Super Mario Maker 2: Everything You Need To Know

Super Mario Maker 2 is bringing a hefty dose of creativity and challenge to the Switch – here’s everything you need to know about the game.

Super Mario Maker was one of the Wii U’s gems, a popular title that unfortunately lost popularity far too soon due to the small install base of the Wii U and the fact that the console was effectively dropped by Nintendo shortly after the game came out. Its 3DS release did little to revive the game. Which is why it’s great news that Super Mario Maker 2 is coming to the Nintendo Switch where its online community will have far more time and players to develop fully, in addition to containing lots of new features and tools for creators to play with.

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Details are still a bit murky about everything Super Mario Maker 2 will contain, but here’s what we know about the game so far:

What is Super Mario Maker?

Super Mario Maker is a combination of an action platforming title and a creative builder game that allows you to build your own Super Mario Bros. levels using components from the Mario games, and then play levels built by others. The game originally released on the Wii U, and was followed by a Nintendo 3DS release. Its sequel, Super Mario Maker 2, appears to include many of the same ideas and features but has built on the original with even more content and ways to enjoy different unique Mario levels.

How do I play?

There are essentially two ways to enjoy Super Mario Maker. One is to create new Mario courses yourself using the course builder tool, test them, experiment, and then publish them for others to play. Since this element of the game is focused on creativity, there are effectively an infinite number of ways to approach building your own courses. You can try to recreate a course from a Mario game you’ve played and change it up somehow; you can use a course you played online as a template and take it further, or you can start from scratch and let your imagination guide you.

Super Mario Maker 2 will feature the ability to build courses with the style of multiple Mario games, but will allow you to add items, enemies, and obstacles that may not have been available in that particular style. You can create land and water levels, fill areas with enemies, set warp pipes, create musical levels, shape the ground and obstacles, and make courses of any level of complexity you like. Essentially, the sky’s the limit!

The other way to enjoy Super Mario Maker is to play courses built by others online. We don’t know yet what form that will take, and (though not yet confirmed) it is very likely you will need a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to upload your own courses or play those of others. As more details surface, we’ll be able to better understand how you can play courses in Super Mario Maker 2.

What’s new in Super Mario Maker 2?

From the trailer shown during the Nintendo Direct where the game was announced, we were able to determine a few new features that have been added since the original Super Mario Maker:

Super Mario 3D World seems to have been added as a level style you can build
Elements from Super Mario 3D World are now available in other styles of the game, including the Super Bell power-up and various themes such as desert, snow, and night
Luigi and Toadette may be playable
There are new enemies, like the Ant Trooper, Piranha Creeper, Cat Bullet Bill, Banzai Bill, and Fire Bro
There are probably many other additions as well that we haven’t seen yet!