Wii U: Big Update Coming For ‘Super Mario Maker’

Nintendo just announced some updates for the latest Super Mario Bros. title available on the Wii U, Super Mario Maker.

On November 7, just shy of two months after Super Mario Maker was released for the Wii U, Nintendo is ready to answer some of the demands of the most vocal Super Mario Bros. enthusiasts. Super Mario Maker is a game-changer already, finally giving gamers the ability to create and share their own Super Mario levels for different versions of the legendary series, including Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U.

But any franchise with a following as broad and as intense as that of Super Mario Bros. will always fall short of perfection in the eyes of the consumer. Proving that they value the input of their customers, Nintendo announced a five-point update that will be available to download for Super Mario Maker next Wednesday. While Nintendo’s official Super Mario Maker update announcement only mentioned four updates, Gamnesia provided a break-down with all fiveSuper Mario Maker updates. Those updates include:

• Mid-Level Checkpoints — Users have the freedom to make their levels as difficult and tedious as they please. A major source of frustration for the Super Mario Bros. fans is that no matter how close you get to beating your friends’ levels, you have to start at the very beginning of the level every time Mario dies. The update will allow users to place checkpoint flags throughout their levels. Now, if Mario dies any point after reaching a checkpoint, the Italian plumber will respawn at that checkpoint rather than the beginning of the level.
• Dynamic Power Ups — One inconsistency between the gameplay of Super Mario Bros. for the original Nintendo Entertainment System and the playable version on Super Mario Maker has to do with the power up hierarchy. On the original game, the power up available to Mario was different if he were small Mario (he’d find a mushroom to become big) than if he were already large Mario (in which case he’d find a flower). When creating these levels on Super Mario Maker, however, you are required to choose from a mushroom or a flower. With the update, the variable power up option is now available.
• Event Courses — After the November update, Nintendo will start featuring courses created by third party collaborators. The cross-promotional marketing opportunities for this Wii U game will now be endless.
• Official Makers — In case gamers feel like the Super Mario levels their friends have created are a bit too amateurish, levels will be made available that have been specifically selected by (and some even created by) Nintendo and the team behind Super Mario Maker.
• Gnat Attack — Since the inclusion of Gnat Attack (a call-back to Nintendo 64’s Mario Paint) was meant to be something of a surprise, Nintendo didn’t mention the update coming to that hidden gem. Now the Easter Egg of a game is even more challenging.

Looking for some spooky #SuperMarioMaker levels to get you psyched for Halloween? Try these! pic.twitter.com/vvtUWlzpUo

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) October 27, 2015

It’s not like Super Mario Maker isn’t already incredibly popular. It took less than two weeks for the legions of Super Mario fans to surpass the one million mark in terms of levels that had been uploaded. To date, more than 3.3 million user-created levels are available to play on the Wii U. With these updates providing the opportunity for newly laid out course designs, Nintendo can expect that number to shoot up again after November 4.

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And as the holiday shopping season approaches, there’s no doubt that even more Mario fanatics will get their chance to own Super Mario Maker. The “Super Mario Maker Deluxe Set Wii U bundle” is now available. The manufacturer’s suggested retails price is $299.99. Being touted as “family fun” at an “unbeatable value,” expect a lot of Millennial gamer parents to try to connect with their children through Super Mario level creation.

Check Nintendo’s official homepage for additional Super Mario Maker updates and announcements related to all of the Wii U Super Mario titles.

[Image via Twitter]