Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is one of the most successful Nintendo games of all time, still taking the number one spot on the highest-selling Switch games, five whole years after its release. To capitalize on the continued success of the game, Nintendo launched a multi-stage DLC expansion called the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass, which is set to add another 48 tracks to the game by the end of 2023. While Super Mario Maker 2 wasn't nearly as much of a success, this Booster Course Pass does inspire some hope that Mario Maker 2 could get some DLC in the future.
Released back in 2019, Super Mario Maker 2 reviewed very well on launch, and managed to sell over seven million copies worldwide by March 2021. While this milestone is nothing to scoff at, it only places Super Mario Maker 2 at the number 20 spot on the best-selling Switch games list. More importantly, Mario Maker 2's player-base dropped off pretty quickly after the game stopped getting updates, with only its die-hard fans sticking around all these years later. That being said, a large-scale DLC expansion like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Booster Course Pass could really breathe new life into Super Mario Maker 2.
Super Mario Maker 2 Should Get its Own Booster Course Pass
By its very nature, Super Mario Maker 2's longevity relied heavily on its player-base. While Nintendo provided a surprisingly good single-player campaign for the game, the real meat and potatoes of Mario Maker 2 is the wealth of user-created content. The main aim of Mario Maker 2 is to create challenging levels for other players to try out, with the highest quality stages earning a top spot on the featured page along with a heap of appraisals. While these were great incentives to keep creating content, many players eventually got bored of Mario Maker 2's gameplay loop, leading to a short supply of new user-created levels.
Now, three years after release, only the most dedicated Super Mario Maker 2 fans have stuck with the game, and have continued to create free content for others to play. Super Mario Maker 2 had a great premise, but it didn't fully realize its potential. In its current state, Mario Maker 2 is a fairly niche product, relying on hardcore fans to keep the game going with their own user-created levels. Instead, Nintendo should seize the opportunity it has, and release a big expansion for Super Mario Maker 2, which would both bring in new players, and get old fans to return again.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is over five years old now, but that hasn't stopped it from receiving DLC. While Super Mario Maker 2 isn't nearly as popular as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Nintendo has now set the precedent that even its older games can get surprise DLC expansions, paving the way for Mario Maker 2 to get its own. Mario Maker 2 added assets from Super Mario 3D World to go alongside the themes already present in the first game, which included Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U. There's already a ton in content in the base game, but there are still plenty of Mario games that a potential DLC expansion could add assets from.
The most obvious Mario game yet to be represented in the Mario Maker series is Super Mario Bros. 2, which could add a ton of new mechanics to the game, like throwing enemies at each other or digging up turnips. If Nintendo really wanted to turn heads, then it could add some of the 3D games to Super Mario Maker 2. While it would be no small task for Nintendo to allow user-creation in full 3D environments, it could still offer the assets from 3D Mario games in a 2D setting, just like it did with Super Mario 3D World. Super Mario 64, Mario Galaxy, and Mario Sunshine would all be great additions to Super Mario Maker 2.
Super Mario Maker 2 is available on Nintendo Switch.