Nintendo - 2015 - WiiU
I think this game along with Minecraft would have been the two most amazing games for me to have as a kid. These are the kinds of creative games that would have captivated me for days and weeks. As it stands they're still quite captivating to me, but I simply don't have the free time to pour days and days into these games. For the uninitiated, Super Mario Maker isn't really a Mario game as much as it is an official Mario level editor. You can post your levels online to share and also play levels others have created. So it's either not a Mario game at all, or it's an infinite amount of Mario games, depending on how you look at it
The editor is functionally easy to use and create levels. You simply drag items from the toolbar and place them on the stage. It's a nice use of the WiiU tablet and is finally something first party from Nintendo that makes the WiiU tablet feel justified. Although the editor is functionally easy to use, figuring out its strange hidden quirks and odd UI design can be baffling at times. In what I can only imagine was a need to conserve UI space, certain items are hidden under other items, requiring you to shake item A to reveal item B. But not all items are shakable, and there's no way to tell whether or not they are other than trial and error. Furthermore, menu options and menu navigation are obfuscated in the UI by labeling them under random animals. How do I save my level? Do I click the dog? The robot? The frog? I know Super Mario Maker is somewhat of a spiritual successor to Mario Paint and Mario Paint used some of these UI oddities, but that doesn't make it any easier for people like myself who didn't play a ton of Mario Paint and/or don't remember what the various animals mean in relation to the UI. It may sound like I'm nitpicking, but I really did find this UI totally unintuitive.
When designing levels, you can do so under the original Mario template, the Mario 3 template, the Super Mario World template or the New Super Mario Bros. template. Choosing which template you want also dictates what abilities Mario will have when playing the level. For instance, Super Mario World Mario can spin jump and use Yoshi and the cape powerup. New Super Mario Bros. Mario can do all of these things as well as wall jump.
Once you dig in and start messing around with building levels, it really starts to bring to life how awesome the level designers at Nintendo are. Once you build a few things yourself and realize how hard it actually is to make a good level, it gives you an appreciation for how good the Nintendo level designers are at what they do. This is further exemplified when playing other creator's courses online. Unfortunately, I'd have to say the majority of the levels I've played online aren't that good and some are just downright garbage. There are some levels that are quite good, but finding them is a difficult task. The level filtering, searching and discovery options that exist in the game right now leave a lot to be desired. Nintendo has said they're working on a web portal that would partially solve that problem, but at the time of writing this review, that solution doesn't exist. Another thing I'd really like to see added is the ability to upload multiple levels together to make a "world" or a series of levels as opposed to uploading single standalone levels. Hopefully this is something they're working on as Nintendo has seemed willing to patch in additional content for this game already with the addition of checkpoints and conditional powerup items being added after launch
Super Mario Maker Video Review
Summary
Although the UI is confusing and there are a few features missing that I'd like to see added, Nintendo has otherwise succeeded in creating a tool that lets anyone with an imagination create a Mario level, bring it to life and share it with others. The drawback to this is that anyone with an imagination can create a Mario level, bring it to life and share it with others so there's a lot of, shall we say, not so great levels to sift through when looking at random stages online. Still, I've already spent many hours playing others' stages and have enjoyed making a few of my own and I look forward to spending more time in the future doing both in Super Mario Maker.
P.S. Here's a few of the stages I've made if you have the game and want to give these a shot:
James' evil castle: E1F2-0000-0034-E50A
The first level I ever made in Mario Maker. It's in the style of Mario 3. Not by best level; it was mostly me experimenting with the editor
P Switch Shenanigans: 6446-0000-003F-A95E
A difficult level in the style of Super Mario World designed for expert Mario players
Look Closely: 9244-0000-008C-61AD
I made a puzzle game in the style of Mario 3. See if you can figure out how to get through it
The editor is functionally easy to use and create levels. You simply drag items from the toolbar and place them on the stage. It's a nice use of the WiiU tablet and is finally something first party from Nintendo that makes the WiiU tablet feel justified. Although the editor is functionally easy to use, figuring out its strange hidden quirks and odd UI design can be baffling at times. In what I can only imagine was a need to conserve UI space, certain items are hidden under other items, requiring you to shake item A to reveal item B. But not all items are shakable, and there's no way to tell whether or not they are other than trial and error. Furthermore, menu options and menu navigation are obfuscated in the UI by labeling them under random animals. How do I save my level? Do I click the dog? The robot? The frog? I know Super Mario Maker is somewhat of a spiritual successor to Mario Paint and Mario Paint used some of these UI oddities, but that doesn't make it any easier for people like myself who didn't play a ton of Mario Paint and/or don't remember what the various animals mean in relation to the UI. It may sound like I'm nitpicking, but I really did find this UI totally unintuitive.
When designing levels, you can do so under the original Mario template, the Mario 3 template, the Super Mario World template or the New Super Mario Bros. template. Choosing which template you want also dictates what abilities Mario will have when playing the level. For instance, Super Mario World Mario can spin jump and use Yoshi and the cape powerup. New Super Mario Bros. Mario can do all of these things as well as wall jump.
Once you dig in and start messing around with building levels, it really starts to bring to life how awesome the level designers at Nintendo are. Once you build a few things yourself and realize how hard it actually is to make a good level, it gives you an appreciation for how good the Nintendo level designers are at what they do. This is further exemplified when playing other creator's courses online. Unfortunately, I'd have to say the majority of the levels I've played online aren't that good and some are just downright garbage. There are some levels that are quite good, but finding them is a difficult task. The level filtering, searching and discovery options that exist in the game right now leave a lot to be desired. Nintendo has said they're working on a web portal that would partially solve that problem, but at the time of writing this review, that solution doesn't exist. Another thing I'd really like to see added is the ability to upload multiple levels together to make a "world" or a series of levels as opposed to uploading single standalone levels. Hopefully this is something they're working on as Nintendo has seemed willing to patch in additional content for this game already with the addition of checkpoints and conditional powerup items being added after launch
Super Mario Maker Video Review
Summary
Although the UI is confusing and there are a few features missing that I'd like to see added, Nintendo has otherwise succeeded in creating a tool that lets anyone with an imagination create a Mario level, bring it to life and share it with others. The drawback to this is that anyone with an imagination can create a Mario level, bring it to life and share it with others so there's a lot of, shall we say, not so great levels to sift through when looking at random stages online. Still, I've already spent many hours playing others' stages and have enjoyed making a few of my own and I look forward to spending more time in the future doing both in Super Mario Maker.
P.S. Here's a few of the stages I've made if you have the game and want to give these a shot:
James' evil castle: E1F2-0000-0034-E50A
The first level I ever made in Mario Maker. It's in the style of Mario 3. Not by best level; it was mostly me experimenting with the editor
P Switch Shenanigans: 6446-0000-003F-A95E
A difficult level in the style of Super Mario World designed for expert Mario players
Look Closely: 9244-0000-008C-61AD
I made a puzzle game in the style of Mario 3. See if you can figure out how to get through it
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