One of the video game world’s most recognizable heroes is back on the GBA and this time he’s battling Koopa over 96 levels. Everthing is here from the orginal [i]Super Mario World[/i]: Yoshi, The Cape, Star Road and all the hidden extra’s scattered throughout the game. This direct port of the SNES classic is perfect down to every detail. The Gameboy Advance re-captures Mario in all his glory, the levels are just as colorful and detailed as it was on the SNES.

The sound quality is also fairly good with the creepy ghost house level music to the showdowns with Koopa’s children. It also plays the same, with the A button jumping, B to run and grab, and the L and R shoulder buttons doing the spin jump. The controls are simple and easy to use, although I did find that the shoulder buttons were uncomfortable to hold onto for long periods of time, which is thankfully offset by the fact that you rarely need to use them. If you’ve played the original game then there are no new suprises as far as levels go. It’s all classic Mario.

My one biggest complaint with this game was Mario’s slightly less famous brother Luigi. Although it’s nice that Luigi is getting some more spotlight, I found his jumping difficult to control since he seems to float more than jump, and when he’s in the air he skids around like he’s walking on ice.

All in all, if you liked the original [i]Super Mario World[/i] and you want to revisit a familiar land or if you’re not familiar with the Mario franchise and interested in seeing what its all about, its a great game and I recommend you pick it up.