Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 is a port of the SNES version of Super Mario Bros. 3, making this a port of a port.

The biggest addition to this game is World-e, a hub where you can access new levels...provided you have an e-Reader and the appropriate level cards. There were 38 level cards released in Japan, North America only got 12 before the e-Reader was discontinued, and Europe didn't get anything. You're welcome, Europe!

=Main Game= Stuff from the main game. Natch.

Unused Graphics
Mainly consists of unused graphics from the SNES version, which contains unused graphics from the NES original. Clean up your tilesets, Nintendo!

General


The unused animations of map Mario walking left/right and up have been updated again for Super Mario Advance 4, adding gloves to Mario's sprite.



Gloves were also added to the Hammer Suit sliding graphic.



These bonus tiles still aren't used. While there were three bonus games added to Super Mario Advance 4, they aren't the ones removed from the original game.

The original Spiny Cheep-Cheep graphics are still in the ROM. Seriously.



The same four end-of-level outlines that went unused in Super Mario All-Stars are present here.



The bonus game intros were redone for this version, so these old Toad/Mario/Luigi graphics are no longer needed.

Plains


The updated eye clouds and double bushes are still present.

Grasslands


Updated big and small clouds. Mmmhmm.

The corner pieces that aren't used in the NES version are still present, and still in their 4-color format.

Higher Plains


Spiral clouds and the original hill designs.



Text reading "3 transfer" (３テンソウ -> ３転送), loaded with the Higher Plains tileset.

Caves


Updated small cloud, but it isn't used. Ever.

The unused cloud corner tiles are present as well, unconverted.

Desert


A piece of foreground scenery? Let's update it, but not use it.

The multitude of unused desert tiles in the NES version still linger, unchanged in the tileset. Again.

Underwater


The new, slimmer propeller is present. Guess what? It's unused.

The alternate block hasn't been removed or updated. Much like this sentence.

Sky
The unused cloud corner tiles remain in the tileset.

Ice


There was a big cloud here. It's gone now.

Castle


This weird door frame or whatever it is was never deleted when the tileset was ported over. Twice.

World 8


The updated tires and spikes from the SNES version.

Super Mario Advance 2 Leftovers


These graphics from Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 are stored in one block of the ROM. Unlike most of these graphics, these tiles are uncompressed, so they were not likely intended for World-e.



This font is found in the same block, with what appears to be a string for the game version.

Unused Enemies


A gold version of the Cheep-Cheep enemy. They swim faster than normal Cheep-Cheeps, in a wave-like motion.



A faster green version of the Para-Beetle enemy, which can only be generated by the also-unused Para-Beetle spawner.

Regional Differences
Super Mario Advance 4 continues the habit of giving the international title screens a massive downgrade in quality.

=World-e= World-e has more unused content than the entire main game!

Unused Backgrounds
Most of the unused backgrounds are variations of existing backgrounds. To view these backgrounds, use the CodeBreaker code, where is the background ID.

Bonus Game


Background ID: 

This background uses graphics found nowhere else in the game. Its ID is directly after the three new bonus game backgrounds, hinting that it might have been a possible candidate for a bonus game.

Caves


Background ID: 

The standard cave background, with a second cave layer in place of a skyline.

Forest


Background ID: 

Another background variant that has more scenery in lieu of a skyline.

Hills


Background ID: 

The hills background (seen in grassland levels) at a higher elevation.

Waterfalls


Background IDs: 

Three(!) unused waterfall background variants. The first two have much larger waterfalls than normal, the only difference being the height the clouds form. The third looks like the waterfall background used in-game, but at a much greater height.

Unused Level Icons
These World-e level icons are unused, mainly icons already used in the main game.

Unused Level Sets


Three level sets are unused: lowercase e, Fire Flower , and Heart. There are three sets used for the released levels: Mushroom, Star, and Promotional.

Grey Switch


A grey palette exists for the power-up switches, present in both the e-Reader room and the World-e map.

Switch Cards


These are stored in the ROM and should be displayed on the e-Reader screen when a switch card is scanned, but this never happens. It's too bad, as these are some nice graphics.

The e-cards make the game easier, the ?-cards change the normal game in some way, and the !-cards make the game more difficult.



Similar graphics are found on the World-e map.

Unused Switch Content
To activate these effects, use the CodeBreaker code, where is the switch ID.

4000 Points Switch
No card image found

Switch ID: 

With this effect, the continuous enemy point bonus will start at 4000 instead of 100. This means that the player will start earning extra lives with the third enemy in a row.

1-Up Mushroom Switch


Switch ID: 

With this switch active, all blocks that contain 1-Up Mushrooms will give three of them instead of one.

Double Health Switch


Switch ID: 

This will double the health of bosses.

Floating Platform Switch


Switch ID: 



This switch will enable a cool feature when you fall down a pit: the first two times the player falls down in a stage, they will be raised out of the pit by a floating platform. The first time it will be two blocks wide (much like the Amazing Flying Hammer Brother's platform in Super Mario World), and the second time it will be only one block. Jumping down a pit a third time will result in death.

Hold Box Switch
No card image found

Switch ID: 



This switch effect will add a hold item box to the center of the screen, again like Super Mario World. Once you get hit, the item will drop down and a new one will be added. The item box will always be a Mushroom at the start of the stage.

The item can be any one of the following: Mushroom, Fire Flower, Raccoon Leaf, Frog Suit, Tanooki Suit, Hammer Suit.

Luigi Demo Switch
No card image found

Switch ID: 

Any demo recorded with this switch active will have Mario replaced with Luigi when played back. If used during the main game in conjunction with the Luigi gameplay switch, or during World-e, this will usually lead to Luigi dying.

Two-Hit Switch


Switch ID: 



When the player is hit with this effect active, they will always revert to small Mario/Luigi regardless of the current powerup, as was the case in the original Famicom version.

Europe World-e
World-e is disabled by default in the European version, but not actually removed, and was even translated into other languages. It can be unlocked by exploiting a corrupted save.

Alternate Bonus Icons
Older graphics for the e-Coin and Advance Coin counters are loaded before the new ones take their place.

Advance Coin Graphics


Two unused frames of the Advance Coin flipping. The text here translates as "rare". The coin only has three frames of animation in-game, making it look rather awkward.

Castle Floors


The castle that houses the e-Coins actually has three floors, but the latter two are never accessible.



The upper floors are unlocked when an e-Reader level is marked to have a 9th and 17th e-Coin, respectively, and allows you to switch floors by pressing L or R. Since even in the Japanese version only eight e-Coins got released, these floors are never accessible.

Placeholder Text
A little block of katakana text that's stored in memory for a couple of frames before the level loads. マント translates as "cloak", and marks where the Cape graphics are stored.

Other Unused Text


"Trap replacement". This chunk of text is loaded for the bonus game intros.



Unused Japanese text, translating to "Will you save this course?"



Unused Japanese text "R" menu: "tsuushin" = Communication; "touroku" = Register; "sakujo" = Remove.