What is a GBA e-card?

[kitsunelevel]

I heard of this thing called e card a month or two ago and I don't know what it is.

 

[Tri-Z]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_e-Reader

They had cards that could scan with ereader and would add stuff to a game. Like power ups in Mario game and extra levels for super mario advanced 4. I think there were some game and watch games released. Not sure what other e cards are out there I just know I have the full set for Mario advanced 4 and there’s quite a bit of cards.

 

[kitsunelevel]

Thank you.

 

[RAHelllord]

If you want to play them you can find a full archive of them online.
If you get the archive with the save files you can simply rename a save file to the name of the e-reader ROM (or the other way around) and then play it on any GBA emulator or real GBA using a flashcart like you would any other GBA game.
mGBA also has full e-reader support where can "scan the cards in" manually and-get the same result, though less convenient.
And last but not least, the Wii U Virtual Console version of Super Mario Bros Advance 4 comes with all e-reader levels baked in, which wasn't possible with the original release due to storage limitations.

The e-reader levels in Mario 4 are particularly fun and basically Mario Maker prototypes, and the other minigames are worth a few minutes of play at least if you enjoy Wario ware style mminigames or are just an arcade fan.