The Real Background/Story
Simon Yamagatzo, Japanese citizen and lead project manager for Super Mario Bros. 2 was quite fond of sukki, an oriental beverage loaded with vitamin alcohol. He enjoyed it so much; he purchased a large quantity of it for himself and his fellow team members. After a couple cases, the team discusses exactly what the game should be like. One of the gentlemen suggests that they not mess with the tried, tested, and true formula of Mario and his brother, Luigi running around, jumping on monsters, reptiles, and fungus. Simon reminds his friend of the second Mario Game released in Japan that flopped like the size fourteen shoe sale he had seen the previous day (this game was later released with Mario All-Stars for the SNES under the name "The Lost Levels"). To make sure the fellow no longer forgot such important details, Simon nailed him with his sukki cup right between the eyes. "That was fun!" exclaimed the sloshed Project Leader. He had a feeling he was on to something big. "Let's incorporate throwing alcohol around in the game." "Good idea, sir!" Everyone groaned as Myron, the butt-kissing assistant lead programmer spoke "And we can make it so the actual enemies can be thrown as well!". The sober lead programmer spoke up at last. "Shut-up, Myron! No one cares what you think. Besides, we wouldn't be allowed to have Mario associated with alcohol anyways." "Well what will Mario throw then?!?" Simon manages to pipe up before Myron could respond. "What about vegetables?" A small man from the back of the room suggested, "They have to be the most wholesome things around." "Fine, fine, Mario will throw Vegetables until we think of something that isn't so corny..."
NOTE: The Real Background/Story is mostly funny fiction

Game Statistics

• 2 games in 1.
• 5 game modes.
• 4 selectable characters.
• Battery backed memory to save game data.
• 32-megabit cartridge.

Game Design
I should mention that Mario Advance is really -ahem- two games in one. Along with the Super Mario Bros 2 port it also comes bundled with "The Original Mario Bros". No, no, folks, they don't mean Super Mario Bros, they mean the original Mario Bros. The one that came out just after the Donkey Kong arcade game. Yes folks, the game you got to play whenever Luigi challenged Mario in the fantastic Super Mario 3 has been included in Super Mario Advance. This option can be taken advantage of either in single-player, or multiplayer. In single play the gamer must defeat wave after wave of monsters, ranging from the killer turtles Mario is constantly having problems with, to a frozen icicle of doom, which will either freeze Mario or make his life miserable by making one of the four main platforms Mario uses slippery. Multiplayer is virtually the same thing, but it is now a race, not only to stay alive, but also to destroy baddies faster than the 1-3 other people you are playing (off of one game pack). It should also be noted that this mode in single player is fun for about seven minutes, and then it is either too dull or frustrating to continue.

Now, as for the Mario Bros 2 port itself, it is simply your character running, jumping and throwing his or her way to victory. Play as Mario, a great all-round character. Toad excels in uprooting vegetables (I'll explain later), but cannot jump very high. Princess Peach cannot jump high, nor is she very strong, however, she has the unique ability to float, either moving or mid-air for a small period of time. Any of these characters make for an odd, and extremely challenging game. Or, you could be just be Luigi and skim through the game in a couple of days. Luigi's ability to both jump higher and fall slower than any of the other characters makes him superior in every way that counts. Some people may disagree, but these people are idiots. The game has seven levels, each level having three stages (level seven having only two), each having unique monsters (sort-of) and obstacles. The level themes range from the regular Forest levels, to the desert levels, to Neo-Kid Icarus cloud levels. Enemies can be killed by uprooting a vegetable and throwing it at whomever is bothering you (generally the same enemy you wish to dispatch), or by jumping on an enemy and picking it up, leaving you in an excellent position to throw it at another enemy, or perhaps down a conveniently placed chasm. Mario and co. start every level with two hearts. Every time an enemy harms one of your heroes a heart disappears. Zero hearts means zero life so tread lightly. Additional hearts (or heart sockets) can be found throughout the level. Every stage has a stage boss, every level a boss level, and of course, they are of increasing difficulty. Occasionally you may even have to be Mario, as Luigi's "Superman-like" jumping abilities can prove a nuisance in one or two boss stages. While several lives may be lost on a single boss, there is no reason to worry, as there is a way to gain three lives about forty five seconds into the first level. This can be repeated until the famed ninety-nine lives limit is reached. When I discovered this, I had not previously played Mario 2 for longer than ten minutes.

Graphics
Pretty much up to par with Mario: All Stars. Animations were added to make the game smoother. Sprites now have doubled the amount of phases, or double the amount of pictures were used to create a moving image. Characters now do a back flip whenever a super jump (hold down, wait, and jump) is performed. Some backgrounds are a little bland. The menus look like they were the product of a contest using Microsoft Paint, but they do their job.

Sound
The sound is actually quite good. The character voices are quite crisp, although many of Mario's sounds are just re-hashes from Mario 64. Toad has the most annoying voice EVER. It sounds like someone trying to beat a baby to death with a cat. But don't worry, he only says stuff whenever he jumps or throws things. So, about 70 or more times a stage...

The music is just like the original and is of pretty good quality. Nothing you'll want to burn on to a CD between the illegally downloaded version of "Hello Time Bomb" and that new Nickelback single, but it gets the job done.

Control
The controls are very easy to get used to. It's just a side-scroller. Precision is not exactly required, but jumps on to small ledges from fast moving objects are entirely possible. Every character seems to have a different feel, which is a good thing.

Satisfaction
The ending blows. The most unsatisfying ending ever. Skip to the next section if you don't want me to spoil the surprise.

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It was all a dream.

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Can you believe that? I almost flushed my GBA right then and there.

Replay Value/Game Length
Almost none. There are red coins scattered throughout every level (like the Yoshi coins in Super Mario World for SNES). If you get them all (certainly a tedious task), you get a secret Yoshi level, which is almost as disappointing as the game its self. Wahoo

Overall
If you life lacks fun, excitement, and adventure, take up skydiving. If you lack a bad game for your GBA, pick up a copy of Mario Advance.

Review by Bill

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