Video Game Review: Super Mario Maker 2

Super Mario Maker 2

Nintendo

Platformer

Switch

I’ve never had the fiery passion that a lot of gamers have for Mario games. I think Super Mario World is incredible, and I quite enjoy Super Mario Odyssey, but that’s it. Despite this fact, it doesn’t stop me from buying things. Most recently (before Mario Maker 2, that is), I bought New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe on the situation, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that it is one of the stupidest purchases I’ve ever made. And I’m the guy who thought buying The Bling Ring was a smart thing to do.

However, I still bought Mario Maker 2. My interest was piqued by the Nintendo Direct showing it off, and the fact that Super Mario World was one of the available level themes. I know it was already in the first Mario Maker game, but I didn’t own a Wii U (and let’s face it, who did?). So I picked Mario Maker 2 up out of sheer curiosity and I’ve not put it down since I purchased it two days ago.

Unlike Mario Maker 1, Mario Maker 2 actually has a story mode, with levels created by Nintendo themselves. It’s pretty par for the course for Mario, extremely useful to get to grips with the new mechanics (they’ve added hooks to this game, which makes for some extremely interesting level creation options, more on that later), but beyond that, it’s just more generic Mario levels really. Some of them have interesting completion conditions, such as not being able to complete the level if you jump at all, but these are mere gimmicks. Of course, there’s also a huge selection of user-created content to choose from, ranging from speed-run levels to intensely complicated puzzles. Essentially what I’m saying is, there’s something for everyone here.

But away from the levels, now onto the creation suite.

And holy hell is it a creation suite.

Out of the hours I’ve put into Mario Maker 2 so far, it’s definitely here that I’ve put the most time into, There’s just so many options and possibilities. Which theme do I go for? (There’s five to choose from, original Super Mario Bros, Super Mario 3, Super Mario World, New Super Mario Bros U and, new to this game, Super Mario 3D World). How do I want to structure my level? Should it be based around a specific mechanic? Or should it be a mixture of various mechanics? There are simply too many options to list here, to the point where I spent five hours creating a course, and ten hours testing and editing it. It’s such an absorbing suite, and so easy for new players to use, but not overly simplistic to the point that insanely complicated can’t be built with it.

I’ve already made a couple of levels (in fact, the screenshots throughout this review have been taken from them, with codes for the levels themselves below), and I can say easily that I’ll probably spend hundreds of hours just creating and designing and editing my own levels. Add to that the whole host of constantly growing user-created levels in the actual courseworld, and Mario Maker 2 is more than worth your money. It’s fun, easy to access and great for all ages.

My Levels

Heatwave- GP2-61V-3TG

Don’t Die- DDB-D13-XPF