is the great level design. [JPN Import]
93 Electronic Gaming Monthly
Perfect controls. Perfectly constructed stages. Perfect graphics (for an old, trippy 2D game, that is). [Nov 2003, p.200]
92 Nintendo Power
It's the best-selling game of all-time for a reason, and it stands the test of time remarkably well. [Dec 2003, p.142]
92 Gamezilla!
Don't buy this game expecting a make over or new game, Advance 4 is the original but why change perfection?
90 Yahoo! Games
Vastly improved over the original, and even the All-Stars version. [Import]
90 NintendoWorldReport
While the port’s plumbing has a few leaks, most of SMB3’s gameplay remains in pristine condition for the ultimate platforming experience.
90 GamePro
The e-Reader functions (new levels, cheats, gameplay elements like capes and hurlable veggies from other Mario titles) are very promising and help make up for the fact that this is a bit of a baby step back from "Super Mario World" and "Yoshi’s Island."
90 Nintendojo
Newcomers to the game who are accustomed to the current game generation may be turned off by its astonishingly short playtime and lack of "100% clear" bonuses, while veterans will find very little reason to pick up this version unless they're willing to pony up for the e-Reader cards.
90 GameSpy
It still succeeds in providing the player great fun through dozens of brilliantly designed worlds, but some innate limitations of the GBA hardware prevent it from being at the very top of its form.
89 GameSpot
SMB3 purists may be annoyed with some of the minor tweaks that have been made to the original game, but that shouldn't stop them from experiencing this incredible platformer all over again.
80 Gamestyle
But amidst all this dispensable extra substance is the core mechanic of Mario; the one thing that holds true to the series, and one thing that ensures Mario is leaps and bounds ahead of its platforming peers - inertia. The faster you run, the higher you jump. It's a brilliantly simple concept that works perfectly.

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