From the Toysit archive
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
Explore Super Mario Advance 4’s changing costumes and routes, distinguish its linked extras, and draw a three-door adventure of your own.
The play at a glance
A different costume can suggest a different route
Mario sweeps across the yellow box with raccoon ears and a striped tail, while Luigi waits below among the hills. Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 puts a world-map journey and side-view courses on Game Boy Advance. Its transformations invite a lovely kind of curiosity: what might become reachable with another way to move?
Look at the landscape twice
The map connects eight worlds; individual courses turn that journey into jumps, pipes, blocks and discoveries. Transformations change how Mario approaches a place: the Frog Suit helps him swim, the Super Leaf gives him raccoon abilities, and the Tanooki Suit adds a temporary statue form. A familiar scene can invite a different plan after a new item appears.
Try describing a course as a sequence of choices: a low path, a high platform, a patch of water and the goal beyond them. A spectator can suggest a route, then watch how the player’s timing changes the plan.
Adventure, shared turns and linked extras
The main adventure offers Mario alone or alternating Mario and Luigi turns. The separate Mario Bros. game includes Classic and Battle play, with linked options for several players. Nintendo’s booklet distinguishes their cartridge requirements: linked Classic uses a Game Pak per player; Battle supports Single-Pak or Multi-Pak play. Linked play also needs a system per player and the appropriate Game Boy Advance Game Link cables.
The US e-Reader feature uses two compatible systems, the e-Reader, a Game Boy Advance Game Link cable, the game and matching cards. Level, Demo and Power-Up cards have different purposes. Consult the regional booklet for setup details.
Try a three-door costume route
Draw a side-view landscape with a hill, a pond and a high doorway. Add two more doors at different heights. This original paper activity lets you invent both the explorer and the costumes.
- Design three costumes, giving each exactly one ability. For example, spring boots reach a high ledge, a bubble coat crosses the pond and a ribbon cape makes a bridge between two posts.
- Mark a starting point. Choose a door and trace a route using one costume. Explain where its ability matters.
- Ask a partner to choose a different door. Change the costume or the landscape so the explorer can reach it.
- Add a new destination that can be reached in two different ways. Draw both routes in different colors and name what makes each one interesting.
Finish by making a small “costume shop” sign that explains the three abilities with pictures. The aim is a readable adventure with meaningful choices, rather than a score or a perfect imitation of Mario’s rules.
The historical record
Original Toysit coverage
The complete earlier product account and commentary are preserved below as historical coverage.
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Brothers 3
Bowser and his troublemaking kids have plunged the land into chaos by transforming all the local kings into animals, and it's up to Mario and Luigi to stop them. In what many consider to be the best Mario game ever, you'll have to run, jump, and stomp on enemies through eight enormous worlds as you use awesome new power-ups like the Warp Whistle and the Frog and Tanooki Suits. The epic platformer spans the land, sea, and sky, and it's only the beginning of the fun to be found on this Game Pak. Players can add cool new features with the Card e-Reader or link up with friends for multiplayer mayhem with the original Mario Bros. game. Any way you play, it's one of Mario's greatest adventures-and it's all in the palm of your hand!
Super Mario Brothers, the iconic video game franchise created by Nintendo, holds a timeless appeal that has captivated generations of players. At its core, Super Mario is about a plucky plumber named Mario on a heroic quest to rescue Princess Peach from the clutches of the menacing Bowser. What makes it enduring is its simplicity and universal themes of adventure, friendship, and heroism. The gameplay is intuitive yet challenging, offering a perfect balance of accessible fun and rewarding skill development. The vibrant and imaginative Mushroom Kingdom is a joy to explore, filled with memorable characters, power-ups, and hidden secrets. Mario's adventures provide a sense of wonder and discovery that transcends age, making it equally enjoyable for kids, adults, and nostalgic gamers. Ultimately, Super Mario Brothers' enduring appeal lies in its ability to transport players to a magical world where challenges are overcome with determination and a sense of fun. It's a reminder that, no matter how many years pass, there's always an adventure waiting just beyond the next warp pipe.
Sources and editorial notes
The pictured package identifies the Game Boy Advance release Super Mario Advance 4. Selected pages of Nintendo’s US booklet AGB-AX4E-USA-1 were visually reviewed for map play, transformations, saving, alternating Mario/Luigi, linked Mario Bros. and e-Reader connections. This was not a complete page-by-page review. The European PDF was located but is not used to establish US card features. Package badges describe the original promotion; they do not establish the contents of a surviving copy. The drawing activity is an original Toysit invention, not a game level.
- Original Toysit image — Existing same-site image reviewed and retained unchanged.
- Nintendo US instruction booklet: Super Mario Advance 4 (PDF scan) — AGB-AX4E-USA-1. Cover and selected printed pages 5–12, 21–37 and 41–44 visually reviewed, including actual connection diagrams. Manufacturer booklet hosted by Video Game Manual; not a complete manual review.
- Original Toysit coverage — Complete historical account retained, including its original claims and wording.
Images and descriptions are retained as historical material. How Toysit covers toys.
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