I’m afraid a Super Mario Maker stage is about to crush my soul.
The past few weeks, I’ve spent most mornings streaming Super Mario Maker levels. It’s been really fun, and a terrific “excuse” to play a bunch of Mario.
Things didn’t really move into gear until I played the abomination constructed by the editors at Giant Bomb in collaboration with their audience, though. “Nightmare” is a good way to describe a stage that appears to have very little rhyme or reason, including a giant “POLICE STATE” sign plastered in coins.
(?!?)
And yet, I beat it.
Giant Bomb ended up taking that challenge personally, which is why they decided to make another stage with their community. Hard as hell? Absolutely, but I managed to finish it. I used that opportunity to call out the Giant Bomb editor chiefly responsible for putting this together, Dan “Dirty Dan” Ryckert.
A man always willing to take the bait, Ryckert issued his own challenge: he’d build one final level and put every horrible idea he’s ever had into it. If I could beat the stage in 72 hours, he’d donate $100 to a charity of my choosing.
Dan’s latest creation? The Ryckoning (861E-0000-009C-8913). It’s pure evil.
I accepted the challenge, naturally, and decided we should up the ante again.
So, we set up a charity page on GoFundMe, hoping to raise $500 for some good causes. (For me, the American Heart Association. For him, the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation). We’ve pulled in nearly $5,000, and I suspect we’ll sail past that before this is all done. A dumb thing will result in something great!
My first attempts at The Ryckoning happened this morning:
Ouch.
Thing is, we barely made any progress, which means I’m tackling the stage again on Twitch right now. Even though you may want to help, please do not spoil the level for me. You can discuss what’s happening inside the chat, including your theories, but be careful. I want to do (try) this on my own.
Wish me luck! (Or don’t, if you’re a total monster like Dan Ryckert.)
You can reach the author of this post at patrick.klepek@kotaku.com or on Twitter at @patrickklepek.