Since it’s arrival in 1985, Super Mario has been a stable franchise in the Gaming Industry with releases ranging from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) to the Nintendo Wii U. The Mario series defines what makes me a gamer; Enjoying the wide library of Super Mario titles for as long as I can remember. With Super Mario World being one of my favorite games of all time (Even reflected on my business card), the announcement that we can finally, without the use of third-party tools, customize and design Mario levels is a godsend. The fact of the matter is that this total fan-service of a game is something that I have always dreamed of, ever since I destroyed my first Goomba and boy, is it sweet.
By celebrating four different generations of Mario games, Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World and New Super Mario Bros U in a sandbox-creation esque game, Nintendo has clearly gone above and beyond by giving players limitless options to create their own world, with firsts only found inside of Super Mario Maker. The inclusion of online servers with the purpose of sharing user created levels is something that Super Mario Maker needed to happen to be successful. I am happy to report that even with the small amount of users who had early copies of the game, writers and Youtubers alike – some amazing levels have already been produced and it makes me excited to think of what the mass community will come up with when the game launches at retail.
Super Mario Maker has one of the cleanest user interfaces I have ever seen when it comes to level-editing and browsing through in-game menu’s. Upon starting the game, you are presented with a simple remake of 1-1 from the classic Super Mario Bros., that is, until you get near the end of the level when you are greeted with a wall of fire rods. Your objective is to erase these parts and make the level possible to beat. This will be the first time your eyes glance at the clean interface used to create levels. As you get your blood boiling with anticipation,This is you first taste you get at as creating your own levels, and it starts to get you familiarized with the process as it walks you through the different steps on how to place items, erase items and combine items. As you familiarize yourself with the items you have available, you will unlock more items for the next day.
For those who don’t want to create levels but instead want to try playing custom made levels, you should still find ridiculous value for your money as 10 and 100-Mario Challenge provides an insane amount of gameplay. In 10 Mario Challenge, you have 10 lives to beat a total of eight user-created levels – which translates to an easy challenge for anyone wanting to simply pick up and play Mario spanning the four games mentioned before. The 100-Mario Challenge is extended for newbies and veteran’s alike, and is a great way to score one of the hundred unlockables if you don’t own the existing Amiibo counterpart. Unlike the 10-Mario Challenge, the 100-Mario Challenge features three difficulties: Easy, Medium & Expert. The levels are chosen by the automatic difficulty process which Nintendo has in store for user-created levels. The more deaths than wins on a level, the harder the difficulty will be set to. This involves a complete process for finding very tough and challenging levels for even the most seasoned Mario player. Of course, every time you enter the game, it will try to find different maps for you to complete, so no two experiences are the same, which creates a very replayable setting for a game which may have as many levels as there are Youtube videos.
When you hear Super Mario Maker, you assume that everything about the game will be for making levels but when you boot up the game and find everything which I stated above, your expectations are not only met – they are exceeded.
Some in-game mechanics were missing from this iteration like Super Mario Bros 3’s ability to crouch on a White platform for 5 seconds and disappear into the background or the ability to spin on top of the gears to avoid death in Super Mario World. These nice throwbacks will surely be missed, however Super Mario Maker makes up for it with the inclusion of combining items when making levels.
When you hear Super Mario Maker, you assume that everything about the game will be for making levels but when you boot up the game and find everything which I stated above, your expectations are not only met – they are exceeded. Super Mario fans both new and old should be able to appreciate this high-quality title from Nintendo, with millions of different opportunities to make, create and play Mario levels. For those who believe they don’t have the level-designing quality, Super Mario Maker brings you through the paces by limiting the complexity of items you start off and gradually work your way up to the more complexity levels. For those knowing what they want to design, this feature may be troublesome but skipping ahead the WiiU’s system clock will help resolve this issue – no matter how inconvenient that workaround is.
If you walk away from this review with one thing; it is this: Buy this game if you own a WiiU and enjoy Mario titles. The levels are limitless and the creativity is endless.
Pros
+ Unique Mechanics allow for combinations not seen in the Mario universe before; creates new experiences
+ Easy to pick up and play; An endless supply of levels thanks to level sharing
+ Great for new and old players alike; Provides a refreshing and challenging experience for veterans and easy-going experience for new players.
+ Level editor is one of the best; Simple, clean UI makes it easy to find, create and erase items.
Cons
– Some old mechanics were taken out
