Also notably missing is any kind of "tag" system, which would make finding levels of a certain variety - say, auto-playing platformers or challenging puzzle levels - a breeze.įortunately, the game's online functionality works really, really well. Levels are organized into three pools, one showcasing featured levels, one showing the levels that have received the most "stars" (accolades you can award a level after completion) and which are "up and coming." They do a fine job of showing you the community's best, but it remains to be seen how much curation Nintendo is planning on doing to keep their recommendations fresh. Super Mario Maker takes a similarly streamlined approach to how it lets you play the creations of others. Discovering those interactions is a joyous process, and incorporating them into your levels is deeply rewarding. There are item combinations and interactions that aren't revealed by the game until you drag two items onto each other and watch them change. I'm confident that those examples scratch the surface of what Super Mario Maker is capable of, because while its educational channels give you enough inspiration to get started, they wisely don't teach everything. The limited, pre-launch Super Mario Maker community has whipped up a ‘shmup, a math trivia game and a weird bowling mini-game in the span of a couple of weeks. That limits somewhat the possibility of your creations - don't expect to be able to whip up a grand, turn-based Mario RPG, for example - but it doesn't mean you're hemmed into making a straight platformer. Super Mario Maker's tools keep it simple by removing headier elements like logic programming, ala LittleBigPlanet's toggles and circuit boards. Even before you go online, Super Mario Maker throws inspiration at you left and right. There's also a mode called 10 Mario Challenge that tasks you with clearing eight pre-made levels in 10 lives, with each level you clear being added to your Coursebot collection for you to replay or remix. Super Mario Maker has a few ways of educating you on the new tools you'll unlock, including an adorable, video-filled digital instruction booklet and a "Coursebot" that adds demo levels each time you unlock new components.