Super Mario Maker is pretty awesome, everyone loves it, and it isn’t even out yet. It looks like it’s quickly going to become Nintendo’s Minecraft, or at least Nintendo’s Little Big Planet. And by the time the game launches on Sept. 11, a whole slew of cool levels will already be available, thanks to Nintendo’s early release of review copies. What looked like it would be a super niche game may well turn into a big hit. So it’s time to start asking ridiculous, speculative questions, like: Could a 3D Mario Maker ever happen?

Super Mario Maker 2: Give Me A Mario 64 Level Maker Or Give Me Death

Super Mario Maker lets players create levels based on four different styles and eras of 2D Super Mario games: Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. That’s quite an array, but of course they’re all linear, 2D levels… not the 3D, free range worlds of Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy. Those remain off-limits except to Nintendo’s own developers, as do the hybrid levels of Super Mario 3D Land and World.

If Super Mario Maker is a big success, would a 3D Super Mario Maker ever be possible? We only have one datapoint, really: Nintendo has said that there won’t ever be a Zelda Maker, which seems pretty darn obvious on the surface. But those games are much more complex than even 3D Mario levels. Mario games don’t have dungeons or puzzles; they have platforming challenges. All Zelda dungeons are obviously bespoke. But it’s conceivable, at least, that there is some kind of tile-based template system for at least Super Mario 3D Land and World… a way for Nintendo’s developers to lay down the basic elements we see again and again. This probably isn’t true for Galaxy, which does feel as complex as Zelda, albeit in a different way.

But what about Super Mario 64? I keep harping on that one because it sounds by far the coolest, now that the Nintendo 64’s graphics have been burnished with the halcyon glow of nostalgia. The level design is theoretically simple enough that it could happen. Drag and drop some landscapes, plop down a couple dozen King Bob-ombs… you’ve got yourself a stew going!

Obviously it’s wishful thinking: Super Mario Maker is going to be successful because it’s extremely accessible. A 3D level designer is, by its very nature, pretty inaccessible. It’s for professionals. So, fun though it would be, I don’t think it’ll happen, at least not with this iteration of Nintendo’s hardware. So let’s make the most out of Super Mario Maker, since we may never see its like again.