I'll be quite honest for a second, I didn't think I'd be sitting here writing a review of this game. Make no mistake, I enjoyed the short time I spent with the original "Super Mario Maker" back in 2015, but I'll be honest, I'm not one for level creators and/or game creators like this. Even for how much I enjoyed a game like "Disney Infinity" that was heavily creation-based, I often ignored the creation aspect and skipped to the main "story mode" in the game, if you will. To that effect, when "Super Mario Maker 2" was announced, I kinda just responded with the same thing I always say about games that aren't for me: "I'm happy for the fans that wanted it, but I probably won't get it." But as you may know, I'm a largely offline gamer that enjoys single-player campaigns/Story Modes in games, so when I heard "Super Mario Maker 2" had a single-player mode, my interest was piqued and I chose to play the game. Boy, am I glad I did.
"Super Mario Maker 2" is rip-roaring fun, even if you're like me and don't often create levels. The main Story Mode won't take you very long to beat, but there's incredible mission variety here and a lot of missions to complete. I still had about 10 pages worth of jobs to complete once completing the Story Mode, and even near the end, I still felt like I was learning so many new things. For those in it for the building, however, the new tools and mechanics allow for much deeper and more polished levels, and while the addition of the "Super Mario 3D World" theme might seem like a minor thing, it actually adds a nice extra dimension to the gameplay, with several new power-ups and ways to control as well (you can long jump, wear the Cat Suit, AND drive a Koopa Car! I might just be nerding out a bit more than I should but that's awesome!). And beyond that, the game is visually dazzling, the controls feel smooth, and the game is simply oozing with creativity. Even in the levels you can access in the main Story Mode, which were just pre-created by Nintendo, this is one of those games where you can just feel the fun the developers had in making it. It's a joyful and stunning game that brings with it all the best aspects of the 2D (and 2.5D, for that matter) "Super Mario" games.
I honestly can't complain about much with this game; "Super Mario Maker 2" more than exceeded my expectations, and even as someone that doesn't create a ton of levels or anything like that, I found that the game gave me more than plenty to do, expanded upon the first game amazingly, and reminded me why the "Mario" platformers are some of the most charming, inventive, and creative games ever made. If you haven't had the chance to play this yet, you're doing yourself a disservice. Make it a point to check out "Super Mario Maker 2," because regardless of whether or not you're a builder, you're gonna have a blast with this one.
Final rating: 10 out of 10 "Fantastic"