Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 Screenshots   The Final Say! Gameplay 10.0 Graphics 9.5 Sound 9.5 Value 10.0 Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 - reviewed by Chris "Talkshow Host" Barnett  Review Date: 12 March 2002 Review Score: 9.9/10  Distributed by: Nintendo

There are certain moments in life that people will use as a bookmark to reference other events.  For some people it is when JFK was shot, for others it may be when Princess Diana died, and for video games it is normally the moment that you played one of the last two Mario games.  That is, Super Mario World on the SNES or Super Mario 64 on the N64.  Both of these two games will undoubtedly bring back the memories associated with the time in which you first saw it and even stronger memories of the first time that you played it.  If you don’t believe me, think back to these events yourself and I am sure that you will be able to remember where you were and what you did on that day.  For me, Super Mario World brings back memories of playing the game on a poor quality (second hand) television in my bedroom where the only light was that of a stubborn burning gas fire.   Super Mario 64 brings back a memory of walking around a Toys ‘R Us store without any knowledge that it would be there.  When I finally made eye contact with it, I was hypnotised as I watched a small spectacled boy standing in front of the screen attempting to enter the castle but constantly falling into the castle’s moat (the thing I remember most about this was the uncontrollable urge to wrestle the controller from his sweaty palms and stamp on his head, not unlike Mario in the game).  This small test will certainly prove your loyalty to videogames and will show you exactly how good your memory actually is.  Go ahead and try it out on your friends, I am sure they will appreciate being reminded of an old friend.  Then get ready for a new bookmark moment, maybe not for those who have already played Super Mario World, but for the new generation of gamers who may not have visited the beloved dimension of an overweight Italian plumber and his crazy reptilian foes.  Get ready to waste your life; this is a game where you get out what you put in.             The game is the second Mario plat former to appear on the GBA, the first being a conversion of the original Super Mario 2 (that appeared on the NES).  Many were disappointed by the choice to convert Mario 2 rather than the SNES outing of our friend, but it is now apparent that it was a plan to get you to buy both.  The first Mario Advance was a conversion, but it also had a few new elements, and the gameplay was improved by smoother scrolling and other subtle touches (you could throw certain items that you were not originally allowed to throw).  So it follows that the conversion of Super Mario World has also been improved for the new version.  The differences are not too great, but they are significant enough to change the game.

The first differences that players of the original will like to note is that the dinosaur coins (they are long oblong coins) now appear in multiples of five on every level, so you must find them ALL to complete the game properly, and then you get to hunt for a new type of coin (the princess coin) on each level, extending the game massively (effectively you will need to play through each level at least five times to find all its secrets and subtleties).  The second change is that you can no longer cheat by repeatedly playing completed levels or by constantly jumping on wrigglers (large worm type organisms that yielded a life when they were destroyed) in order to obtain unlimited lives.  This is a great feature as it now solves the ONLY problem that ever lay within the game.  Another small addition that increases the accessibility of the game is the inclusion of a progress report that tells you if you have uncovered all of the secrets on a given level, as well as your points and playing time.  This really helps rest your mind, knowing that you have uncovered all of the secrets on a given level (but it also will contribute to insanity when you are informed of a secret level that you cannot find) and the entire dinosaur coins.  The last real addition to the game is the ability to play each level as either Mario or Luigi.  The only difference is that Luigi has a higher and slower jump (allowing him to reach higher areas more easily), but this does alter the gameplay quite a bit as you have to alter your entire jumping/killing technique.  This also means that you must complete every level with both characters to prove that you have truly completed the game (the character that you have used to complete a given level is recorded in the progress report, so there is no way of ‘cheating’ to your friends by telling them that you have completed a level with both brothers).

            Apart from these additions, the game’s mechanics remain the same (the graphics do look a little crisper) allowing all of the classic moves and moments to be relived.  The level design is still to be matched to this day, each level has so many little intricacies and hidden features (some levels are actually hidden, so to complete all 96 levels will take some time just to find, never mind complete in total) that it makes you wonder exactly how this game was cast aside between the day you last played the SNES version and the time when you played this.  Each of the levels is varied and each of the worlds has its own distinct feel and atmosphere (it makes you gnash your teeth each time you have a boss castle as you know that they are so darn tricky!), allowing a great diversity in gameplay.  As it has been mentioned previously, to complete the game will require many plays through each level, as each one will need to be completed in four ways: with Mario, with Luigi, with all five dinosaur coins collected and finally with the princess coin collected.  As well as this, you will also have to travel back to levels once you have reached certain switch palaces, so that you can access areas the are now accessible (the switch palaces will cause blocks to appear that can be jumped on to reach higher areas).  Once you have done this, I do not know what happens, as I have not spoken to anyone who has done so!  This game is just too good to put into words, and will certainly resolve all of those conflicting thoughts in your mind as to which game can be crowned the ‘best of all time’.  Some may criticise the multiplayer mode as it is the same as the original Mario Advance’s, but the game is not really meant to be a multiplayer game (who on Earth would buy it for the multiplayer when the single player is so good?).  The best multiplayer mode on this game can be made yourself, with two GBAs and two copies of the game.  Simply select a level that you both have access to and start it at the same time, and then it’s a race, that’s it!  This is very simple, but this is the only way that Super Mario World was meant to be played.

- Chris "Talkshow Host" Barnett