Super Mario Advance - Super Mario USA + Mario Brothers (Japan)
Game Boy Advance
🇯🇵
Reviewed in 2001
84
✪ Reviewed on January 27, 2023
78
Super Mario USA + Mario Brothers on GBA, Japanese version of Super Mario Advance. Same Mario USA excellence in original version. Arcade Mario Bros. as bonus to extend the experience.
Your verdict
Category
Compilation1 player3+
Description
Compilation published by Nintendo in Japan in March 2001. Contains Super Mario USA - the Japanese version of American Super Mario Bros. 2 with Mario, Luigi, Toad and Peach with distinct abilities - and the original arcade Mario Bros. GBA launch title in Japan, first episode of the Super Mario Advance series. Japanese version known in the West as Super Mario Advance.
Super Mario Advance - Super Mario USA + Mario Brothers review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
1/5
Story
★★★★★
"Anecdotal"
A launch title in Japan, this edition serves as a showcase: it displays sprites markedly larger than the previous generation allowed, with gradients on the scenery and slowed animation on falls. The bundled arcade game, its graphics deliberately left in their original state, underlines by contrast the distance travelled in twenty years.
The Japanese edition presents the arrangements in their first version: melodies faithful to the original but replayed with the machine's richer timbres, and menu jingles written specially for the occasion. The bundled arcade title keeps its period sound effects, creating a two-decade sonic gap within the same cartridge.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
Lifting vegetables to hurl at enemies, riding clouds and exploring a dreamlike world: this remake of Super Mario USA keeps all its joyful strangeness. Four characters with distinct feels vary the approach, and the polished handling makes every jump crisp. Colourful, exotic and accessible, an atypical platformer whose charm is intact.
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Plucking up vegetables, choosing among four heroes with distinct abilities and combing every set revives the plumber's formula in a colorful, accessible version. Hidden coins, potions and secret passages sustain a constant curiosity, and the Mario Bros mode extends the fun with several players. The particular pace sometimes disorients, but the invention keeps a tenacious appeal.
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Average"
Technical info
💾2,1 MB📅21/03/2001
Published by Nintendo
Super Mario Advance - Super Mario USA + Mario Brothers (GBA) price, value & rarity
Complete: box, manual and disc/cart very clean. Lightly handled.
Q1 damagedQ6 completeQ10 new
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Collector interest
Original Japanese edition of the GBA launch title, distributed by Nintendo in March 2001 under the Super Mario Advance Super Mario USA + Mario Brothers title, which explicitly restores the Super Mario USA identity carried by Doki Doki Panic in the country. Nintendo rigid case with an obi marked Mario Brothers as subtitle. Japan run was sized by market, complete with obi remains a landmark for Japanese completists who distinguish the local version from the Western Super Mario Advance release.
Is Super Mario Advance - Super Mario USA + Mario Brothers still worth playing in 2026?
Super Mario Advance reworks Super Mario Bros 2 USA, namely the most singular platformer of the saga, and enriches it with new enemies, fresh voices, a progression map and the Mario Bros arcade game as a bonus. The choice of four characters with distinct abilities remains a strong argument for anyone wanting varied approaches. The color and readability translate beautifully to a handheld screen. A fine Mario entry point on the GBA, not to be skipped under the pretext of having already tried the NES original.
