As a kid, I preferred to spend a lot of time alone, which gave me opportunities to create my own games...in my head. I would run and jump about outside, enjoying the platforming segments of the best Mega Man game never made. These little worlds I made existed as the creative outlet for one of my favorite abstract hobbies: game creation. However, I sometimes drew my own stages on notebook paper to make it concrete, which always seemed more fun than anything the teacher wanted to make me do in elementary and middle school. I even created my own trading card game in eighth grade, inspiration via the Pokémon TCG. Adulthood and perpetual busyness as an everyday American has somewhat siphoned my creative juices as a novice game designer, but Super Mario Maker 2 has refilled my creative tank. Super Mario Maker 2 is everything I could have wanted in a game-making tool for my all-time favorite gaming franchise packaged neatly into one place.
The game lets you create levels in five different styles: Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, Super Mario Bros. U, and Super Mario 3D World. Think about the level of creative license Nintendo has given players with the mechanics and objects found within these five 10/10 classics. Okay, New Super Mario Bros. U is a 9/10, but close enough. Anyways, consider the NES 2D platformer library or any gaming system’s 2D platformer library. Super Mario Maker 2 makes it possible for everyday folk to outclass most published, even big-budget platformers. Nintendo has already given you the tools, and all you did was pay sixty dollars for it. Just make a dozen or more levels, slap them in the world maker, and viola! You now have a solid game of your own making.
The quality of your creation will depend on how seriously you use the tools, however. Everything in the course maker is intuitive enough, allowing you to place a sweet variety of enemies, objects, platforms, items, and gizmos onto a helpful grid. You can combine various objects to mix up the fun and zaniness. Less serious creators will probably want to make troll stages that get us Mario snobs up in arms. But to each his own. I take the level creating seriously because it realizes a hobby I loved doing in my head as a kid. I’ve already created a sixteen-stage Super Mario Bros. 3-style game and have uploaded it for play. It’s a good game, too. My wife and I played through all the stages together. I’m currently working on a sixteen-stage game called Super Casual Bros. It will contain levels for newbies to play, just so they can get the feel and enjoyment for Mario platformers. Go check it out if you get the chance. If you can’t beat those levels, though, maybe try a hobby other than gaming. Whether you’re itching for a serious challenge, a casual romp, or a trolled experience, you can have it as both player and creator here in this excellent game.
[Note: After more than 25 years of gaming, Super Mario Maker 2 is only the 23rd game that I have awarded a 10/10. Check out my reviews and ratings to see what other games I've given this honor.]