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I think this is the best re-release of Super Mario Bros. 3 that I've ever seen. Although the graphics look identical to those from "Super Mario All-Stars" several years ago, the game has a few very nice added features which got me hooked on SMB3 all over again.

Among my favorite features are the ability to save the game at ANY point. The original SMB3 on the NES had no save feature whatsoever... the save feature on "SM All Stars" on the SNES was limited in that it only remembered what world you saved on, and it saved your items. (For example, if you got all the way to World 3-10 when you hit "Save & Quit" you would resume back at the beginning of World 3-1 next time you played.)

The GBA version of SMB 3 saves *everything* -- your score, the number of coins, all your items, and every single board you've cleared. This is very handy considering that you could be playing on an airplane where you may be asked to shut off your electronic devices immediately and you don't have time to keep playing to a "save point" like in some games. I would have also appreciated this feature when I was a kid and mom and dad didn't understand that you really did have to play 3 or 4 more stages before you could save the game and come to the dinner table.

I love being able to resume where I picked up, especially including my score, coins and extra lives.

The other big thing I love is, once you finish the game, you can go back and clear boards that you skipped the first time around. Once you have a "perfect clear" on all 8 worlds, you have free reign on everything in the entire game... play any stage as much as you want, exit out of stages anytime, and go into any mushroom house or bonus game as much as you want. Because of this, you can do things never possible before, like stocking up on later-stage items (like Hammer Bros. suits) and playing through the earlier stages with them. That World 2 Fortress isn't so hard anymore when you can toss hammers at the Thwomps and the Boos!

The fact that this game is still so popular after more than 14 years on the market just goes to show... you don't need to have the latest and greatest 3-D whizbang technology to be successful. Sometimes it's nice to go back to basics, and this is probably one of the best re-releases Nintendo has ever produced on any platform. If you loved (or even just liked) SMB3, you'll be very happy with this version.

You can't. Oh yeah, it's back. Now, mind you, I never once owned the NES but this game did have arcade playability (remember those 6-in-one arcade machines where you had to dump in quarters for playing time?) Well, although they're probably absolete now, I was victim to playing this game almost every morning before going to elementary school, using an endless amount of pocket change. Now I look back, 14 years later, through all the 3-D stimulating crap surfacing on overly-priced state-of-the-art machinery, retro games are looking and playing a whole lot better. Thus, we have Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3.

Anyone who's anyone, who was old enough to remember, has played this gem or heard about it or seen some screenshots ("The Wizard"). What can I say about this game? The graphics are top-notch, the controls are still the same, and don't let the shortness of each level fool you....after conquering some of the most challenging and mind-numbing puzzles and paradoxes laid before you, you'll be glad to find that pipe and clear a level.

The many costumes Mario can acquire is genius. The flying raccoon, the jumping frog, the Hammer suit, the Tanooki suit....it gave an unique twist all it's own (don't forget the rabbit ears in Super Mario Land 2 on GB, in which he glides) The secrets, mini-games, bosses, level designs....who needs an eloborate story? It's straight-forward: save the land!

I guess the next question now would be what's SMA5 gonna be? Until then, grab a feather and come fly with Mario in an unforgettable adventure!

Super Mario Bros. 3 was the biggest video game of my generation. I was 9 when it came out. There was so much buzz to this game (partly due to the movie "The Wizard") I remember practically half my 4th grade class talked about it for show and tell. Granted, I played SMB3 into the ground back then to the point where I became bored to tears with it. Still, it's been 14 years, and what once was old, now is new.

So what's so cool about this release that it earns 4 stars and is actually worth the $30-$35? Well, it's portable, you can save anywhere, you can play with a friend with only one game boy because of the alternating nature of the 2-player game, you can save replays of the level's you've beaten, you can now store up to 4 rows of items as opposed to just 1, there's the obligatory 4 player link version of the original mario bros. which only requires one copy of the game. And then there's the amazing e-reader support that, in theory, gives the game an infinite number of new levels. It's really hard to knock this release even though it's a gross example of how the GBA's library is saturated with ports of games we've all played before (and then some).

I've still got a few slight gripes. Other than the e-reader feature, there's really nothing new. It's the same game it was 14 years ago. That's generally a good thing, but if you were like me and played it into floor then, the game's liable to wear out on you somewhat quickly. It would have been interesting if they had provided a few more modes of play to make the game new and challenging*. And I really would have liked the 2-player game to be linkable. But other than that, I 'spose you couldn't ask for much more really.

* I concede, there is a nice all clear mode that let's you pick any world and play any level you've beaten (all 90 of them!) if you beat the game. But...that's about it.