Topic: Super Mario Advance vs Super Mario All Stars?

I was wondering if everyone here prefers the updated graphics and sound of Super Mario All Stars, or the updates graphics and game changes of the Super Mario Advance series? Both are great, so I am guessing it will depend if you prefer playing on your TV or playing on a handheld. I am curious on what people think.

Well, there isn't much of a difference, but I'd have to pick All-Stars.

I've always assumed the SMA series is mostly based on All-Stars (which I never had).

Pssshh! All Stars all the way! Sure there's voice samples and the graphics have a little bit of a face-lift, but those barely make up for the way the music got raped!
Example: Vanilla Dome in SMA 2 Super Mario World.

I was playing the Super Mario Advance that has Super Mario 2, and the boss from world 3 was totally new, a giant birdo robot tank. It was very cool. Also the giant shyguys and vegetables are very cool. At least for Mario 2, Super Mario Advance is the winner for me.

All Stars, hands down.

All Stars. It's just better somehow as well as the added convenience of all the games on one cartridge.

It depends on the specific game; first off, there seems to be some confusion in the discussion, for Super Mario World was not really part of All Stars, it just included the updated versions of the NES games (although they did release All Stars + SMW on one cartridge for a while, still keeping their names distinct however). SMW and Yoshi's Island were arguably better on the SNES, but that's because they started as SNES games.

The updated NES games, however, were better in the Advance series, and that would be only Mario 2 and Mario 3. Mario 2 had new bosses, huge enemies, and other little additions that made it great fun to replay; Mario 3 had the eReader levels, if you were fortunate enough to have all the equipment to load them, which were, if you ask me, the best new 2D Mario levels in many, many years (better than the entire NSMB).

There were 32 new eReader levels total, by the way, but only half made it out of Japan. I have all 32, and here's a video of me playing through one of the great Japan-only levels.

@wariowoods How do you load the eReader levels? How that level was crazy. I really want to get all the eReader levels.

@WarioWoods: That was awesome! I wish I'd gotten an e-Reader. SMW coins, turnips from SMB2, and two fortress monsters. Oh well, SMA4 is all new to me (I never get past the water world in SMB3).

The eReader levels were actually contained in the tiny dotcodes on each card that you scan. To load eReader levels, you unfortunately need: the eReader, 2 GBAs, and a link cable. You put SMA4 in one GBA, the eReader in the second, link them, and then slide the level card through the one with the eReader when the game prompts you to do so. After loading a level and beating it once, it will be saved in your SMA4 save file, so you won't need the card or reader anymore to play it. The other issue is that the Japanese cards are not compatible with the US or EU game cartridge, so you'd need the J game if you wanted to play every level.

However, there is an easier route through emulation. CaitSith, a guru of all things eReader, re-encoded all the Japanese level cards to be compatible with the US game, and posted them on his site as raw files (intending for others to physically print them out using high-resolution printers and high quality paper, then scan them in the manual way -- a difficult process). Using those and the NO$GBA emulator's full eReader and linking capabilities, I was able to transfer all 32 levels to one save game file for SMA4, which can then be used with the ROM in any emulator to play all the levels, or you can even use it with a GBA flashcart, if you have one, for the full experience (which is what I did). I believe I was the first to create a single save file containing all the levels (even the Japan-only ones), and I did it several years ago when the NO$GBA emulator first caught up with all the necessary eReader capabilities to make it work properly.

Anyhow, I could post a link to my save file containing all the levels, but I'd be concerned about forum rules, etc. Technically it's not a ROM, since it's just a save file that would still require you to get the ROM on your own in order to use it, but I'd rather let a moderator clear it before posting.

Ha! Are you kidding?! GBA all the way! The voice samples, graphics tweaks, and more flexibility with saving, they more than make up for the music! And personally, I rather like how the music sounds on the GBA version! Really, the GBA versions are large improvements, such that I can't bear to play the originals again!

the sound chip on the gba one is REALLY TERRIBLE

Actually, the sound chip does a pretty good job of reproducing the SNES sounds on the GBA speaker!

There aren't any significant changes. I'd say All-Stars because it has everything for a cheap price, especially if you can find the version with Super Mario World on it.

The voice samples in Super Mario Advance (Super Mario Bros. 2) are so bad that I lose interest in the first 10 minutes every time I fire it up.

I'd say the GBA version, since in it you can save the game anywhere, not just after you beat a fortress or ghost house. It's really frustrating to make it up to a castle and lose your last life and have to go all the way through a couple of stages again!

Super Mario All-Stars is better, imo, than Advance.

You noticed that, too? I was literally brokenhearted when I found out sometime in 2008/2009 when I found out the GBA sound samples were crap compared to the powerful SNES sound samples. Thank Breath of Fire 1 for that.

Well, I think the GBA does a really good job of recreating the SNES sounds on those small speakers! I think the SNES sound samples are crap compared to those of the GBA!