Mario Maker 2 is a Game of Sophisticated Design

A highly intelligent piece of online media lovingly crafted by the legendary Gustavo

When I was little, my cousin gave me a copy of Mario Maker 2 and for a while, I never touched it. In fact, for a long time, I barely touched the Switch in general. Over time, my tastes matured meaning I stopped playing Roblox. I shifted over to games on Steam and games on the Switch. These were incredible experiences that I took for granted and I’m glad that I have them now. Anyway, I’m going to talk about Mario Maker 2.

The Mario Maker series is such a simple concept and I’m surprised that Nintendo took as long as they did before actually making one, seeing as almost all previous 2D installments seemed like they were made in a level editor. However, a simple level editor has two trips up Mt. Everest before reaching the level of Mario Maker. Before building anything, you choose one of 5 game styles that each have different mechanics, enemies, looks and sounds. Of course, all the classics are provided, Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, but two newer 3D styles are offered too, New Super Mario Bros. U and Super Mario 3D World (That was a lot of Mario). Now only 5 game styles alone is too little for Mario Maker 2 so each game style has 10 CUSTOM WORLD THEMES. Not only are they for looks, but some even provide exclusive mechanics! However, almost never in Mario Maker 2 do you feel overwhelmed. In fact, sometimes you may feel underwhelmed. Mario is such a complex, yet simplistic palette. There are so many little mechanics and features that make every course feel totally different. There really are endless possibilities.

Being a child full of imagination playing Mario Maker 2 is an incredible experience. There are little restrictions and tons of ways to make a Mario Maker course. You can even create your own Mario world with the new worldbot. It’s pretty limited, but is still good for creating your own Mario game. The whole worldbot world making thing is only in the Super Mario World style and only lets 4 courses be placed per section of the world (This doesn’t include the castle or airship ending ones). You can make a starting area, forward path, turn path, fork in the road path, go up top big hills, travel on bridges over water, place the ending level that is a castle or airship, make toad houses to get 1UPs and connect pipes to different areas of the themed world section. On these paths, you can place up to 4 courses with the Mario Maker courses you would make outside of this

world thing. Though it is limited, the world creator goes a long way. One of the biggest problems of the original Mario Maker is that you don’t really know what to do. 4 variants of game styles and 6 level themes, it seemed limited, but you still couldn’t decide. With the world creator, now

you know that you should make a snow themed course for your snow world and then pick whatever game style that you’re feeling. The world creator is just such a nice touch and improves the game so much!

Once you’re ready, you can graduate from course maker to course player. With Nintendo Online, ($20 a year >:(( ) you can play user created courses and see what is the hottest and the newest. This is what most people consider the main point of Mario Maker, but I see it as a lesser feature. I’ll start off with the good part: the endless challenge. A heavily simplified version of the world maker with a couple difficulty modes. Aim for a high score while trying not to run out of 1UPs. The challenge spits out random courses based on the difficulty you chose. However, it presents the player with the first downside of this review: Mario Maker players hate Mario. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to break free of the classic Mario gameplay loop, but there are almost no no classic Mario levels with basic platforming. There are puzzle courses, speedrun courses, guessing courses and boss fight courses, but little basic platforming courses. This is reflected in the non-challenge part too. Mario Maker players eat these unique courses up and smother all of the “popular” and “hot” sections of the online gameplay with them. This is why I love the new courses. Sure, a lot of them are made by 7 year olds who spam enemies in New Super Mario Bros. U, but a chunk of them are good courses that are probably worth the $20 a year price of Nintendo Online. (WhYY) Don’t get me wrong, I still like the online courses, but I just like doing my own thing more.

To be honest, it’s a little late for Mario Maker 2, just get Mario Wonder when it gets out if you want more Mario experiences. However, if you already have Mario Maker 2, go check it out. It’s a genuinely fun game that lets your creativity flow.

Regarding multiplayer play: Ignorance is bliss