Ah...2001, this was the year that the Nintendo game boy advance was officaly released! I begged my mom and dad to get me one! And...what did you know? I actually did! And one of the first games I got for my GBA is Super Mario advance, a remake of Super Mario bros 2 for the NES. I remembered having alot of fun with this one, but is it as good as I remember it? Let's see!

Story-8/10
I think this is how the story goes, One night, Mario has a strange dream, He found himself climbing a long staircase leading up to a mysterious door. Opening the door, Mario's eyes fell upon an incredible world unlike anything he'd ever seen. However before Mario could figure out what was happening, he suddenly awoke on his bed and realized that it was all a dream. The next day, while heading out to a picnic with Luigi, peach, and toad, Mario told the tale of his strange dream. Upon arriving at their picnic spot, the group noticed a small cave. Inside was along staircase that led up to a door. At the top, the four friends opened the door and stood shocked by what they saw. It was subcon, the world of their dreams! Mario discovers subcon has been taken over by Wart, and that the events of the dream are true. Mario and co are now on a quest to defeat wart and restore peace to the dream world!

Gameplay-9/10
At the beginning of each level, the player can choose between the playable characters, Mario, Luigi, peach, and toad. All four characters are featured with different powers and statistics. When entering the next level or, in this version, losing a life, the player can select a different character again. So, let's get on to the game, upon starting a level, you will have 2 life points, if I'm correct, I think there is a way to get another life point, not 100% though. For some reason, the health bar in this game looks a little similar to the one from Bug's bunny birthday Blowout, not a whole lot though, just a little bit. Once you get five cherries, a star will appear on the screen, once you grab it, you will receive temporary invincibility. At the end of most levels, you fight birdo, You must jump on eggs that she spits, grab them and throw them back, Hit her three times to gain a crystal which opens the hawkmouth gate at the end of the level.

Graphics-9/10
The graphics aren't too bad for 2001! All the characters have nice looking sprites! And like every single Kirby game, or Nintendo game for that matter, All of the worlds and levels are bursting with color and atmosphere! I espically like the explosion effect in this game, I know this was a launch title, but still! Good job Nintendo! You never cease to amaze us!

Sound-9/10
There aren't much songs in this game, to name a few, theres the overworld theme, the mini boss song, and the final boss song in the game. The songs are really great as the overworld theme is like a feeling of adventure is a strange place and really sets the mood of the game right, the mini boss theme gives you a feeling of distress where you feel you have to beat the boss and keep moving on towards the end, the final boss theme gives the feeling that after all the tough battles you've faced, you're ready to take down the main point of evil in this game and it makes you feel powerful and ready to fight.

Addictiveness-9/10
This is a game that I had around when I was about 9 years old, In fact, I love it so much, I used to always play it when I was in a bad mood, that way, I can just look at the game and smile! I also loved that you can play with more then 1 character in this game! Yea theres 4 in this game! I don't see why this game got a lot of hate. It doesn't deserve it.

Depth-9/10
Once you're done playing the regular adventure, you can go and play the original Mario bros if you want. All the other super Mario advance titles let you play the original Mario bros, so yea...I don't think I'm going to mention it in when reviewing the other SMA titles. The game is seven worlds long, so this is most likely a 2-3 hour game.

Difficulty-7/10
Whats a Mario title without challenge? Yes some parts of this game really made me rage, but otherwise, the game shouldn't give you that much trouble. I mean! thats one reason I love Nintendo! Every game they make is always challenging! One thing that I can get over though is the fact that there are no boss meters whatsover! That was one shortcoming that Jake long rise of the hunstclan had! I hate games that don't have a boss meter when fighting a boss! You don't know when you're done until like the last 4 minutes of the boss!

Overall-9.6/10
Overall, for a lunch title, this game was awesome! I don't see why everybody hated Mario 2! I personally loved it! But....people are entitled to their own opinions....so yea. I highly recommend this game to anybody who needs a Mario fix! I gave this game a 9.6 because how much it offers! These are the kind of games that you never wanna shelve! Buy it now! If you want a good platformer for GBA, I highly recommend this gem!