Switch Card
The title of this article is official, but it comes from a Japanese source.
If an acceptable English name is found, then the article should be moved to the new title.
Switch Cards (スイッチカード) are a type of e-Reader cards for Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3. Upon scanning, these cards make massive changes to gameplay. Out of the seven released Switch Cards, only two of them were released outside of Japan, the Orange Switch and Blue Green Switch. In total, there are fifteen e-Switch[1] effects, five of which are unused. Said effects also have unused pop-up icons that were supposed to appear on the Game Boy Advance screen when said effect was activated.[2]
Unlike the e-Reader levels, these features were left out of the game's re-releases on the Wii U Virtual Console and Game Boy Advance - Nintendo Classics.
List of switches[edit]
| Name | Effect icon | Description |
|---|---|---|
Orange Switch |
Makes Fire Mario's fireballs turn non-boss enemies into coins, like in Super Mario World. | |
Blue Green Switch |
Makes grass with turnips appear throughout the main game, which Mario could pluck and throw at enemies, like in Super Mario Bros. 2. This effect is permanently activated in World-e. | |
1UP Kinoko ga 3UP Moon ni kawaru![Japanese] |
Change most 1-Up Mushrooms in the game into 3-Up Moons, allowing the player to accumulate extra lives much faster. | |
Luigi Power Up!![Japanese] |
Gives Luigi his scuttle ability from Super Mario Bros. 2, and makes his fireballs bounce higher (like in Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2) in the main game. This effect is permanently activated in World-e. | |
Timer yukkuri![Japanese] |
Slow down the timer and music for the first 50 counts of the timer in every World-e level, giving the player more time to complete each level. Once this effect expires, a coin sound effect is played, and both the timer and the music go back to normal speed. | |
Sugu ni mantan! Power Meter!![Japanese] |
Reduces the Power Meter in World-e from six steps into just three, making it much easier to run across stages and fly with Raccoon or Tanooki Mario. | |
Teki Power Up! Tokuten x2!![Japanese] |
Replaces most of the enemies in the game with more difficult ones, doubles any points gained and the bosses' health, and makes Mario go directly from any fully powered-up form to Small Mario, rather than to Super Mario whenever he gets hit, as in the Famicom version of Super Mario Bros. 3. In the game's code, these are four separate effects, meaning that through the use of a cheating device, one could activate one effect without activating the others. |
Unused effects[edit]
Additional e-Switch effects also existed in the game, but their corresponding cards were never released and thus they can only be activated by using a cheating device:[3]
| ID | Effect icon | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0020 | N/A | This effect causes point combos from defeating multiple enemies continuously to start at 4000 points, allowing the player to start earning extra lives starting from the third enemy. |
| 0004 | This effect makes any block that contains a 1-Up Mushroom to have three 1-Up Mushrooms instead. | |
| 1000 | When activated, this effect will save Mario the first two times he falls into a pit during a level. The first time, a two-block-wide Flying Platform will carry Mario back up, then reduced to just one block on the second time. Afterwards, Mario would lose a life as usual. | |
| 0008 | N/A | This effect adds an Item storage that contains a random power-up (either a Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, Super Leaf, Frog Suit, Tanooki Suit, or Hammer Suit), though it always starts with a Super Mushroom. The item only drops down when Mario reverts to Small Mario. |
References[edit]
- ^ Hodgson, David S J. (October 21, 2003). Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Prima Games (American English). ISBN 0-7615-4425-9. Page 117.
- ^ Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, Switch Cards section. The Cutting Room Floor. Retrieved March 3, 2026.
- ^ Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, Unused Switch Content section. The Cutting Room Floor. Retrieved March 3, 2026.