Published , by David Craddock
Published , by David Craddock
Super Mario Maker was made for the Wii U, and the Wii U was made for Super Mario Maker. No other Wii U game tapped the advantages of the GamePad quite like Nintendo's do-it-yourself level-creation toolset. The premise was alluring: An endless supply of Mario levels! The reality was more grounded. Super Mario Maker made creating levels easy, but after several months, levels tended to fall into super-easy "autoscrollers," or maddeningly difficult "kaizo" stages clearly made for streamers to play for an audience.
Super Mario Maker 2 lacks the intuitive touchscreen-based controls of its predecessor due to the nature of the Switch's design. There's no two-screen experience, which means one person can't design on the GamePad while a friend or Twitch audience watches on the TV screen. Other than that one (admittedly important) feature, Super Mario Maker 2 is arguably superior to the original game in every other way.
Course World, the game's online component where you can browse other players' creations, offers several ways to cull the types of levels you're looking for. What you'll find is diversity. Look no further than the Popular tab's top 10 to 20 levels, which range from 20-second speedruns, to brainteasers, to platforming gauntlets, to meat-and-potatoes Mario levels that would be right at home in any of Nintendo's official entries. If friends and strangers aren't delivering the types of levels you want, the game's Story Mode--another addition that filled a huge void in the first title--features over 100 courses. Each is built around a simple premise that's not only fun in its own right, but serves as a source of ideas creators can use in their own maps.
Nintendo listened to the praise Super Mario Maker received, but the depth of Super Mario Maker 2's offerings illustrate that the company also listened to complaints, and addressed them. The controls in Course Maker take some time to get used to, but no more than any other video game with a control scheme more complex than "press B to run and A to jump." Whether you're looking to flex your creative muscles or plumb the depths of fellow Mario fans' imaginations, Super Mario Maker 2 will keep you satisfied for years.