About

Super Mario Maker is a side-scroll platformer and video game editor developed by Nintendo, which allows players to create and share custom courses for games in the Super Mario franchise using in-game level creation software.

Gameplay

Super Mario Maker allows players to create custom levels for various games in the Super Mario franchise, including Super Mario Bros. (1983), Super Mario Bros. 3(1988), Super Mario World (1990) and New Super Mario Bros. U (2012). New editing tools can be unlocked by creating courses or scanning Amiibo figurines. Custom levels can be shared and downloaded online using the game's "Course World" system.

History

Pre-Release Announcement

At the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Nintendo announced an upcoming game titled Mario Maker, a Super Mario level editing tool initially created for internal use by the company's development team. On June 16th, 2015, Nintendo released the official trailer for Super Mario Maker at the 2015 E3, which featured gameplay footage of custom levels created with the software.

Hackathon

Also in June 2015, Nintendo partnered with Facebook for a Super Mario Maker hackathon event, in which 150 Facebook employees created custom levels using the video game software. On July 31st, the GameSpot YouTube channel uploaded gameplay footage of the winning level titled "Love Ship" (shown below).

Release

On September 10th, 2015, Super Mario Maker was released in Japan, followed by North America and Europe the next day.

Super Smash Bros. Level Editor

On September 14th, 2015, Nintendo released a video showcasing a Super Mario Maker-themed stage for Super Smash Bros., announcing that the stage would be available at the end of the month (shown below).

Online Presence

On June 10th, 2014, the /r/MarioMaker^[1] subreddit was launched for discussions about the video game. On December 28th, YouTuber THE rohail uploaded a live-action parody of the game titled "Mario Maker in Real Life," accumulating upwards of 1.8 million views and 130 comments in nine months (shown below, left). On September 11th, 2015, YouTuber DanTDM uploaded a video in which he plays Super Mario Maker with Nintendo video game designers Shingeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka (shown below, right). Within four days, the video gained over 1.2 million views and 5,200 comments.

The same day, The Game Theorists YouTube channel uploaded a video explaining the history of the game, which cited Automatic Mario as the spiritual predecessor to Super Mario Maker (shown below, left). Also September 11th, YouTuber DashieGames uploaded footage of himself playing various Super Mario Maker levels downloaded from the game's "Course World" system (shown below, left).

Nintendo Direct

On May 15, 2019 Nintendo released a Direct on their official YouTube channel focusing on Super Mario Maker 2 and its features(shown below). The video went on to receive over a million views within the span of a day.

Reception

Following its release, Super Mario Maker received was well received by players and critics alike. Within one week, the game held a Metacritic^[2] rating of 89/100. In the E3 2015 Game Critics Awards, Super Mario Maker received awards for "Best Family/Social Game," "Best Platformer" and "Best Wii U Game." At the 2015 Gamescom conference, the game received awards for "Best Console Game Nintendo Wii" and "Best Social/Casual/Online Game."

Search Interest

External References