+- Tendo City (https://www.tendocity.net)
+-- Forum: Tendo City: Metropolitan District (https://www.tendocity.net/forumdisplay.php?fid=4)
+--- Forum: Tendo City (https://www.tendocity.net/forumdisplay.php?fid=42)
+--- Thread: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! (/showthread.php?tid=7200)
Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 9th July 2019
Super Mario Maker on the Wii U was amazingly fun to play levels in, make levels in, and watch people make or play levels in on the internet. I didn't have a Wii U when the first game released because I was foolish and didn't get one until very late, but had a lot of fun watching videos online of people playing it, then I played a fair amount on 3DS once that version released, and on Wii U after I got one.
And now, the sequel is out! As I said in the title, I'm pretty confident that this will be my game of the year. I certainly can't think of anything that will challenge it for that; Link's Awakening is sure to be amazing but isn't a new game, and nothing else I can think of is really in contention.
And while it's early, I'm already having fun with all three of those things in this fantastic sequel! Well, I haven't made levels yet though I will, but playing and watching are both fantastic. And i will make levels, particularly once I get a good stylus for my Switch. For playing levels, Mario Maker 2 is like the first game but better. It has more stuff, more objects and such, slopes, new visual themes, and so much more! It's pretty awesome stuff. As a Game Boy fan, I particularly like the inclusion of the Mario Land 1 Superball powerup, which turns your character grey, plays Mario Land 1-1 music, and gives you the Superball just as it was there, a bouncy ball which picks up items. This items' use in Mario Maker is pretty obvious and great. There is a lot more too. This game is amazing, and Nintendo says that two MILLION levels have already been uploaded, which is pretty amazing. No Mario Maker 1 levels are playable in this version, but there are so many levels that that isn't an issue.
Also, this time you can play as not only Mario online, but also Luigi, Toad, or Toadette. It's too bad that Toadette is now Nintendo's female character in Mario games and not the Princess or Rosalina as they had before, but it's better than nothing I guess, even if it does continue Nintendo's strange, and somewhat inexplicable, love for Toads -- also see the 3DS and Wii U Paper Mario games for a lot more of that. Anyway, you choose which character you want in the pause menu, so it's not set by level creators.
There is also a multiplayer mode, though I've heard very bad things about the online play's quality. I haven't tried it for myself yet though. Also some of the local play requires Joycons for some stupid reason. I mean, the game supports the pro controller, it's what I use to play the game with single player! Why require both players in the two player creation mode to use joycons? Nintendo does dumb things sometimes...
The game has a single player story mode as well. It has about as many levels as the one in the 3DS game, but has a lot higher production values this time, with a world map, stuff to collect, choice about what order you play the levels in, and more. And some amusing conversations are here too, like the ones with Mary O. and the pigeon in that game. Here you play as Mario, rebuilding the Princess's castle after Undo Dog accidentally undid it. Each level has a different challenge to overcome, and introduces you to a new element of the design. It's pretty good, though it's not what I play Mario Maker for, really; the weird, always mixed in quality fanmade levels are.
So the game is mostly amazing, but it does have a few issues. First, some little touches from the first game, like the skinny Mario and the weird sounds Mario sometimes made while falling into pits are gone. More substantially, creation is a lot worse than it was before because capacative touch screens are awful compared to reactive for serious gaming purpose. I've been saying this for years, but still believe it, and this shows it very clearly! Fingers are horrible for precise touch, so you can't do much of use with that. So, you'll need a capacitive stylus that works with the system and allows for precision, which is an additional expense and will have trouble matching the precision of a reactive stylus if they even CAN do that -- those awful mushy tips are the worst for precision to say the least -- or you'll need to learn the button controls, which I haven't tried yet but won't be as good as direct touch control is. Considering that creation is half of the game, this is a pretty big problem.
Also, friend codes are a thing in this game, and you can't bring your Switch friends list, if you have one, into the game; oh no, that would actually make sense, and Nintendo isn't about making sense when it comes to online anything. So no, you've got to learn friends codes outside of the game, and add them manually. Alternately, if you have a level code you can follow creators that way, but still, they make it a lot harder than it should be. That's to be expected from Nintendo, but still, it's annoying.
And last, in the first game all new levels went into the 100 Marios mode, where you had 100 lives to try to beat 15 levels (or 6 levels, in Super Expert difficulty). Well, 100 Marios mode has been replaced with an endless mode, where you have only a few lives and see how far you can get. With only 5 lives at the start instead of 100, getting far is a lot harder this time; yes, you can get extra lives in levels, but it's tough. I also miss the goal of trying to finish 15 levels and beat the game; instead you now just play until you lose. There are online leaderboards, but still I don't know that it's an improvement. Anyway, in this new endless mode, unplayed levels will never appear this time! Now only levels with a like will. Instead, new levels ONLY go into the New Levels tab in the single-level selection option, so the only ways to get your level played and liked, so it appears in the endless queue, is either to know people who will play your level, beg people online to play your level like everyone else, or hope people play it in the new levels queue, that's it. I'm sure they were trying to fix the "lots of terrible levels in the 100 Marios mode" problem the first one had sometimes, but this isn't good either. Also it can take several days for levels to even get into the queue, at the moment... not great. This issue does seem to be getting better, but the basic design of how new levels are handled is not good. I've seen the idea of a new levels mode, like the endless mode, but just for new, unplayed/unfinished stages, and that's a good idea, I think.
Still, though, what is here is pretty amazing and it's fantastic that Mario Maker is back, because it's one of Nintendo's best ideas ever and it's really great that it's now on a more popular console. I don't know if it matches the first game overall due to how much worse the creation is, but for people who are only playing it's easily better due to all the new stuff. Mario Maker 2 is fantastic and I love it. I should go play some more of it now...
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - Dark Jaguar - 10th July 2019
Friend codes? Why Nintendo? I thought we were PAST this!
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 10th July 2019
It gets better: LZ+RZ to start the game at the main menu. Yes, that obnoxious "press two buttons to start" thing is back yet again!
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 10th July 2019
The new Mario 3D World level style is nice and adds a bunch of cool stuff which only exists there -- clear pipes, walls you can climb, cannon things that shoot into the screen, blocks which alternate between two sets (red and blue disappearing blocks, that is), giant question mark blocks which make a row of blocks appear out of them, a butt stomp attack, and a bunch more. A lot of stuff from the other four modes is missing, but the new stuff more than makes up for it. When creating you can't transfer from the main four styles (the same ones from the first game) to the new 3D World one, it resets your stage, but they're so different that that's fine.
It is pretty ironic how Mario 3D World has a game style in Mario Maker 2, but not a port to the Switch, though... that game's amazing Nintendo, port/remake it already!
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - Dark Jaguar - 11th July 2019
(10th July 2019, 10:40 AM)A Black Falcon Wrote: It gets better: LZ+RZ to start the game at the main menu. Yes, that obnoxious "press two buttons to start" thing is back yet again!
Friend codes while ignoring their own existence friend network is infinitely worse than a "press two button" thing.
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 13th July 2019
Quite true, but I find the hit-two-buttons thing pretty annoying.
For playing levels, though, Mario Maker 2 is quite amazing!
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - Dark Jaguar - 13th July 2019
The two button thing is weird, but frankly I don't get the hate over it. Just- hit two buttons. You only have to do it once.
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 16th July 2019
So, I took my OP here and expanded it out into a full article. Here it is.
Super Mario Maker (Wii U / 3DS) was Exceptional!
Super Mario Maker on the Wii U was amazingly fun to play levels in, make levels in, and watch people make or play levels in on the internet. I didn't have a Wii U when the first game released because I was foolish and didn't get one until very late, but had a lot of fun watching videos online of people playing it, then I played a fair amount on 3DS once that version released, and on Wii U after I got one. I only published one Mario Maker 1 level on the Wii U, though, and it was just a few months ago so almost no one played it, Mario Maker 1 activity is well down. I did a thread for it a few months ago. Anyway, Mario Maker 1 is the game is the best game on the Wii U and probably the best of the generation. That's no easy statement, since Splatoon is also exceptional and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, while not really my thing, is also very very good, but Mario Maker comes out on top, I think.
As for that 3DS version, while the missing features -- no online level trading, no way to type in codes to follow creators or play specific levels, and such -- are crippling, the long single player campaign made up for it and made it a great purchase. It's also a very funway to play random 100 Mario Challenge levels.
The Positives
But now, the sequel is out! As I said in the title, I'm pretty confident that this will be my game of the year. I certainly can't think of anything that will challenge it for that; Link's Awakening is sure to be amazing but isn't a new game, and nothing else I can think of is really in contention.
When discussing the first game above, I said that the three things I love about it are playing levels, making levels, and watching people play the game online in videos. And while it's early, I'm already having fun with all three of those things in this fantastic sequel! Well, I haven't made levels yet though I will, but playing and watching are both fantastic. And i will make levels, particularly once I get a good stylus for my Switch. For playing levels, Mario Maker 2 is like the first game but better. It has almost everything from the first game, but with more visual themes for the four game styles from the first game, a full new game style I will discuss in a later paragraph, and a whole bunch of new things added to the four main styles from the last game. The biggest addition is sloped surfaces, aka slopes, and they are a really nice inclusion. There are also new enemies, several new powerups in various modes, on/off switches which enable and disable blocks, snake blocks which follow a programmable track, the Angry Sun, and more. The new visual themes are also great, there are a full ten now! It's pretty awesome stuff. As a Game Boy fan, I particularly like the inclusion of the Mario Land 1 Superball powerup, which turns your character grey, plays Mario Land 1-1 music, and gives you the Superball just as it was there, a bouncy ball which picks up items. This items' use in Mario Maker is pretty obvious and great. The other new powerups are a hammer you can destroy some blocks with and giant pixel Mario.
Other new additions include some theme-specific ones -- the new Forest visual theme has water and land, just like it did in Mario World, and you can program how the water raises and lowers. You can do the same for lava in the Castle theme as well. Of course there is new music for the new themes in games which previously did not have those themes, just like the new music from MM1 such as SMB1 Airship music, and it's great stuff. One other very interesting addition is Night mode. When you go into Night mode, each level theme changes dramatically -- the forest's water turns to poison, another goes into super-low-gravity mode like the Moon level in Mario Land 2, and more. These allow for some fascinating changes to the regular Mario Maker formula. The list of additions is substantial and fantastic. Super Mario Maker 2 is amazing, and Nintendo says that two MILLION levels have already been uploaded, which is pretty amazing. No Mario Maker 1 levels are playable in this version, but there are so many levels that that isn't an issue. Creators are picking up right where they left off in the first game, and it's great.
One other major new addition is that you can now make requirements that you'll need to complete in order to finish a stage. In levels with a finishing requirement, you will NEED to do that thing to finish; if you get to the end of the stage without it, the goal will just be a black outline, you won't be able to complete the stage until or unless you do that thing. These rules include things such as 'you must kill all enemies of type X' to 'you must get all the red keys', and more. They make levels a lot harder, and so far I'm not sure what I think of them; they do require you to play levels quite differently, but it's not something that I've ever seen in a 2d Mario game before, and I like being able to finish a level when you manage to get to the end. And given how many people are making extremely difficult levels in Mario Maker, these just allow people to make even HARDER insane ultra-difficult stages, which is sure to frustrate many. Still, it's an overall positive as an inclusion since it allows for some potentially cool stuff in levels that don't abuse it.
The game adds one major new gameplay mode, based on a 2.5d take on the Wii U classic Mario 3D World. It is kind of ironic that the major new theme is from a game not available on the Switch, but 3D World's gameplay fits well in 2d in a way that an open-levels 3d game like Mario Odyssey would not, so the choice makes sense. This new level style is great and has many unique elements which only exist in 3D World mode. These include clear pipes you can travel through within areas, the cat suit, grille areas you can grab on to, cannon things that shoot into the screen, blocks which alternate between two sets (red and blue disappearing blocks, that is), giant question mark blocks which make a row of blocks appear out of them, you now have a butt stomp attack, and a bunch more. The cat suit is particularly worth mentioning, as they are not just kind of cute, they give you more moves and really open up movement, as the cat suited characters can freely climb walls, do a diagonal pounce attack when in the air, and more. It's just as great as it was in 3D World. Level themes are 3D World-inspired as well, with very different looks from the others in the game. 3D World style is awesome and I am really liking how levels set there play, they are a refreshing change from the standard gameplay of the rest of the styles. 3D World style is one of the best things about Mario Maker 2 so far. A lot of stuff from the other four modes is missing, but the new stuff more than makes up for it. When creating you can't transfer from the main four styles (the same ones from the first game) to the new 3D World one, it resets your stage, but they're very different so that's fine. Mario 3D World really was an amazing game, I like it just as much or more than Mario Odyssey. Nintendo still really should make a Switch port of the game, way too many people missed it because of how sadly poorly the Wii U sold! Many of the Wii U games that have not been ported to Switch make sense, but this is the biggest one that does not.
One other new change adds more playable characters throughout all modes apart for Story mode. This time you can play as not only Mario online and in level creation, but also Luigi, Toad, or Toadette. This is a great addition. It's too bad that Toadette is now Nintendo's female character in Mario games and not the Princess or Rosalina as they had before, but it's better than having no actual female characters as was the case in the first one, even if it does continue Nintendo's strange, and somewhat inexplicable, love for Toads -- also see the 3DS and Wii U Paper Mario games for a lot more of that. Anyway, you choose which character you want in the pause menu, so it's not set by level creators.
Additionally, on a more neutral node, in the first game all new levels went into the 100 Marios mode, where you had 100 lives to try to beat 15 levels (or 6 levels, in Super Expert difficulty). Well, 100 Marios mode has been replaced with an endless mode, where you have only a few lives and see how far you can get. With only 5 lives at the start instead of 100, getting far is a lot harder this time; yes, you can get extra lives in levels, but it's tough. I also miss the goal of trying to finish 15 levels and beat the game; instead you now just play until you lose. There are online leaderboards, but still I don't know that it's an improvement. On the other hand though, story-wise there is a major improvement here -- Mario Maker 1 presented the usual sexist trash of "Bowser kidnapped the princesses, beat these levels to rescue her" at the beginning of each 100 Marios run. This time, though, it is an endless mode, and story-wise it just says 'Mario is going on a journey',and off he sets. Oddly, this animation is the same no matter which of the four characters you're playing as, but they will appear ingame. Gameplay-wise the endless mode is not as fun as 100 Marios mode because you start with a sparse five lives so getting much of anywhere is extremely difficult on the higher settings and also because they changed the algorythm so unplayed levels never appear in endless mode, but more on that later; storyline-wise, Mario Maker 2 is a great improvement over the original as it thankfully ditches the sexist "rescue the princess again" plot of that game. It does make it pretty confusing about why the Princess isn't playable in this game though, only Toadette. I don't understand Nintendo's love for Toads. Oh well.
There is also a multiplayer mode, though I've heard very bad things about the online play's quality. I haven't tried it for myself yet though, and it's online only -- oddly, unlike NSMBU, this game doesn't have four player co-op on a single system, so far at least. At least there is a multiplayer mode though, the first one didn't have anything, so it's great to see the addition. Also there is a new local two player creation mode option, but it requires Joycons for some bizarre reason. I mean, the game supports the pro controller in creation and regular play, it's what I use to play the game with single player! Why require both players in the two player creation mode to use joycons? Nintendo does very strange, poorly thought through things sometimes... but again, that they added multiplayer at all is good, it wasn't in the first game.
The game has a single player story mode as well, and it's pretty well done. It has about as many levels as the one in the 3DS game, but has a lot higher production values this time, with a world map, stuff to collect, choice about what order you play the levels in, and more. And some amusing conversations are here too, like the ones with Mary O. and Yamamura the pigeon in that game. Yamamura does return in this game in the tutorial mode, check it out if you need help learning how to play and create levels. But in Story mode, you play as Mario, rebuilding the Princess's castle after Undo Dog accidentally undid it. Each level has a different challenge to overcome, and introduces you to a new element of the design. It's pretty good, though it's not what I play Mario Maker for, really; the weird, always mixed in quality fanmade levels are. I also find it a little odd how you have a little bit of 3d control in the hub world, making me want to use the analog stick, but then all levels are of course on a flat plane as all Mario Maker levels are. Why does the hub have that depth, it's kind of strange. I know some platformers do have 3d hubs with 2.5d levels, and it can work great, but it's better when both are intended to be controlled with the same thing; that's not the case here, you really want a d-pad in levels. This is pretty minor though, and Story mode's great fun. It's not the same in challenge and length as a NSMB game campaign, but there's more than enough here to keep you playing for a good while, and hopefully learning about good Mario stage design as well. That tutorial mode has lots more on that line available for anyone who wants it.
Negatives
So the game is mostly amazing, but it does have a few issues. First, some little touches from the first game, like the skinny Mario and the weird sounds Mario sometimes made while falling into pits are gone. The mostly Nintendo-focused Youtube channel GameXplain did a great video explaining a bunch of the more significant things removed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-Y3vvHvKCk. Some of these things are minor, but others I do miss. One other important thing removed, with one exception, are the numerous costumes that Mario used to be able to wear in the first game which made you appear to be numerous other characters. These only existed in the Super Mario Bros. 1 graphical style, but allowed for a huge variety of character looks to play the game, and for themed levels with the character to match the design of the stage. It was too bad that they were only in the SMB1 style, but still were pretty cool, and they added more costumes over time. That's all gone here; you can only play as the four characters and nothing else, and you can't theme a stage for one of the four characters because the player chooses who they are, not the level creator. That's good -- otherwise a lot of levels would surely require everyone to be Mario -- but it is worth mentioning. Oh, that one old costume that returns? It's the giant pixel Mario, which is now a new powerup you can get. It's a nice addition. It's too bad that the costumes are gone, but I don't mind all that much because the restriction to only being able to use them in Mario 1 was quite limiting anyway, they either needed to be in all of the modes or none this time, and they chose none. Oh well.
Additionally, creation is a lot worse than it was before because in my opinion, capacative touch screens are awful compared to reactive for serious gaming purpose. I've been saying this for years, but still believe it, and this shows it very clearly! Fingers are horrible for precise touch, so you can't do much of use with just your hands. So, you'll need a capacitive stylus that works with the system and allows for precision, which is an additional expense and will have trouble matching the precision of a reactive stylus if they even CAN do that -- those awful mushy tips are the worst for precision to say the least! With a good capacitive stylus you can get close to Mario Maker 1's level of control, but I doubt it'll ever match it because of the precision limitations of capacitive touch methods. And since the Switch doesn't come with a stylus or have a place to store a stylus in the system, it's not nearly as convenient to use either. This is a pretty big limitation. Alternately, you will need to learn the button controls, which I haven't tried much yet but won't be as good as direct touch control is. Nintendo put some effort into making button controls that work, with circular item-selection menus which make choosing what you want to place fairly easy, but it's no match for the speed and precision of a stylus. Considering that creation is half of the game, this is a pretty big problem. The millions of posted stages show that people are overcoming these limitations, but it is a downgrade.
Nintendo's awful online services are also a problem. Friend codes are a thing in this game, and you can't bring your Switch friends list, if you have one, into the game; oh no, that would actually make sense, and Nintendo isn't about making sense when it comes to online anything. So no, you've got to trade friends codes outside of the game, and add them manually in Mario Maker. Alternately, if you have a level code you can follow creators that way, but still, they make it a lot harder than it should be. That's to be expected from Nintendo, but still, it's annoying. Every player makes a Mario Maker character for online level trading this time too, and unlike Mario Maker 1, this time everyone needs a unique username. Unfortunately, Nintendo has a ten character limit on their usernames, so almost anything reasonably legible was taken immediately. For a game requiring everyone to have a unique username and a large playerbase, you need more than a paltry ten characters for names. There are also horrible lag problems in the simultaneous 4-player multiplayer online mode that are not fixed yet. You can't save or view replays of good runs within the game, either. Times, yes; replays, no. And Nintendo Online is a paid service?
And last, I've referenced this earlier, but in the new endless mode that replaced 100 Marios mode, unplayed levels will never appear this time! Now only levels with a like will. Instead, new levels ONLY go into the New Levels tab in the single-level selection option, so the only ways to get your level played and liked, so it appears in the endless queue, is either to know people who will play your level, beg people online to play your level like everyone else, or hope people play it in the new levels queue, that's it. I'm sure they were trying to fix the "lots of terrible levels in the 100 Marios mode" problem the first one had sometimes, but this isn't good either. Also it can take several days for levels to even get into the queue, at the moment... not great. This issue does seem to be getting better, but the basic design of how new levels are handled is not good. I've seen the idea of a new levels mode, like the endless mode, but just for new, unplayed/unfinished stages, and that's a good idea, I think. Having Endless mode start you with only five lives was a mistake as well I think, it's not nearly enough to get very far. The challenge of seeing whether you could beat 15 stages (or 6 stages, in Super Expert mode) with 100 lives is gone; now I'm lucky to get even a few stages in on Hard. As a result of all this I've been playing a lot more single levels from the level browser, often ones from the New (unplayed) Levels tab, instead of lots of 100 Marios mode like I did in the last game. It works well so I don't mind too much, but it probably is a downgrade overall.
Conclusion
Overall, though, despite some issues, Super Mario Maker 2 is absolutely amazing. I've been playing a lot of this game, and for playing levels, it's everything the first game was but better thanks to all the new stuff! What is here is pretty amazing, and there's a lot here. It is fantastic that Mario Maker is back and on a more popular system this time, because while the Switch is a lot less perfect for this game than the Wii U was, it's still fantastic stuff and an all-time great. Mario Maker is one of Nintendo's best ideas ever and it's really great that it's now on the Switch. If I had to choose which of the two games is better overall, right now, I might lean towards the first one because creation is so much better in ways this game can't match, but it's close, and that says a lot given the limitations of the capacitive screen. It's really a case of which is better, better play thanks to all the added options in Mario Maker 2, or better creation thanks to the better screen of Mario Maker 1? Different people will have different opinions there.
Really though, the best answer is 'they're both amazing!'. This is an exceptional, must-play game which anyone with a Switch should definitely buy. And it will just get better with time, too, as updates are coming, such as one that will add the ability to play against friends online. I hope to see a second new graphics mode get added eventually as well, in the conspicuously empty space next to 3D World's; either one of the Game Boy games' styles or Super Mario Bros. 2 would be perfect additions to this game! They have already added the Superball, so how about the rest of Super Mario Land's gameplay as a theme, Nintendo? That would be pretty awesome. Regardless, though, this is a game that I, and a lot of other people, will surely be playing on and off for years. It's outstanding and provides endless hours of incredible fun, and aggravating frustration, as you play the near-endless variety of levels people have created. Seeing what people can create in this game, with its familiar mechanics juxtaposed with levels that may be good and well balanced, or absurdly easy, or absurdly hard to the point of near-impossibility for most, or anything in between, is fascinating and one of the most interesting things in gaming.
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 2nd December 2019
So, after seeming to abandon it for months while the fanbase slowly atrophied, Nintendo is finally releasing a major update to Mario Maker 2 this week! They are adding a handful of new parts to use in level creation, including speed pads for 3D World theme; Spike the spiky-ball thrower, the cactus-ball enemy thing, P-switch blocks, and a bit more to all modes, and a new Link costume for SMB1 mode only. Unlike costumes in Mario Maker 1, though, this one's more than just a costume, it has Link's full moveset -- you can shoot arrows three directions, roll bombs, and use your sword and shield. It's a pretty interesting addition that they are calling a full new character and kind of is. Like a lot of people I miss the costumes from the first game; Mario Maker 2 is really amazing, but more regular updates would have been great. This is a good update though, and the new stuff will make for some devious new things in levels, those P-switch blocks particularly...
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 5th December 2019
The one thing I didn't mention in my last post is the new mode, Ninja Speedruns mode. It's a pretty cool mode where you play certain levels along with a lot of other players' ghosts, in the form of Ninjis running through the level along with you. This is not a live thing like Trackmania but is just a ghost challenge, but still it's really cool. Unfortunately, you can only play in certain levels made by Nintendo, and they seem to be adding one per week, with one available now. That is very limiting; Nintendo apparently has the tech to track where everyone goes when moving through stages... but is using it here, in these levels by Nintendo, and not anywhere else in the game. That's too bad, it'd be awesome to see this feature much more widely in Mario Maker 2!
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 8th December 2019
Hmm, so there's a timer on the current Ninji Speedrun level, with about two days remaining. I wonder, will the stage be removed after that? Will it still be available, but the 'get a reward' part will end? I'm assuming the latter, but we'll see.
Anyway, after spending a while frustrating dying a lot in this stage, the best I've managed so far is 20.1 seconds, good enough for thirty thousandth place. It's not great, but it is a respectable time I think; I know I could improve it a bit with a lot more time, but I got to the second-from-the-top bracket on the time chart so I did reasonably well I think. (The top bracket is under 20 seconds, which is hard to do.)
Anyone else tried it?
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - Sacred Jellybean - 18th December 2019
Quote:So, I took my OP here and expanded it out into a full article. Here it is.
Article? Is this published somewhere?
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 18th December 2019
On my website.
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - Sacred Jellybean - 19th December 2019
You have a website? Shit, never noticed that in your siggy. Do you get many hits?
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 19th December 2019
I've had that site since 2010 you know. :p No, it doesn't get many hits, but I like having it as a good way to have most all of the gaming stuff I've written, all together and easily findable in a single place and not only in forum archives and such...
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 21st April 2020
So, Mario Maker 2 has sold 5 million copies over its often months since release, which puts it as the 11th best selling Switch game. That is decently good, but somewhat disappointing considering that the first Mario Maker sold almost 4 million copies in less time on a system with only 12 million consoles sold. Compared to the size of the system sales base, the sequel did a lot worse.
And that is part of the speculation about why Nintendo has just announced that Mario Maker 2 will not have any more updates after one releasing tomorrow. Nintendo seems to have taken all of the updates they had partially completed, tossed them all together, and are going to publish what's done. This is the "final major content update". On the one hand, they're adding a lot of very cool stuff -- a whole bunch of new outfits for the characters in various game styles, each with unique mechanics; the Koopalings, as seven new types of minibosses to mix up the monotony of "it's always Bowser, Bowser Jr., or Boom-Boom"; one new regular enemy type, the Meka-Koopas; and such. It's a fantastic sounding update with lots of stuff and I am very much looking forward to playing the levels people make with all of these new parts. The five time-limited powerups for the Mario 3D World style are maybe particularly interesting; they include a POW block head, a Goomba head that makes you blend in with enemies; and more. Silly stuff which could make for interesting levels.
Most prominent in it, though, is a Mario Bros. 2 suit for the original Mario Bros. 1 game style. Now, a longstanding Mario Maker 2 rumor has been a Mario Bros. 2 theme. The theme select screen seems to suggest it, with an open space to the left of 3D World, and it's something a lot of people, me certainly included, want to see... but now it seems that they have abandoned that, and instead all we get are a suit that lets you pick up enemies Mario 2-style, and a "cursed key" item which makes a Phanto appear if you grab it. Both are SMB1 style-exclusive. And that's it. No full theme, no enemies from it, nothing. It's frustrating stuff to say the least, when SMB2 deserves so much more!
Of course, Nintendo has somewhat mismanaged this game all along. With a better userbase-engagement strategy to keep fans happier with an actual plan, seeming to care about what the games' fanbase wants to some extent, some kind of monetization maybe to encourage them to keep supporting it (look, I'm not saying I want to be charge more money for things already IN the game, but for more stuff that currently ISNT and won't be? That's a different question.), etc, maybe the game would have sold better and become the "evergreen" game it should be, because the Mario Maker concept is still one of the most amazing things ever. I still love both playing this game and watching streamers who are better than me at Mario play it, and I will, and this update will add some new stuff to the game which will make it even more interesting... but it feels like this could have been something even more special, and it kind of IS that -- there was a crazy amount in this game at launch! -- but it needed better planning and post-launch strategy to get there and they kind of messed it up.
For instance, the Ninji Speedruns concept is a great one ... when they publish the levels. Unfortunately, there is no set schedule for when they appear, and Nintendo does not make any particular mention of them when they do so. Instead, they just randomly appear every once in a while, and you've got a week or so to notice, play it, and get your time in. After that you can play levels you missed, but can't have an official clear time for the original run of the stage because you have to play it in that time window to get that. And that concept is good, but why isn't there a schedule for when levels are published? Why do they just appear at random every once in a while? Will there be more Ninji Speedrun levels in the future, or are the seven or so they have published it? The last one was a couple of weeks ago now, and this update video said nothing about them... though Ninjis do appear on the map screen in the (very cool!) new World Builder mode, so I wonder what that is about. We'll see soon. But anyway, as for Ninji Speedruns I have no idea about the answers to any of those questions, and nor does anyone else outside of Nintendo. Nintendo is famously tight-lipped and that's usually fine, but we see here how when running what is kind of a service game (with no monetization yes, but it still kind of is one) how not doing those small things hurts. But anyone who looks at that mode can see that every Ninji Speedrun level has been played by fewer people than the last one, which is not a good trend.
And yeah, there still is no Mario Maker 2 version of the website that MM1 has to help you find levels and such. Why they didn't do that is a complete, frustrating mystery. This is one of the best games ever as it is, but it's too bad that little things like that are missing... on the whole, you'd think by now Nintendo would be starting to figure this internet thing out, but they very clearly are not. It's too bad.
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 15th May 2020
That this was the final update is very disappointing and that Mario 2 didn't end up with a full theme is a real shame, but what IS here in the update is amazing, fantastic stuff! All of the new suits add so much to the game, and help to make each theme stand out from the others too. Having costumes you can only use in one theme may seem frustrating, but I do like differentiating them a bit more. And again, they're great. The SMB2 Mushroom (in SMB1) obviously is the standout and it's amazing, but the Frog Suit (in SMB3) and Flying Squirrel Suit (in NSMB) are also really awesome. SMW's P-Balloon suit's okay but not nearly as cool as the others. As for 3D World, it gets five limited-time powerup suits. The propeller hat and Bullet Bill hat are the best of the group, but all five certainly have their uses. The other three are a Goomba hat, POW block hat, and cannon box hat. The mechanic of how you get three spins of the propeller hat before you have to land on something to recharge it is a pretty good one. The POW hat is limited-use, three uses total. The others you can use as much as you want, though cannon shots have a range and you can only use the bullet bill mode for so long per hold of the button before you run out of charge and have to land... but you can land and go again, you don't need a new hat like the POW one. I'm not sure how they decided which ones you keep and which you don't, but it does work. Oh, as for the Goomba hat, it makes enemies ignore you, which is amusing but more useful as an amusement than as something essential for levels... still, it is entertaining so sure, why not have it.
The new minibosses, enemies, and objects really flesh the game out too. The additions of the Koopalings are particularly important, that minibosses were always Bowser Jr. or Boom-Boom really got old... but now there are seven new minibosses, each with their own unique patterns. It's great stuff and a fantastic addition. That you can have seven of them in a level is really cool as well. Sure, none of them are super hard as they are, but that there are seven, each with different mechanics, is very important. Some levels already are using them in really clever ways. The regular enemies, three types of mechakoopas, are a great addition too and the laser ones are particularly useful. Phanto, the mas from SMB2 k who chases you if you get the new cursed key, is alright, but Phanto and the key are only in SMB1 theme, as with the SMB2 powerup, and you can only have one Phanto chasing you no matter how many cursed keys you pick up, so it's a bit disappointing; Phanto's cool but could have been better if available in more themes and if you could face more than one at once. He seems a bit slow at times too, though other times he zooms in for the kill so it's a good mix, in longer levels where you have to stay away from Phanto for a while.
As for the new Super World world maker mode, being able to string levels together into a cohesive whole is something important that Mario Maker has always been missing, so it's fantastic to see them finally put it in here at the end of SMM2. You can always wish for more options in the world maker of course, there are no alternate exits available here, only SMW-themed overworld graphics, limited numbers of background art images to put around your maps, and such, but having it at all is a great surprise and it adds a lot to the game. I'm having fun playing worlds, having levels actually connect together is great! When playing a World the game drops Mario Maker's usual "you can only get three lives per level in endless mode" rule too, so you can get lots of one-ups; that's pretty cool. Now, if you get Game Over all that happens is you return to the world map, so it only matters if you get game over in a tough level with checkpoints since you will now have to start the level over, but still it's a fantastic mode which allows for some great new things. I hope there is a SMM3 someday that builds on all the amazing, and frustrating, things that this exceptional classic does.
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 3rd June 2020
So today, I finally... got around to making a Mario Maker 2 version of my Mario Maker 1 level from last year!
The code (for Mario Maker 2 of course): 7N5-3JC-V2G
Now, the level was deleted after a few weeks because no one finished it and such. I imagine a lot of Mario Maker 1 levels from the past year-plus have seen that fate, I know people are still playing that game but far were than were some years back. It'll be interesting to see what happens with this Mario Maker 2 revision of the stage -- MM2 is more popular now than the first was a year ago, but given that we're past the "final update" things could be better for Mario Maker, unfortunately.
So, what is changed from the old version, for the like one of you who played it (Weltall)?
To make it easier:
- When the moving platform goes through the wall of spikes, the path curves away from the spikes now. This makes that bit a lot less likely to hurt you, it was pretty tough before.
- The mushroom powerup near the spike wall has been moved from a hard-to-get spot just before the spike wall where usually you'd miss the mushroom if you wanted to avoid that spike wall coming up, to just above the donut blocks after it. It's much easier to get now and makes that next part simpler.
- I added a SMB2 Mushroom powerup at the beginning of the level, because it's awesome. There's nothing else new here other than a few uses of slopes on the airships, but I love the SMB2 Mushroom and while I'm not good enough to beat this stage keeping it, I'm sure it'd be possible... though one sequence near the end would be tough (to get through without taking damage I mean, since you won't bounce oen ememies like is intended there...). This should make the starting area before the pipe much easier, if that was needed.
- A couple of fireballs in the note bock section go a couple of tiles less high.
- I removed the two ghosts from the jump-on-Koopas sequenc eat the end of the sub-world, to make it a little simpler -- in the original version the best way to do that is to lure the two of them away and then go for your Koopa-hopping experience, but one is just off screen so that's kind of cheap, and it's an unnecessary delay anyway, so I decided to cut them.
To make it harder:
- The floor hidden far below the section with note blocks has been removed. You've got to do that section legit now.
Neutral:
-The two moving platforms now start at the beginning points and don't start moving until you get on them, instead of starting from well in to the track and moving towards you. I remember Weltall complaining about how it was before so I made sure to fix this. I don't think this makes the level any harder or easier, it just allows the player to start off whenever they want. I would recommend fighting all of the bloobers you can from that first platform, though, and not having any of them still chasing you once you're on the moving platform! There's more than enough to worry about between the fireballs, platform, and spikes...
- I moved the checkpopint -- before, the checkpoint was after the part I thin of as 'the tough part', ie, the section with the moving platform on the track. You finish that and get the checkpoint just before the note block part and then the final couple of sequences. Instead, now the checkpoint is on the platform just before the moving platform part. I'd rather have two checkpoints, but for some stupid reason you cannot have two checkpoints in a sub-world, so... it has to be one or the other and I decided on this way this time. I'm not sure if it makes the level easier or harder overall, it does mean you d first part as often when dying in the middle, but does mean you need to do that middle section more so... maybe harder overall? But it might encourage people to keep going, so it could help.
- The not-too-hidden section with the 1-ups near the end has been removed because I think you get a bunch f 1-ups anyway, so what'd be the point?
- All 'hit this block 10 times for 10 coins' blocks are now just normal blocks. It makes a lot more sense this way.
.Perhaps odd, but true: Probably my favorite part of this level is the battle with the bloobers on the platform which now has the checkpoint on it. I don't know, I really like that part.
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 31st August 2020
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 25th September 2020
I just finished a fourth Mario Maker 2 level for you people to never get around to playing!
it's a water level this time. As with the last one I made it harder than the original design, but it's not TOO bad... I did put some frog suits in, that powerup's great
M0Y-WKB-SJG is the level.
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 28th September 2020
So, I decided to move right along and make the next stage as well, because with that I will have enough levels for a one-world Super World and I want ted to publish one. So I spent much of today making a Mario Maker adaptation of Castle Siege level 1-4, Enemy Camp. It's the last stage that I actually redrew back in the mid '90s to make the level look better and to add enemies into, so it's a good stopping point for world one. The level is rough around the edges and some of the machinery parts could be refined for sure, but it's good enough for a one-day Mario Maker project so I'm publishing it. Once made, I had to clear check it, though, and that was the hard part. It took hours of frustrating dying, but I finally did it, I cleared my fourth level!
While super long, it's kind of fun if you don't need to play the entire thing from the beginning without being allowed to use the checkpoints, ie, if you aren't having to clear-check it...
level code is FWD-PNJ-84G.
I also made a one-world Super World of my five stages, the four 1-1 to 1-4 ones and Airship Attack, which is in as an optional level. I'll add more worlds to the Super World sometime later when I make the other levels. My maker ID (for the super world) is 2D4-L46-SJG. I can't guarantee that the levels are all actually fun but it'd be great if someone else finished them sometime!
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 6th December 2020
I may have bought a whole lot of stuff, but you can probably guess what I have actually been playing. Yes, it's this game, which is certainly one of the greatest ever made. I have been thinking recently, how high on my 'all time favorite console games' list do the two Mario Maker games go? Really, really high, I think. Top five for certain. Mario Maker is basically a perfect concept for me. The execution is far from perfect of course, Nintendo always makes something of amess of online and community game elements of course sadly, but even with its faults and Nintendo's sad early abandonm,ent of the game it is still top-tier exceptional. Top two best consolegames ever made excetional, right up there with OoT, I'm thinking right now. And yes, that is despite how few plays my levels have... it'd be great to get more attention, but oh well, I don't try very hard to get the level codes out there do I. :p
So, yes, I made a new, sixth Mario Maker 2 level. At only about 1:15 long this is my shortest level by a lot, but it also might be my toughest. This level took me a while to clear, but I think it's a really good, well-paced level, the right people just need to play it... it's not SUPER hard, I don't have that skill. Just challenging. The level is called "Piranha Castle" and the level code is XS5-V6R-WKF. It'd be great if someone played it, it's worth it. (This level is not in my Super World yet.) Yes, this is only my second all-new stage; the concept takes some ideas from the last level of the game I'm adapting into my Super World in that you jump over pits with fireballs going up out of them, but other than that it's all-new. The concept and stage came together easier than I thought it would, clearing it was the tough part. It's so satisfying when you finally get it, though! The level is linear, but to help at points I put a coin trail; it shows where to go, follow it. The hardest parts are the spike block just before the first clear pipe, and the last jump. Oh, one note -- you need to wall-jump immediately at the exit of all three clear pipes, so hold back while in the pipe, then when exiting immediately hit jump+forward. It's easy once you get used to it. (The fireballs after clear pipes can't kill you if you make a full, correct jump; that'd be random chance and I thought that would be unfair. I put thought into this.)
As for my old levels, so far three have been cleared, and two have not been. The two that haven't been are no surprise, it's The Mine and Enemy Camp. I hope someone clears them sometime, Enemy Camp particularly has a pretty fun ending part that I hope someone other than me experiences.
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 1st February 2021
I... finally finished my next level in my super world. I'd been putting this one off for a while because it's the longest and potentially hardest level in the super world. Yeah, as usual my difficulty balance is way off, if the fifth level is maybe the hardest... unless I do a lot to make the last level hard, heh.
Anyway, I worked on this level for a week or two and finally got a version that I could manage to upload. Essentially I left most of the section up to the first checkpoint unchanged (apart from some alterations to make the first screen a lot easier), but kept adding in powerups and such to the later two third of the level. So, really the hardest part of this stage is the first third. Once you get to that first checkpoint it gets a lot easier, I think. There are definitely hard parts later on, but a few things are cheesable and there are regular powerups so with a bit of practice it's not too bad. After finally clearing from the start last night, I cleared from both checkpoints pretty quickly.
The level is 2-1: The Castle. Code H19-G58-WQG
I am thinking about making a harder remake of this stage without the compromises -- fix the things I know you can cheese, put back in that one really annoying enemy at the beginning, make some of the jumps later one harder that I eased up on, maybe get rid of the checkpoints, and such. Perhaps. That would take forever for me to upload though so I'm not sure if I will.
I also might make a short level that's an expanded version of the 'climb the side of the tower' section from this level because I quite like that part...
But yes, this level is hardest in its first third. I know that having a level be hard at the end is best in a normal game, but honestly for Mario Maker this way is a lot more tolerable for the creator -- after all, it's easy to restart a clear attempt when you keep dying at the beginning. But if you keep dying at the END of a hard level, over and over and over again? That would be incredibly frustrating in a much worse way. If they make a Mario Maker 3 I'd love to see them come up with a solution to fix the "levels are way way harder for the creator than anyone else" issue, if indeed it can be solved.
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 4th February 2021
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - Weltall - 5th February 2021
I'd try it, but I'm still on Mario Maker 1.
Tbh, Maker came along too late for me. By that point, I had already committed my entire life to rom hacking SMW, so while I owned Maker 1, it didn't get much play from me. I found myself preferring to devote that energy to my project, and I just was far more used to the tools and interface.
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 5th February 2021
If you own a Switch you should own Mario Maker 2. It's maybe my favorite game ever.
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - Weltall - 5th February 2021
My wife owns a Switch, and it's my life to get between her and Animal Crossing.
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 14th March 2021
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - Weltall - 19th March 2021
Quote:So you're saying you want me to play your levels but don't really want to play mine.
I did play your level on the first Mario Maker! And I will try these others.
I might get MM2 if it ever goes on special, but it's not a game I can justify paying $60 for at this time.
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 23rd March 2021
I imagine SMM2 must be available used for less than full price... but sorry to say, the game actually was on sale recently new -- Nintendo put SMM2, Luigi's Mansion 2, and Super Mario Party on sale for $40 each for Super Mario's 35th anniversary a few weeks ago.
So thanks to the shutdown at the end of the month I've continued to play some SMM1. Today, I finished the last of my trilogy of levels breaking up my SMM2 level The Castle that I made a few months ago into three shorter parts (with more checkpoints).
SMM1 level. The Castle, Part Three: Final - E186-0000-0424-F18D
This level had to be fairly heavily modified from the original, but I made it mostly work. I did a few things to make this harder than the original, but more to make it easier so overall this is probably easier than the SMM2 version. On the harder side, you can't skip the first section of this level anymore; you've got to work your way over the battlements. This is challenging, but with practice I figured out how to get through well. On the easier side though, I put two checkpoints into this level. And yeah, that sure makes this level a lot easier! This one shouldn't be too tough to clear really, there is a Bowser fight at the end but it's fairly straightforward. I put a message at the end before the goal.
As for changes I had to make because of parts that aren't in the first game, they are pretty significant. The largest changes are that vertical levels aren't in SMM1, and there are no icicles either. Both of these things really hurt the stage, but I think the solutions I came up with work. It's not quite as good a level as it is in SMM2, because the wall climb isn't as interesting without icicles and you have to break it up into parts because of the absence of vertical stages, but this is still a solid level I think.
So far, the first of my SMM1 The Castle trilogy has one footprint. The person starred it, which was nice, but didn't finish it. I've thought about going back and adding a checkpoint to this level, since I did add them to the second and third ones and there's a natural point midway for one, but it got a star so I don't really want to reboot that. (I also could edit it to make the boss required, not sure if I want to do that one). If I make MM2 versions of these I'll probably do both of those things.
The second level has two footprints, no stars or completions. The third almost immediately got three footprints and one completion. No star, but a quick completion was a surprise, that's nice to see. It's obvious a lot fewer people play SMM1 than the first game, which is understandable.
Yes, I will get back to SMM2 level creation. On the note of SMM2 though the current ninji, which ends very soon if it hasn't ended yet, is pretty frustrating, my time is not amazing (just under a minute) but I don't think I want to keep playing it... it's a decent level but somewhat frustrating to get 100 coins in quickly.
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 20th May 2021
It's been a few months, but I finally made another Mario Maker 2 level today. It's a pretty tough level but definitely beatable, just make the jumps and you'll be fine! My original concept was 'a super annoying troll-ey level full of softlocks where you can't die but will have a hard time winnning' but I didn't follow through, fortunately for anyone who plays the level. Well, I did follow through, except not for the "softlocks" or "troll-ey" parts. "You can't easily die but may have a hard time winning", though? Yes, that describes this level well.
What I made is a fairly precise platformer level with small platforms to jump between, including note blocks, donut blocks, timed P-switch sections, and lots of required use of momentum to make jumps. There is also one puzzle near the end, and there are two checkpoints. Below you is not death pits, but ground that lead to reset doors or paths that send you back to the last checkpoint. At first the level didn't have the reset doors but while working on the level today I changed course and added them in order to have a much more fun and playable stage, instead of an intentionally bad one. I had some fun with the level once I added the reset doors, it's frustratring but in that good 'I want to learn this jump' way that Mario's controls make so special.
There are no enemies in the level other than a couple of tornado things which cannot hurt you because the concept was 'you shouldn't be able to die'. However, I did have to add a spike in the sub-world to let you die because of one puzzle near the end that irrepearably breaks if you get certain coins. I decided on keeping the puzzle over keeping the total no-die thing.
I called it "The Desert of Regret". Code Q77-LXD-7MF The description text is "Live. Jump. Repeat." which is a reference some may some may recognize.
You can definitely do better than my clear check time, I got through the first section really quickly but did fall down a bunch in the middle section. You can also do worse, though -- I had less time left on the clock in the time I cleared the level from the first checkpoint than the time I cleared it from the start. Heh. As with many of my levels I think getting to the first checkpoint is one of the hardest things in the level, though a few specific jumps in the rest of the stage are also hard. I hope someone out there plays it and enjoys the level though.
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 18th July 2021
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 27th October 2021
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 19th January 2022
I finally finished my Super World of levels adapted from that game I designed on paper as a kid, Castle Siege! It took some time, but the last, eighth level of the Super World is finally done. I really hope people play it. I made one other level too, but it's much less interesting.
Jumps and Flight (Mario World) - I made this level in December, and it's probably one of my easiest and simplest stages. That doesn't mean it is easy, though; it's at least Normal in challenge. It's just quite straightforward, and without much in the way of nice environments or such. This is a short-ish stage. You just jump between small platforms for the first half of the level, then navigate a fairly standard P-balloon path in the second half. The level has a clear but no likes and i get it, not sure if I'd heart this level either... I mean, it's fine, but nothing special. I just wanted to make a level quickly, and make a Mario World level finally as well, so I did. Code N0Y-X4C-96G.
2-4: Your Castle at Last! (Mario 3) - I just finished uploading this level, as, as I mentioned, after probably a week and a half of work, maybe a bit more. This is a fairly complex level made up of three sections. This level is on the long side -- my clear check time is 4:43 -- but hey, it's the last level of the Super World, it better be challenging and a memorable journey! I think that while frustrating at points, it is one of my best levels. The checkpoints are basically perfectly placed as well. Each of the three sections of the level is different --the first a platforming challenge; the second a few tricky jumps and then a battle against a lot of enemies; and the last, the final battle against Bowser, followed with the concluding section celebrating your victory. The first section is reasonably similar to my original concept, but the second is mostly new and the third a mostly traditional Mario 3 Bowser fight followed by the conclusion. Time-wise, that third part actually takes the most time, Bowser's RNG can be frustrating as you wait for him to attack at the right spots to break through the floor. I think that was the right choice for a boss battle though, it works well. It's really satisfying when you get him to beat himself! Clearing this level was pretty hard for me, but it'd be a much less frustrating task for anybody else in one key respect, you don't need to beat the level from the beginning without dying. That was what I had the most trouble with here; once I finally did that, beating it from the checkpoints took much less time.
So what is this level? It is your final trip to rescue your besieged castle from the enemy leader at its gates. First, you cross a bridge over the poisoned lake in front of the castle. Note, this is a night forest level. That is relevant at times. In this section, you jump between bridge sections, avoiding fireballs while fighting or avoiding some enemies. There's just one mushroom at the start, but that's enough for this part. After the checkpoint, which is about 40 seconds into the level on average, there is one final tough jumping section, first. This jump is partially blind, but I couldn't come up with a better way to make it happen. You can see the area you need to drop to, it's just on the bottom of your screen. The jump after that is trickier, but it's not as hard as what you face after that: a battle against enemy forces. Here, you get a frog suit, and there are several more around the area. You fight against Bowser Jr. and a bunch of troops in a mushroom forest garden, including Hammer Bros. and Magikoopas. I recommend going up to get the frog suit guarded by the two Hammer Bros. on the gate into the garden; it's worth it to get rid of them. For this battle, you just need to kill Bowser Jr. to continue, but most of the other foes will need to go to get him. I strongly recommend staying up high and not going down into the bottom of the garden. Once you complete this, you get the second checkpoint and face Bowser. As I said, it's a conventional Mario 3 Bowser fight, so you have to get him to break a floor. I did add a few fireballs on certain tiles to make things a little tougher, but that's it. There are several frog suits in this area to give you additional hits, and yes, I needed them. After you beat him, there's one last little run back to the castle's back door, and you win. Make sure to hit the P-switch that opens the door, then get to it! (It's on the bottom of the garden. I tried to make this clear with some notes made of coins.)
As anyone who plays the level hopefully will realize, during the process of making this level I decided to use frog suit powerups to represent your allied forces. I think it works reasonably well. They were going to defend the castle to the last. Fortunately, you saved the day first. Code 7YM-8KL-0CG.
RE: Mario Maker 2 - The Game of the Year is here! - A Black Falcon - 9th March 2022
Yes, I am still playing this game about as much as ever. It's one of the greatest things ever. And so, I made another level. This one is my 16th stage.
Cat Claw Clinging - This level is a Super Mario 3D World stage all about the cat suit's ability to hang on metal grilles and trees. This is my first level with a clear condition, and I use the don't touch the ground one. When used to make levels where you have to stay on the ground, Don't Touch the Ground is insufferably tedious... but when used the opposite way, such as here, it's great! For the most part this is a platformer stage about jumping between places you can grab on to that would work with or without the clear condition, but there are some points where the clear condition matters and makes the stage harder. I think it's a pretty well-made stage with a good challenge level. It's tough, but not one of my hardest levels, certainly. It's not easier but is a lot less challenging than my last stage. And at a clear check time of only 53 second it's one of my shorter levels too. I had fun laying out the obstacles and grilles and such. The level is mostly just 'learn the jumps', but one part is a bit tricky -- the level is mostly another of my enemy-free stages, but one section has enemies: you have to bounce on bees through one part. It's a bit tricky because you have to line up the jumps just right or you will get hit and fall.
And on that note, I decided to fully mark out where to jump from in this level with coins. I'm inconsistent at whether to mark jumps or not; for the most part, I think that as long as a jump is visible and not something off screen, you should be able to do it without the additional help of an indicator. Indicators on jumps are a difficulty-reducing crutch often used by Mario Maker creators that Nintendo would never use so blatantly in one of their games. However, there are a few parts of this stage where I thought marking the jump points would be very helpful to reduce player frustration. And once I had started, I decided to just continue on and add coins between every platform. Why not.
Oh, this level makes frequent use of a move not listed on the controls page: if you start a cat claw dive with R, then hit the R button again while in the dive, you will cancel it and return to a normal jump. You can't do another dive without landing or grabbing on to something, though. I use this feature a bunch of times for maneuvering around obstacles. I decided to put in a hint room at the start saying to press R in a dive to cancel it, for anyone who is playing the level but doesn't know that. Sure, at this point maybe all of the few people playing this level already know that, but I'd rather help people out.
Code: D9L-F3K-PMG