The Super Mario Maker series started out in 2015, on the Wii U console. It could be regarded as one of the Wii U’s rare successes, and it was the reason I bought a Wii U. Typically, Nintendo announced Super Mario Maker 2 a short time later! They also released a version for the 3DS, which I am not familiar with.
My main experience of this series is with SMM2, and all of my screenshots here come from that game. SMM and SMM2 are largely the same, but there are some important differences. Both let players create their own levels via a fairly easy-to-use interface, but SMM2 allows players to make levels using the Super Mario 3D World template, features vertical levels, and lets players add sloped features to their stages. There is also a feature that lets players make their own Super Worlds.
Because it’s down to the 7.15 million players worldwide to devise levels, it can be difficult to say how to rate the Mario Maker games. The quality of individual levels varies wildly, as you might imagine! Some players will spend weeks or even months developing clever, fiendish troll levels, which can be a lot of fun to figure out. Others make speed-run stages, forcing you to dash across a level filled with challenging jumps. There are still other stages that are what might be called standard platform levels, and some are, to be blunt, trash, thrown together in a few minutes. Therefore instead of reviewing the games, why don’t we rate the idea?
It’s deceptively simple. Nintendo gave us the tools, and let players go wild (well, within a few rules. No rude messages within levels, and no rude level names!). In creating a toolbox and handing it over, we have a remarkable opportunity for players to be creative (and I sometimes wonder if Nintendo watch out for talented level creators, perhaps with an eye to recruiting!). I may be biased here, but I consider this to be a brilliant idea. 9/10