What’s Super Mario Maker 2? Well, it’s the sequel to the Wii U game Super Mario Maker. Taking what made that game successful and expanding on it, it asks the obvious question: what if you, the player, could design Mario levels? Using the tools at your disposal, you have the ability to design Mario levels from scratch, test them and upload them online. It’s a simple concept, but it’s brilliant. It doesn’t even matter that Super Smash Bros. Brawl did that first in 2008.
I never thought a game about building Mario courses would be so addicting! For one, I didn’t go to OCADU. I majored in English and Jewish Studies, not graphic design. And that’s because I understood those subjects a lot more. Essentially, my field of interest didn’t translate to building.
Two, I’d been growing out of video games for years when this game launched. Sure, I owned a Wii U, but I bought it late in the console’s lifespan. Additionally, I bought it second-hand. My Wii U, while functional, had internal loading issues, making playing games somewhat of a chore. Factor in that the Wii U’s lineup of good titles was small, and I was left with something I didn’t use frequently.
Three, Super Mario Maker confused me. It was fun, but building courses with the Wii U’s bulky tablet was a chore. The controller was like an enlarged iPad, except even more awkward. The game’s controls, therefore, weren’t user-friendly. Add in how bare-bones some features were, and it wasn’t conducive to easy level building. That, and I had limited access to online functionality.
And four, I wasn’t in much of a building mood at the time. Ignoring personal issues, I wasn’t interested in a game where I had to design everything from scratch. I wasn’t an Alpha gamer, the kind who built stuff. No, I was a Beta gamer, the kind who tested what already existed. I was too interested in working with what was finished. So, naturally, I got bored and moved on.
All of this made me uncertain about Super Mario Maker 2. And why wouldn’t it? It was more of the same, right? It was easy to be on the fence about Super Mario Maker 2. Sure, the new features intrigued me, especially the inclusion of Super Mario 3D World mechanics, but I get excited when any Nintendo game’s announced. There was no way I’d shell out $90 Canadian for something that’d only captivate me for a few days, right? Right?!
And four, I wasn’t in much of a building mood at the time. Ignoring personal issues, I wasn’t interested in a game where I had to design everything from scratch. I wasn’t an Alpha gamer, the kind who built stuff. No, I was a Beta gamer, the kind who tested what already existed. I was too interested in working with what was finished. So, naturally, I got bored and moved on.
All of this made me uncertain about Super Mario Maker 2. And why wouldn’t it? It was more of the same, right? It was easy to be on the fence about Super Mario Maker 2. Sure, the new features intrigued me, especially the inclusion of Super Mario 3D World mechanics, but I get excited when any Nintendo game’s announced. There was no way I’d shell out $90 Canadian for something that’d only captivate me for a few days, right? Right?!
Wrong.
Despite any skepticism, my morbid curiosity got the best of me. It began with watching play-throughs of Super Mario Maker levels on YouTube. Shortly after that, I looked up details of the game’s mechanics. Then I started repeatedly watching the trailer for Super Mario Maker 2. Then I began looking up new developments. And when I’d exhausted everything else, I played the original game again. By the time I saw Super Mario Maker 2 at my local EB Games, I ended up buying it.
There was one feature that made the sequel an instant upgrade over the first entry: an actual Story Mode. This was something the first game lacked. Sure, it wasn’t elaborate, you had to rebuild Princess Peach’s castle, but it was an excellent tutorial. All good too, because the actual tutorial was long, drone-like and not terribly helpful. Plus, completing certain objectives in Story Mode unlocked new features to build with.
The real test, obviously, was the “Make” feature. It felt daunting initially, especially with all the options available, but this feature was quite simple. You didn’t need to be a master designer, you simply needed to know how to place items. No need to worry about mistakes, you could erase or undo them if necessary. And if an idea was too hard? That’s what Beta Testing was for. It helped that you couldn’t upload a level without first clearing it yourself, too.
Despite any skepticism, my morbid curiosity got the best of me. It began with watching play-throughs of Super Mario Maker levels on YouTube. Shortly after that, I looked up details of the game’s mechanics. Then I started repeatedly watching the trailer for Super Mario Maker 2. Then I began looking up new developments. And when I’d exhausted everything else, I played the original game again. By the time I saw Super Mario Maker 2 at my local EB Games, I ended up buying it.
There was one feature that made the sequel an instant upgrade over the first entry: an actual Story Mode. This was something the first game lacked. Sure, it wasn’t elaborate, you had to rebuild Princess Peach’s castle, but it was an excellent tutorial. All good too, because the actual tutorial was long, drone-like and not terribly helpful. Plus, completing certain objectives in Story Mode unlocked new features to build with.
The real test, obviously, was the “Make” feature. It felt daunting initially, especially with all the options available, but this feature was quite simple. You didn’t need to be a master designer, you simply needed to know how to place items. No need to worry about mistakes, you could erase or undo them if necessary. And if an idea was too hard? That’s what Beta Testing was for. It helped that you couldn’t upload a level without first clearing it yourself, too.
I learned a valuable lesson this way. So what if the tools were daunting? I simply had to build. So what if I had no experience designing? I simply had to build. And so what if my levels sucked? I’m sure you know my answer to this too.
Super Mario Maker 2 officially got me to overcome my anxiety about level design. And all it took was putting down that first brick in a level that, in hindsight, wasn’t even as bad as I initially thought. It was all uphill from there, with my skillset only improving as time went on. They say the best teacher’s practice, so it makes sense that that’s how I’d become better. Especially by the 15th level.
I’m forgetting something, however. That something is watching my levels get played on Twitch. Twitch enables user interaction, and it’s exploded in popularity since the pandemic started. One of the popular favourites has been Super Mario Maker 2 levels, and having already made a Twitch account, I took advantage of the opportunity. I simply had to type in “!add” to a streamer’s chat, followed by my level code, and everything would fall into place. The only hiccup was waiting until the wee hours of the night for my entry to be called, to which I’d hope and pray that I wasn’t too tired.
Super Mario Maker 2 officially got me to overcome my anxiety about level design. And all it took was putting down that first brick in a level that, in hindsight, wasn’t even as bad as I initially thought. It was all uphill from there, with my skillset only improving as time went on. They say the best teacher’s practice, so it makes sense that that’s how I’d become better. Especially by the 15th level.
I’m forgetting something, however. That something is watching my levels get played on Twitch. Twitch enables user interaction, and it’s exploded in popularity since the pandemic started. One of the popular favourites has been Super Mario Maker 2 levels, and having already made a Twitch account, I took advantage of the opportunity. I simply had to type in “!add” to a streamer’s chat, followed by my level code, and everything would fall into place. The only hiccup was waiting until the wee hours of the night for my entry to be called, to which I’d hope and pray that I wasn’t too tired.
If there’s one word that I can boil down my Super Mario Maker 2 experience to, it’d be “interaction”. The game prides itself on the Switch’s online community to make it worthwhile. It also allows for an exchange of feedback and ideas, which the game takes advantage of. You can play the level, but you can also leave comments. And you can see where people commonly fail. You can even see the fastest Clear Time, giving you an incentive to do better. All of this is to the game’s optimization.
Which presents a weird dichotomy. Like Disney, Nintendo has a history of horrid corporate practices, many bordering on unethical. They also, like Disney, piss people off frequently. But, like Disney, they make marketable products with actual longevity. Super Mario Maker 2’s no exception.
That longevity’s what keeps drawing people back. It’s what also justifies its steep price of $90 Canadian, even long after sales start slowing. And it’s what makes the updates of the game, which add lots of new content, give it extra boosts in sales. If that doesn’t scream “instant classic”, I’ll eat my plumber’s overalls. Lord knows they’re tasty!
Which presents a weird dichotomy. Like Disney, Nintendo has a history of horrid corporate practices, many bordering on unethical. They also, like Disney, piss people off frequently. But, like Disney, they make marketable products with actual longevity. Super Mario Maker 2’s no exception.
That longevity’s what keeps drawing people back. It’s what also justifies its steep price of $90 Canadian, even long after sales start slowing. And it’s what makes the updates of the game, which add lots of new content, give it extra boosts in sales. If that doesn’t scream “instant classic”, I’ll eat my plumber’s overalls. Lord knows they’re tasty!
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