Last week Nintendo updated Super Mario Maker 2 and added a bunch of new items, enemies and objects to the game. The most exciting new item was a power-up that turns Mario into Link from the Legend of Zelda series. So I asked you fine Kotaku readers to create some Mario levels featuring any of this new content.
You all did not disappoint. I got some genuinely excellent levels this week, levels that I had a blast playing. Some of the Zelda-inspired levels honestly felt like I was playing some new 2D Zelda game. And I got some great snowball levels too.
Anyways! If you want to play all the courses people submitted for the contest, you can check out my Mario Maker 2 profile where I liked all the levels that I played. This is probably the easiest way to play all these courses without having to enter dozens of ID codes.
My Mario Maker 2 ID number: 2C7-40T-HXF
Now, below are some of my favorite courses and a short description of the course and what I liked about it.
Spokey Desert | GamingLuzard9|C8L-NG7-9PG
I got a lot of snowy levels and dungeons, so setting this level in the desert helped it stand out. But I also enjoyed the use of the new Pokeys! Simple but fun.
A Link Among Heroes | 3rd Strongest Bunny | RXF-2S3-RCG
I got a lot of Zelda-inspired dungeon levels, but a few of them didn’t feature enough Master Swords or didn’t take full advantage of Link’s powers. This level had plenty of swords and some nice, clever puzzles.
Snowball Fight | Xcube285 | TCQ-1P9-LFF
Snowballs and the Spikes who spit them out are great additions to Mario Maker 2 and this level really had fun with them. I loved how often areas were created in a way to allow enemies to kill enemies. And every time someone bites it they scream. Funny. Disturbing. But funny.
A Link Into Lordran | Raggingbegal | PCw-75S-LSF
Another Zelda dungeon, but I loved this one a lot. Superb level design, creative use of vines and some solid pacing. I also enjoyed how open some areas felt and finding some of the secrets dotted around the world. Levels like this made me forget for a moment I was playing a Mario game, which is impressive. |
The Snowball Effect | TheDevilBoxer | 7JR-081-14G
Short and sweet is always a plus when judging a lot of courses, but I also loved the flow of this level and all the snowballs. It’s not the most complex, but it feels like a level I might find in a Mario game.
Ocarina Of Time Water Temple | Bernzai | 1M2-8DR-6GG
Creative puzzles. Simple, but effective level design. Good checkpoints and plenty of Master Swords. A wonderful level, complete with a boss fight and some nice level variety. I really loved the puzzle where I had to float a bomb up into some blocks. Simple, but creative use of the new Link power-up. I though water levels were supposed to suck, but this one was fantastic.
If your level didn’t make it on to the featured list, don’t worry! A new Mario Maker Contest will return in the future!