I’m pretty sure that at one point in time, every single person who has played Super Mario Bros. has had some crazy idea for a level of their own. Now, thanks to Super Mario Maker on the Wii U, making those ideas a reality is as easy as dragging and dropping.
Super Mario Maker isn’t so much a Mario game as it is a set of tools. Players are given a blank level and a free pass to go crazy. Everything is customizable here, and if you’ve seen it in a Mario game in the past, it’s probably here. Want your level underwater? Go for it. Want the screen to slightly sway like it’s one of those airship levels from Super Mario Bros 3? All yours.
After you have the setting, it’s time to fill it with obstacles. This ranges from pipes, to spikes, to Lakitu following you along and throwing bombs down at you. You can also put in coins, question mark boxes, and everything else you would expect in a Mario game. It’s all handled with the easy drag-and-drop interface on the gamepad. I was actually surprised as to how easy it was to quickly create something fun to play around on.
iDigitalTimes Editor Mo Mozuch and I each built a level for the other to attempt. While we only had a few minutes with the game in our hands, we each made a unique stage filled with goombas, hidden secrets, and a ton of challenge. Mo's level may have been a little unfair, but it was certainly fun to try and make my way through his creation.
I can see Super Mario Maker becoming the greatest Mario game of all time. Thanks to the ability for people to share their creations, Super Mario Maker features virtually endless amounts of content. Also thanks to the general amazing quality of content people can create, there will be mind-blowingly smart stages and unique challenges. If LittleBigPlanet showed us anything, Super Mario Maker players are in for a treat when it releases on Sept. 11.
So what do you think? Are you interested in building your own stages in Super Mario Maker? Would you rather play the levels others create? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
