Overview
Super Mario Bros. 2 received an enhanced remake as Super Mario Advance, the first Mario title for the Game Boy Advance, which also contained a remake of Mario Bros. This version was developed by Nintendo R&D2. It included several graphic and sound enhancements in the form of enlarged sprites, multiple hit combos, and digital voice acting. For the first time ever on Nintendo's part was a system devised to score this game. Two notable additions are the new character, Robirdo, a robotic Birdo who acts as the boss of the third world, and the Yoshi Challenge, which encourages players to revisit stages and search for Yoshi eggs. Nintendo's decision to choose it as the Game Boy Advance launch game was seen by some as misguided; GameSpot in particular thought that Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World would have been a far better choice for a launch title considering their popularity. (Both of those titles would eventually be remade as part of the Advance series.) However, IGN praised the choice, calling it "one of the most polished and creative platformers of the era." Nonetheless, it was a best-selling launch game, showing that the game still appealed to Nintendo fans. Recently, the game has become part of the Player's Choice lineup for Game Boy Advance as one of the system's first three Player's Choice games (along with Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Super Mario Advance 3 ).
Before starting a level you can choose between Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Peach. Each of the characters have different strengths and weaknesses such as Luigi who can jump high though not very far and Toad is faster. As well as strength which determines how quickly the character can pull up a item in the ground.