With no advance warning, Nintendo announced a huge update for Super Mario Maker 2 to the delight of level builders everywhere. In what the company is calling the last major update for the popular level-building Switch game, Update 3.0 has a lot to offer when it launches on April 22nd.
Super Mario Maker 2's last major update was in December when the game introduced, among other things, the Link power-up. The power-up completely changed what could be done in a level, and how players thought as they constructed their levels. It was limited to the Super Mario Bros level style only, but hundreds of great Link-centric levels have been created since that update. With Update 3.0, the exciting list of new power-ups, creation tools, and enemies is sure to bring a few level builders back to the game.
The centerpiece of this new update is without question, World Maker. Fans have been vocal about wanting to create full worlds filled with their custom levels, stringing their creations together thematically on an overworld map. Now they can do so with World Maker. The mode allows players to create their own mini Super Mario game, with up to 8 worlds containing a total of up to 40 courses. While previously, makers would spend their time constructing one unique level for the game, now thought will go into how to string these levels together in a fun way. The world maps can be terraformed to some degree, and include themes like grasslands, snow, and outer space, giving a good deal of customization to the process.
World Maker allowing 40 courses to be featured in a game might force Nintendo to reconsider how many levels they allow players to upload. That limit was raised to 100 back in January, but makers churning out levels for their own World Maker creations may find themselves running out of space soon enough.
If World Maker wasn't enough, the game is also introducing a number of power-ups, including the fan favorite Frog Suit for Super Mario Bros 3, and a plethora of wearable costumes for the Super Mario 3D World game mode. The best looking of these Super Mario 3D World power-ups is the Bullet Bill mask, which allows Mario to blast off as if he were a Bullet Bill flying out of a launcher. SM3DW has been featured in a leak recently, with the game maybe coming over to the Switch for the 35th anniversary of the Mario franchise. These unique power-ups in Super Mario Maker 2 might get fans even more excited at the prospect of seeing the Wii U classic ported over to the Switch.
Throw in some Koopalings, and the Super Mario Bros 2 mushroom, which has a host of interesting effects attached to it, and this update is looking pretty substantial. The SMB2 mushroom changes the way Mario interacts with enemies, allowing him to ride them and even pick them up and toss them. Animal Crossing players have been creating some very unique creations in that game, but Super Mario Maker 2 is looking to take back the crown with this update.
The Switch has been a hot ticket item these last few months, and it seems that fans have plenty to be excited about. The last major update for Super Mario Maker 2 is only days away. Soon fans will finally be able to make their own fully complete Super Mario game, a dream many Nintendo fans have likely held for some time.
Super Mario Maker 2 is available now for Nintendo Switch.