Taking a page from Mezrabad, I've decided to do my own chronogaming thing on my 2nd favorite handheld, the Game Boy Advance (the first being the DS. My Lynx is 3rd. I'm sorry all you Lynx fans, but Lynx does not have Mario or Mario Kart.) I'll start with 2001 and go all the way until the end of 2006. I'm not going to do the games I can't find (since I can't find them. ), but I need to look for most of them. So, starting with the launch titles, here is Super Mario Advance.

company: Nintendo

size: 32 MB

NP's Now Playing review: vol. 145, page 117 (3.5/5)

The game is a port of the American version of Super Mario Bros. 2 (Doki Doki Panic without Mario and the gang in Japan) with a bunch of extra stuff thrown in. Mario and the gang have voices. Toad's is the worst, stupid annoying shrill high-pitched voice, but unfortunately, he's the best character in the game besides Peach. Fortunately, Mario sounds like his normal self, and so do Luigi and Peach. These voices I think were put in to show off the capabilities of the new machine. Another drawback is that the bosses have voices, too. Birdo's is the worst, but puts to rest "is Birdo female or male?" debate. This is definitely a woman. "This is as far as you go!" she says at the end of 1-1. I highly doubt it. The green one says "I'm gonna finish you off!" which she did at the end of 7-1 (twice, I got two game overs.) I don't even know why there is a lives counter since once you get game over, you start at the beginning of the stage you died in (if you die in 7-2, for example, you start at the beginning of 7-2.) Fortunately, all the warps are the same as in the original version, and you can jump while holding a potion (something you can do in SMAS but not in the NES version.) And also introduced (but not seen in any other game) are huge Shy-Guys. If you pick them up and then drop them on the ground without killing any other enemies, you get a free heart. If you're missing a few, just repeat, the giant Shy-Guys don't die. Basically, if you liked SMB2, you'll like this game. Also included in this (and all future Super Mario Advances) is a port of the original arcade Mario Bros. game. While it does have some graphic changes, it's still basically the same thing as the original. I'm sorry, but I like the Atari 2600 version better. Final Score: 7.5/10.

Next times: The rest of the launch titles (those I can find, anyway): Rayman Advance, F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, Pinobee: Wings of Adventure, Super Dodge Ball Advance, Konami Krazy Racers, Earthworm Jim, Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure, Iridion 3D, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing Round 2, Top Gear GT Championship, Fire Pro Wrestling (whew!)