cool details! GBA on Nintendo Switch
1 March, 2023
I’m a huge dork, Nintendo put up a collection of Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games and I’ve racked up hours of game time on each, this may be the release of the year for me.
However, I’m sorta pissy towards the analysis major publications are making about these games. It’s all surface level statements and in one case directly missed the point of the releases’ relevance! I’m gonna write a few key points I feel were missed, and then chat a little about what I would like to see from GB and GBA on Switch!
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
Everything is not as it seems, on the surface this is an enhanced version of Super Mario Bros. 3, specifically built upon the All Stars version on SNES.
Below the three save files are Card Levels. Nintendo released an E-Reader peripheral for the GBA, which was a really inventive way to unlock additional content. Basically you swipe a card and it inputs code to the game unlocking data.
There are roughly 40 additional levels available in SMA4: SMB3, and they’re unlocked immediately. A few of these are remakes from Super Mario Bros, while the majority reach towards Super Mario Maker territory of level design.
Some incorporate mechanics from other games such as plucking onions in Super Mario Bros. 2 as well as enemies including Chuck from Super Mario World and even the Cape from Super Mario World gets a feature!
In addition Luigi is playable and has his signature jump and slippery controls. I found the levels fun and inventive, the challenge beyond clearing each level is collecting the coins to fill the museum gallery. That is if the levels aren’t challenging enough, these will test your skills with perfect cape jumps and memorisation on the scale of a mini-Metroidvania.
There is a stealth game included; Mario Bros.
Sticking with Super Mario Advance 4, there is an inclusion of Mario Bros. and this is separate to the Battle Mode present in Super Mario Bros. 3 Also included in other Super Mario Advance titles as well as Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga, Mario Bros. has been updated to suit a GBA display and has fully fledged 4-player modes based on the Classic Mode of the original and the Battle Mode as featured in Super Mario Bros. 3. It also includes the power squat jump from Super Mario Bros. 2
Given the online play availability. It would be remiss of me to skip a 4-player session!
SNES tracks available on Super Circuit
Mario Kart: Super Circuit gets a lot of flack, I think people forget just how good it is within the context of being a handheld Mario Kart game. Super Circuit incorporates the Mode 7 or Super Scaler tech of Super Mario Kart with a substantial visual upgrade.
Hidden are all of the SNES tracks, clear the game once on 150cc, then again collecting 100 coins during each cup to unlock the SNES counterparts. It’s a nifty detail including these into Super Circuit!
Get Ready to Rumble Superstar!
There’s rumble built into Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga! It’s a Game Boy Player feature, sending a little rumble to your GameCube controller during dialogue and battles. Finally compulsively checking settings before playing paid off! This also applies to Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3!
Additions to the Super Mario Advance titles
These were not available at the time of publishing*, but today all of the Super Mario Advance titles are available on the platform and while they're not system accurate, each title does include additional content not accessible in the originals.
In brief, Super Mario Advance: Super Mario Bros. 2 includes 5 coins to collect in each level coins, reordered or additional bosses to avoid repeats, and a completionist Yoshi Coins - only accessible after beating the game and in Subzones only.
Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World features Luigi as a playable character, a way of tracking secret exits and Dinosaur Coins collected in each level.
Finally, Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island has an additional Secret level per world, unlocked upon beating them. These are super challenging.
And lastly, what would I like to see from the platform?
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past + Four Swords
This has since been released, but for the sake of this article - fits within the same territory as Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 where this is a pre-existing game - one of the greatest! With the addition of a new multiplayer story mode that slots in as a prequel to The Minish Cap.
There’s a four sword that divides Link into four playable characters, with NetCode on Switch at a good level it seems like a no-brainer addition and fills some of the gaps in the evolution between the Oracle games and Minish Cap. The levels have pre-built elements but use randomised elements, following a roguelike experience.
With Tears of the Kingdom director Hidemaro Fujibayashi debuted as the director for these titles, I feel they're deserving of reappraisal.
Knowing I only need 1 friend for a base experience, up to 3 additional for a greater time also places less onus on planning a proper game night.
I also hear it unlocks an additional dungeon in A Link to the Past? However, the unlock criteria for this is wild - finish the game on the hardest difficulty - which involved a score attach on.
More games that utilise gyroscopic aim!
We’ve got Kirby’s Tilt n Tumble on the way, while this is a Game Boy Colour game the tech can’t be that much harder to utilise on the platform. I’m thinking specifically of WarioWare Twisted but hey I’m not going to put my nose up at Yoshi’s Universal Gravitation (aka Topsy Turvey) and the lesser known Koro Koro Puzzle Happy Panechu!
Anyways, that’s my brain dump! I feel clearer knowing there’s literally hundreds of hours of Game Boy ahead of me on the best handheld since the 3DS. If you have any more thoughts on the GB or GBA, berate me in the comments!
*republished on December 24, 2024 - could add screenshots?