Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2

This article is about the Game Boy Advance remake. For the original game, see Super Mario World. For other uses, see Super Mario World (disambiguation).

Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2
For alternate box art, see the game's gallery.
Developer	Nintendo EAD
Publisher	Nintendo
Platform(s)	Game Boy Advance Virtual Console (Wii U) Game Boy Advance - Nintendo Switch Online
Release date	Game Boy Advance: December 14, 2001[?] February 11, 2002[?] February 11, 2002 April 2, 2002[?] April 12, 2002[?] September 23, 2002[?] March 15, 2006 (iQue) Player's Choice: October 2, 2006 Virtual Console (Wii U): April 3, 2014[?] December 25, 2014[?] March 10, 2016 March 11, 2016[?] Game Boy Advance - Nintendo Switch Online: May 25, 2023 May 26, 2023 May 26, 2023 May 26, 2023 May 26, 2023
Language(s)	English (United States) French (France) German Spanish (Spain) Japanese Simplified Chinese
Genre	2D platformer
Rating(s)	ESRB: - Everyone PEGI: - Three years and older ELSPA: - Three years and older ACB: - General USK: - All ages
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Format	Wii U: Digital download Nintendo Switch: Digital download Game Boy Advance: Game Pak
Input	Wii U: Wii U GamePad Wii Remote (horizontal) Classic Controller Wii U Pro Controller Nintendo Switch: Joy-Con Joy-Con (horizontal) Nintendo Switch Pro Controller Game Boy Advance: Gamepad
Serial code(s)	AGB-AA2J-JPN AGB-AA2E-USA AGB-AA2P-EUR AGB-AA2U-AUS AGB-AA2C-CHN

Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 is a reissue of Super Mario World made for the Game Boy Advance and developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development (Nintendo EAD). It is the second title in the Super Mario Advance series and was released in Japan on December 14, 2001; in North America on February 11, 2002; and in Europe and Australia in April 2002. There are numerous gameplay, visual, sound, and level design changes from the original game, as the most noticeable alteration is the game being playable for only one-player (rather than two), with the addition of Luigi now playable in single player as an optional character. Additionally, a remake of the classic Mario Bros. game is included, as with all the other entries in the Super Mario Advance series, which supports anywhere from one to four players.

The game was re-released on the Wii U's Virtual Console in Japan on April 3, 2014; in North America on December 25, 2014; and in Europe and Australia in March 2016. It was later re-released on the Nintendo Switch's Game Boy Advance - Nintendo Switch Online service in May 2023.

Gameplay and premise

Main article: Super Mario World

Mario and Luigi arrive at Dinosaur Land with Peach.

The gameplay and plot are the same as in the original version of Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Players take control of either Mario or Luigi, adventuring through Dinosaur Land to foil the evil King Bowser and his Koopalings, who have kidnapped Princess Toadstool (also known as Princess Peach) and imprisoned seven of the native Yoshis in eggs. Players navigate through the game's worlds via an overworld map featuring paths connecting to action panels, fortresses, etc. The playfields of the levels are populated with obstacles and enemies, with the player traversing the stage by making use of basic techniques from the NES Super Mario titles, like running, jumping, swimming, dodging, and defeating enemies; and those new to the original Super Mario World, like the Spin Jump.

The same power-ups from the original release are retained, including the basic power-ups of the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Starman; and the Cape Feather, introduced in the original game. The Super Mushroom increases Mario or Luigi's size; the Fire Flower gives him a fireball attack; the Starman makes him invincible; and the Cape Feather allows him to fly and to attack enemies by spinning. Also returning is Yoshi, the Mario brothers' sidekick and riding mount from the original Super Mario World, who is able to eat most enemies and gain special abilities from holding colored Koopa shells in his mouth. The game also contains blue, yellow, and red Yoshis, which become available to Mario and Luigi from any level in the game after he has found their eggs in Star World and fed them enough enemies or objects to grow them to maturity. When holding any Koopa shell in his mouth, these Yoshis gain the ability that corresponds to its own color, in addition to that of the shell.

Controls

The Wii U allows controls to be customized.

Action(s)	GBA	Wii U	Switch (Dual Joy-Con / Pro Controller)	Switch (Single Joy-Con)
Move		/ ↔	/ / ↔	↔
Crouch	Down	/ ↓	/ / ↓	↓
Look up	Up	/ ↑	/ / ↑	↑
Spin Jump
Jump / Select level
Run / Interact / Special ability			/	/
Pan camera / Toggle world map camera
Pause				+
Use item in Item Stock / Show stats				+

Changes from the original game

Super Mario Advance 2 has considerably less significant differences from the game it ports than the first Super Mario Advance. Nevertheless, the game contains many gameplay, visual, and other changes from the original Super Mario World, which are explained as follows.

Gameplay

Mario's and Luigi's height differences in their respective jumps

Several changes were made to the gameplay, some to accommodate the GBA's different button layout, and others to further refine the game:

• The game's original two-player feature has been removed, making the game for only one player. Because of this, Luigi is reworked and can now be played in single player as an optional character, who can be swapped out with Mario by pressing on the world map.

Rather than just a palette swap of Mario as in the original game, Luigi plays differently from Mario in several ways:

• • Luigi jumps higher, but more slowly than Mario, and scuttles in midair as he jumps, similar to how he did in the first Super Mario Advance. When Luigi flies using the Cape, he flies slightly higher than Mario, but not as fast.
  • Luigi suffers from worse traction and lower running speed than his brother.
  • Fire Luigi's fireballs bounce higher than Fire Mario's.
  • When Luigi is riding Yoshi, Yoshi does not instantly swallow enemies; instead, he can spit them out and use them to attack other enemies, automatically swallowing them after a brief amount of time.
  • If Luigi hits a Coin Block, all of the coins inside it will spill out of the block at once instead of collecting them one by one.
• The Fall event, previously made available after the player cleared the Special Zone, is now locked until the player has cleared all 96 exits, and not only Koopa Troopas, Bullet Bills, and Piranha Plants, but also Goombas and Pokeys have their appearances changed.
• A status menu is added, accessible by pressing on the world maps, which allows players to check their total play time, score, how many levels they have played (and which brother they used in which levels), and whether or not they have collected all the Dragon Coins in a given level.
  • Once all the levels have been cleared, the player can press to automatically access the levels that they select.
• After the colored Yoshis have been unlocked in Star World, eggs contained in Prize Blocks will spawn different colored Yoshis depending on which power-up Mario or Luigi currently has.
• The save system is updated to allow players to save at any time, whether on the playfield or in the world maps, as opposed to the original game, which only allowed saving after completing a Ghost House, fortress, or castle.
  • The player's life count and power-ups are also saved.
• The maximum life count is raised from 99 to 999, and the maximum number of extra lives the player can get from jumping on or hitting enemies is raised from three to five.
  • If the player earns at least 10 consecutive lives, a flower and text stating how many lives the player earned scrolls across the screen.
• The time limit for Bowser's Castle has been increased from 400 seconds to 800 and 600 for the front and back doors, respectively.
  • When battling Bowser in the SNES version, the timer and scoring are disabled, with the HUD only displaying the reserve item, if the player has one. In the GBA version, the full HUD is displayed during the battle, with the scoring and timer remaining in effect throughout. The timer stops counting down whenever a Big Steely is on screen. After Bowser is defeated, and Mario or Luigi go up to the princess, the time remaining is multiplied and added to the score as usual when completing a level before the ending sequence begins.
• When Mario or Luigi are hit when in caped or fire form, they only revert to their super forms, similar to Super Mario Bros. 3. This makes it so that Mario and Luigi can keep their reserved item longer.
• Yoshi will lay an egg containing an item after eating ten red berries. The SNES version always produced a Super Mushroom, while in the GBA version, the item depends on the Yoshi's color:
  • Green Yoshi - Super Mushroom
  • Yellow Yoshi - Super Star
  • Red Yoshi - Fire Flower
  • Blue Yoshi - Cape Feather
• Defeating climbing Koopas consecutively counts towards a point chain in the GBA version, as does defeating enemies while sliding down slopes.
• As the GBA lacks the and buttons, it is not possible to shoot fireballs while holding Shells or Grab Blocks.
• In the international SNES version, the player could replay a completed castle or fortress by holding the and buttons when selecting the level. The GBA version does not allow the player to reenter the castles or fortresses until after Bowser is defeated, at which point the player may replay any of the castles and fortresses without the need for a special button combination.
• In the bonus game:
  • In the SNES version, Mario/Luigi performs a V sign regardless of the outcome. In the GBA version, Mario/Luigi looks down with sadness if he doesn't win.
  • When Mario/Luigi wins in a bonus game, the matching icons flashed in the SNES version, whereas the GBA version also shows lines connecting the matching icons.
• Mario/Luigi is capable of climbing beanstalks faster if is held while climbing in the GBA version.
• In the SNES version, only the normal green Yoshi hatched from eggs found in question blocks. In the GBA version, a different color Yoshi can be found in the question blocks based on which color Yoshi has been found in Star World and fed enough enemies or objects to grow to maturity, as well as the power-up Mario or Luigi currently has. The possible outcomes are as follows (forms written in italics will always spawn that particular Yoshi, assuming it has already been found and fed in Star World, whereas forms not written in italics will randomly spawn a Yoshi among those which have already been unlocked):
  • Green Yoshi for Small Mario, Super Mario, Fire Mario (if Red Yoshi has not been found and fed yet), and Caped Mario (if Blue Yoshi has not been found and fed yet).
  • Yellow Yoshi for Small Mario, Super Mario, Fire Mario (if Red Yoshi has not been found and fed yet), and Caped Mario (if Blue Yoshi has not been found and fed yet).
  • Red Yoshi for Small Mario, Super Mario, Fire Mario, and Caped Mario (if Blue Yoshi has not been found and fed yet).
  • Blue Yoshi for Small Mario, Super Mario, Fire Mario (if Red Yoshi has not been found and fed yet) and Caped Mario.

Other

An example of the redesigned levels: In Donut Plains 1, this pair of pipes is added, likely to prevent Mario or Luigi from abruptly grabbing the key and entering the keyhole. (This particular change is exclusive to the North American version.)

Level design

Several levels and areas are altered to accommodate for the Game Boy Advance's lack of vertical screen space, as well as to adjust their level of difficulty. Notable changes include:

• Certain levels, such as the Cheese Bridge Area, have a lowered enemy and obstacle count.
• Certain levels have repositioned or additional Semisolid Platforms in them.
• Dragon Coins are added to levels that did not originally have them, including Ghost Houses, Fortresses, and Castles (excluding Bowser's Castle).
• Additional or brand-new Message Blocks have been added to Yoshi's Island 1, Donut Ghost House, Donut Secret House, and Butter Bridge 1.
• Coin counters have been added to certain areas, such as in Donut Plains 1.
• Yoshi's House has ten berries instead of seven.
• The Super Mushroom in the last room of Lemmy's Castle is changed to a Cape Feather, along with most of the level being entirely redesigned.
• In the seventh room of Bowser's Castle (featuring Bowser statues that spit out flames), the first statue does not spit out flames.
• The Top Secret Area has a time limit.

Art

Some colors, text, and animations are altered as follows:

• Due to the GBA's smaller resolution, the developers reduced the display resolution to fit better on the GBA (resulting in a "screen crunch"), and brightened the original color palettes to accommodate the lack of a backlight on the original GBA model.
• On the Super Mario World title screen, the logo from the North American release of the original game is used across all regions, instead of using the logo from the original game's Japanese version in that region.
• The Mario brothers' overalls were changed to the standard blue, matching their official artwork.
• As in the special compilation cartridge Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World, Luigi has his own sprite set independent of Mario's, rather than just being a recolor of Mario. However, his sprite is a new design based on his appearance in Super Mario Advance. Unlike Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World, all of his poses are identical to Mario's.
• Peach's sprites were redesigned to more accurately resemble her official appearance (incorporating her established lighter dress color, hair thickness, and blue earring coloration).
• Bowser and Yoshi's arm colors were corrected to their main skin colors, resembling their official artwork.
• The Pidgit Bill is redesigned to look like the original Pidgits from Super Mario Bros. 2.
• The brown boss door in the Chocolate Fortress, the only one of its kind in the SNES version, is recolored red like the rest of the boss doors.
• The eggs of the seven captured Yoshis are recolored to fit the coloring of the Yoshis trapped inside them.
• The Koopalings and Bowser gain an additional finger on their hands.
• After the 96 exits are completed, most Message Blocks congratulate the player on finding the secret world and completing all the exits.
• The heading "Point of Advice" on Message Blocks is changed to "Tourist Tips."
• As Yoshi can spit enemies back out while being ridden by Luigi, enemies such as Mega Moles, Dolphins, Wigglers, Lakitus, Volcano Lotuses, Porcu-Puffers, Super Koopas, and even Floating Mines have new alternate defeat sprites seen when Yoshi spits them out. In the case of Blargg, only his eyes are spit out by Yoshi.
• Magikoopas no longer use the incorrectly mapped unique palette that they had in the original, instead using the default blue, which is mapped correctly.
• The Top Secret Area is represented by a unique smiling hill icon on the world map.
• After Bowser is defeated, the castle and fortress icons on the world map have their lower portions rebuilt, while still retaining the white flag in place of the upper portion.
• When a different color Yoshi is found for the first time in Star World and fully grown, a text box appears where the Yoshi thanks the player for rescuing it and tells the player what it can do when carrying any color shell in its mouth.

Introduction and Cutscenes

Additional cutscenes were added or changed:

• A pre-title introductory cinema scene is added, where Mario, Luigi, and the princess arrive in Dinosaur Land by hot-air balloon, the brothers fly around Yoshi's Island with capes, and upon their return to the landing spot they find the princess missing and become puzzled; if the player has won the final battle, the ending of the cutscene instead shows the princess being escorted by a Yoshi while Mario and Luigi fly behind.
• The intro scene where it is stated that the player is in Dinosaur Land and Bowser has kidnapped the princess originally had Mario standing, and if the player presses a button before the text box appears, Mario would start into a moving pose before being frozen in place once the text is on screen. In the GBA version, the player cannot control the characters before the scene cuts to the world map. Luigi is added to the intro scene, pacing back and fourth as Mario looks up at the text box.
• Two other cinematics are added in the GBA version:
  • When the player has collected all the Dragon Coins, a cutscene is shown where the Dragon Coins fall from above, piling up on a platform, with a large coin in the center that Yoshi swallows and lays an egg that contains a Peach-imprinted coin, followed by Mario and Luigi appearing to do their V poses.
  • After all 96 exits are cleared, a cutscene is shown where Luigi is tossing Mario Masks from the hot air balloon, followed by a message congratulating the player on finding all exits and telling the player to try a slightly different Dinosaur Land. Mario is then shown stomping a Koopa and taking away its shell, leaving the Koopa with the mask that lands in front of it.

Following clearing a castle stage, the text is changed as follows:

• It now says both Mario and Luigi defeated the Koopaling, rather than just Mario or Luigi.
• Iggy is described as "crazed" rather than "demented", as the latter is considered rude in some regions.
• The grammar and general flow of the text has been improved:
  • Wendy O. Koopa has "sung her swan song" rather than her "last song".
  • Chocolate Island is called "deliciously dangerous" instead of "dangerous (but tasty)".

Ending

The ending is also altered significantly, as follows:

• Both mentions of Mario are accompanied by mentions of Luigi, and vice versa.
• Instead of being mentioned as simply "the princess", Peach is now referred to by her now-standard original Japanese name, even though all uses of the name "Princess Toadstool" from the original release are retained.
• Whenever the player replays the level after the first time Bowser is defeated, the text simply states: "Mario and Luigi's adventure is over."
• Luigi is added in the credits sequence and the return to Yoshi's house.
  • In the former, either Mario or Luigi (depending on whoever was not used to defeat Bowser) is placed at the end of the line behind the eggs of the trapped Yoshis.
  • Because of Yoshi's arms being recolored to match his body, there is an error in the scene where Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, and the trapped Yoshis arrive at Yoshi's house: the tongues of the green and blue Yoshis match their respective colors rather than being shared with the red and yellow Yoshis when they celebrate, even after the trapped Yoshis hatch from their respective eggs. This error doesn't exist in the SNES original.
• The Magikoopa is added to the "cast list" of enemies after the credits, appearing next to the Grinder.
• While the enemies have their new appearances in the fall variation of the "cast list", their names remain unchanged in the GBA version.
• The "THE END" screen that appears after the enemy parade is completely overhauled:
  • Mario, Peach, and Luigi are represented with a custom-drawn illustration.
  • The text is restyled to be red with a navy-blue outline.
  • The background, though initially white, changes to a grass hill when a camera snapshot is heard.
  • Bowser is also present in the background after it changes, using his world map sprite.
  • When this screen is displayed, the player is no longer required to reset the system; they can return to the Yoshi's Island world map upon pressing , where they are given the option to save.

Sound

The soundtrack has been changed as follows:

• The quality of the entire soundtrack is downgraded for the GBA's inferior sound chip.
• Digital voice acting is contributed for Mario and Luigi by Charles Martinet, with a combination of new voice clips and those ripped from the first Super Mario Advance game.
• The Boos were given laughter effects.
• The Koopalings will shriek upon being dumped into lava pools.
  • Shooting them with fireballs also makes the "boss hit" sound.
• New sound effects have also been added for certain actions and events: sliding/skidding, opening the net gates, scanning the map, Amazing Flyin' Hammer Brothers throwing hammers, when a Magikoopa appears, hitting a bonus block without collecting 30 coins, the transition of items in the Roulette Block, the timer on the Count-Lifts, Bowser dropping the large bowling balls and getting hit by a Mecha Koopa, and a Koopaling dropping from the ceiling.
• The pitch of the death jingle is increased by five half steps.
• While Mario/Luigi is in balloon form, the tempo of the music is decreased, and a warning sound is added for when the balloon effect is about to expire.

Manual

• The world map and the profiles of enemies and bosses are moved to a separate flyer due to the difference in size between the manuals of SNES games and those of GBA games.

Reception

Reviews
Release	Reviewer, Publication	Score	Comment
Game Boy Advance	Derek "DC" Collins, Gamespy	91/100	"While there are arguments that Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 breathes new life into the 2D gaming genre, I highly doubt that this title is capable of that. First, this is not a new game. It's been around for a over a decade, and the fact that a game of this caliber has to be rehashed in order for the kiddies to appreciate it doesn't wash. Secondly, while Super Mario Advance 2 represents the Golden Age of gaming on a smaller screen, this game is not anything but what it was to gamers 10 years ago -- one terrific good time."
Game Boy Advance	Jeff Gerstmann, GameSpot	9.4/10	"Super Mario World is one of the greatest games ever made. The Game Boy Advance version adds a handful of amenities to cater a little bit more to the portable crowd, but these changes serve only to enhance an already extraordinary game. New multiplayer options would have been nice, but in the end, this is a game that no Game Boy Advance library should be without."
Aggregators
Compiler		Platform / Score
Metacritic		92
GameRankings		92.36%

Sales

The game was successful, selling over 5,460,000 copies worldwide, with at least 3,290,000 copies in the United States.

Staff

Main article: List of Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 staff

The game was produced by Super Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, and directed by Hiroyuki Kimura with supervision from original SNES directors Takashi Tezuka and Toshihiko Nakago. The new graphics were designed by Emi Tomita, and the new audio cues were composed by Yasushi Ida and Taiju Suzuki. This was the last entry in the Super Mario franchise to be produced under Hiroshi Yamauchi's administration as president of Nintendo.

Pre-release and unused content

Early logo, from Nintendo Space World 2001

As shown in published screenshots, an early build retained the original game's HUD, which was altered in the final release to fit in better with the GBA's screen resolution. Even the original test levels were left in the game; they can be accessed via a glitch.

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Glitches

Y00

These glitches only occur in Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2. For a list of glitches that are exclusive to the original Super Mario World or occur in both versions of the game, see here.

999 lives glitch

If Mario/Luigi is riding Yoshi with 999 lives, the player may enter a level with possibly at least a 1-Up Mushroom (e.g. Yoshi's Island 2) that was already beaten, stick Yoshi's tongue to the 1-Up Mushroom, and rapidly press when Yoshi's mouth is full. Upon returning to the map screen from the pause menu, the player's life counter shows up as Y00 (1000). This glitch is temporary, and the life counter resets if the player enters another level.

Silver Yoshi

In the level Outrageous, if Mario or Luigi is riding a Yoshi and falls into the bottomless pit before the last Bullet Bill stand, he can jump off the Yoshi at the very last second and then be damaged by a Bullet Bill. This must be done in a frame-perfect manner. After beating the level, Mario or Luigi will be riding a Silver Yoshi that acts as a Yellow Yoshi. After Silver Yoshi eats all of the red berries in a level, an egg will hatch not to reveal a Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, Cape Feather, or Starman, but instead an unshelled Koopa.

Status menu glitch

After having found all 96 exits, the player can simultaneously press a button and to trigger the status menu, then choose a level and move in an incorrect way going to an incorrect level. Pressing will result in no response, an endless bonus game, an actual level, or an inaccessible level like the intro level. Some levels if beaten will glitch the game drastically if the normal exit is taken or revert to the original overworld if the secret exit is taken. For unknown reasons, getting more than 96 exits through this glitch reverts the overworld back to the normal overworld and saving is fatal. Through this glitch, it is possible for the player to access a test level and unused intro from the original game by going to Star World 3, pressing right on the and simultaneously, and selecting the second Star Road on the list at the level screen.

Yellow Switch Palace re-entry

After completing the game, Mario and Luigi should return to the flattened Yellow Switch Palace, then the player must very quickly press and down on , then select Chocolate Island 3. From there, Mario or Luigi will begin a winding trek back to the flattened Yellow Switch Palace; however, it will display Chocolate Island 3's name instead of "Yellow Switch Palace." Upon pressing , Mario or Luigi will be able to re-enter the Yellow Switch Palace. It should be noted that after returning here, the Yellow ! Switch will not be found at the end as it has already been pressed. Therefore, Mario or Luigi must manually exit the level since there is no other way out.

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2.

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  The game's logo

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  Artwork of Caped Mario mounted on Yoshi

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  Prima Games official guide

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  Super Mario World title screen

Media

For a complete list of media for this subject, see List of Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 media.

Intro

File infoMedia:SMA2 Intro.oga 0:30

Title screen

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Super Mario World Title Theme

File infoMedia:SMA2 Title Theme.oga 0:30

Yoshi's Island

File infoMedia:SMA2 Yoshis Island World 1 Theme.oga 0:25

Overworld

File infoMedia:SMA2 Overworld Theme.oga 0:30

Athletic

File infoMedia:SMA2 Athletic Theme.oga 0:29

Help:Media • Having trouble playing?

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	スーパーマリオアドバンス2[?] Sūpā Mario Adobansu Tsū	Super Mario Advance 2
Chinese (simplified)	超级马力欧世界[?] Chāojí Mǎlì'ōu Shìjiè	Super Mario World	iQue
Chinese (traditional)	超級瑪利歐ADVANCE 2[?] Chāojí Mǎlì'ōu ADVANCE 2	Super Mario Advance 2