Mario Advance

I’m beginning to wonder if I am among a minority of people who are excited about this game. I don’t get it either; a handheld Super Mario Bros 2 with new items and enemies, plus a four-player Mario Bros. battle mode action packed in…What’s to complain about? It may be an old game but SMB2 is one of my favorites, maybe in part because it’s different. You don’t squash bad guys by hopping on them and you don’t fight Bowser because he’s kidnapped Jack & Squat—not princesses. Maybe most importantly, it isn’t directly a Miyamoto Mario game. All the Nintendophiles who have a problem with these factors can find reassurance that every other Mario adventure happens in the Mushroom Kingdom. SMB2 was a nice “gaiden,” or side story (like the recent Zelda: Majora’s Mask) from the usual formula. SMB2’s differences seem induced by some substance abuse but are they all bad?

SMB2’s four selectable characters, each with their own abilities was a great feature, one I’ve missed in every Mario game since. I mean, you could choose be Luigi every level and Princess and Toad -both also great as playable characters! Princess' role was especially cool, since this was the one game Princess Peach didn’t get captured or bake cakes, she could fly! How cool is that? (Sure, she was a party member in Mario RPG, but she still got kidnapped!)

SMB2’s variety of levels were also very imaginative. Do you remember digging through deserts of Shy-guys and tall Pokey cacti, getting shot into the air by water spouting from a whale’s blowhole, pulling a rocket from a weed in the ground or stealing a magic carpet? I do. I also remember being able to rack up mad amounts of 1-Ups playing the slots. It may be old-school but many kids today have never played Super Mario Bros. 2. For them, this is an all-new game. Mario Advance isn’t “just” SMB2 either, there’s a bit of new stuff and we all knew it was prolly going to be 2D. Myself, I’m really glad Nintendo isn’t forgetting its roots and re-introducing the classics to today’s generation of games and giving me a long overdue chance to get reacquainted with one of my childhood faves.