Super Mario Maker 2 Confirmed; First Nintendo Switch Trailer

Super Mario Maker has been notably absent among the many ports we've seen to Nintendo Switch, and now we likely know why: Nintendo has announced Super Mario Maker 2, coming exclusively for Switch. The sequel made its debut as part of Wednesday's Nintendo Direct event (you can see all the news from the Nintendo Direct here), offering us our first look at gameplay and revealing a sooner-than-expected release date window of June 2019. You can see its announcement trailer below, showcasing many of the new features that will be at your disposal when building levels.

One of the big new additions for the second game is the ability to create slopes--something which was noticeably absent from both the original Wii U title and the 3DS version. Angled surfaces for Mario to hop, skip, and jump along might not sound like a big deal, but it's something that fans have been very vocal about wanting, and now it's finally here. It'll be interesting to see what kind of devious levels players come up with to make use of this new terrain option.

The other big new feature for Super Mario Maker 2 is its inclusion of Super Mario 3D World assets to craft custom levels, which is nice way to represents the modern-era of Mario titles. This is in addition to the likes of the original Super Mario Bros., Super Mario 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros.

The first Super Mario Maker was released for Wii U in 2015 and earned a 9/10 from GameSpot. In his review, Justin Haywald described it as "a game of joyous creation and fun surprises."

He continued: "The first time I discovered that not only could I make a giant, flame-spewing piranha plant, but I could also make it fly, I cackled with horrible glee at the possibilities. And for the first time in a creation-focused experience, I look forward to returning again and again for more than just the amazing levels I know other people will create. I want to keep making my own levels better. The game won't necessarily turn you into the next Shigeru Miyamoto, but you can almost feel a little bit of that magic rubbing off every time you upload a new creation."