I got this on launch, but I never got super deep into the game's community. No indictment on the game by any means, just not something I spent a lot of time on myself. Normally I make a point to only cover stuff I've completed one way or another, and that's not really possible for this game. But since online's been shuttered, I suppose there's no harm in giving some quick thoughts.
I think it is so cool that Super Mario Maker exists. A 30-year anniversary celebration of Super Mario Bros. (down to coming out right around the original Japanese release date: Friday the 13th in September), placing the power of game design in the players' hands. True, things like Lunar Magic had existed in an unofficial capacity for years, and especially these days there's way more you can do with ASM. But Mario Maker is a GREAT tool for general access. Taking its cues from Mario Paint, the UI is perhaps initially intimidating but quite easy to navigate once you settle in and start poking around.
Being able to switch between game styles is suuuuper cool. I definitely wish the different games (Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, New Super Mario Bros. U) all retained their own physics, instead of just reusing the New Soup physics - a subtle thing, but you notice it when comparing to the source material. But I get why you'd want all of Mario Maker to feel the same, and New Soup is a solid enough physics engine. Besides, the real fun of each style is seeing all the hallmark elements of each game, as well as seeing reinterpretations of game elements across games. It must've been a fun challenge, for example, to reinterpret the Ghost House and Doomship level archetypes for the games that didn't originally have them.
The main thing I've always loved was the crossover stuff with Costume Mario. Like, okay, cute idea, getting in all the Mario characters as alternate costumes. Amiibo support was the REAL treat, meaning that all the other characters in Smash Bros. got to have some fun. Including third-party characters! Playing as Sonic in a Mario platformer was a little mind-bending. But then they just kept going! I don't claim to understand why Shaun the Sheep or Hello Kitty are here, but I'm not inclined to complain. And even within Nintendo, the picks got enjoyably obscure. Ayumi Tachibana? A lady from the Japanese team in NES Volleyball? Friggin' Master Belch??? There's sort of this feeling like all these characters were invited to Mario's birthday party, it's great. Granted, I dunno why you'd invite Master Blech to a birthday party, but hey...
Like I said, I didn't spend a ton of time with the game, but I did make a small handful of levels. There were two I was pretty proud of. One was called "Buddy Beetle", and it was a SMB3-themed one where the player worked with a big ol' Buzzy Beetle to collaborate on puzzles and get to the end. The other was "Koopa Troopa's Walk", a SMW-themed one where a Koopa Troopa navigated a straight line at the top while a player navigated an obstacle course and tried to keep up. Both pretty simple high-concept ideas, but I had fun telling little stories through the level design.
...I guess they're lost now with everything else, huh? Still, for a good 8-9 years, an innumerable amount of people would've interfaced with them. I wonder who all played them, and what they got out of 'em? Were my levels part of peoples' rush to beat everything before the service shut down? I hope folks had fun.
I think it is so cool that Super Mario Maker exists. A 30-year anniversary celebration of Super Mario Bros. (down to coming out right around the original Japanese release date: Friday the 13th in September), placing the power of game design in the players' hands. True, things like Lunar Magic had existed in an unofficial capacity for years, and especially these days there's way more you can do with ASM. But Mario Maker is a GREAT tool for general access. Taking its cues from Mario Paint, the UI is perhaps initially intimidating but quite easy to navigate once you settle in and start poking around.
Being able to switch between game styles is suuuuper cool. I definitely wish the different games (Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, New Super Mario Bros. U) all retained their own physics, instead of just reusing the New Soup physics - a subtle thing, but you notice it when comparing to the source material. But I get why you'd want all of Mario Maker to feel the same, and New Soup is a solid enough physics engine. Besides, the real fun of each style is seeing all the hallmark elements of each game, as well as seeing reinterpretations of game elements across games. It must've been a fun challenge, for example, to reinterpret the Ghost House and Doomship level archetypes for the games that didn't originally have them.
The main thing I've always loved was the crossover stuff with Costume Mario. Like, okay, cute idea, getting in all the Mario characters as alternate costumes. Amiibo support was the REAL treat, meaning that all the other characters in Smash Bros. got to have some fun. Including third-party characters! Playing as Sonic in a Mario platformer was a little mind-bending. But then they just kept going! I don't claim to understand why Shaun the Sheep or Hello Kitty are here, but I'm not inclined to complain. And even within Nintendo, the picks got enjoyably obscure. Ayumi Tachibana? A lady from the Japanese team in NES Volleyball? Friggin' Master Belch??? There's sort of this feeling like all these characters were invited to Mario's birthday party, it's great. Granted, I dunno why you'd invite Master Blech to a birthday party, but hey...
Like I said, I didn't spend a ton of time with the game, but I did make a small handful of levels. There were two I was pretty proud of. One was called "Buddy Beetle", and it was a SMB3-themed one where the player worked with a big ol' Buzzy Beetle to collaborate on puzzles and get to the end. The other was "Koopa Troopa's Walk", a SMW-themed one where a Koopa Troopa navigated a straight line at the top while a player navigated an obstacle course and tried to keep up. Both pretty simple high-concept ideas, but I had fun telling little stories through the level design.
...I guess they're lost now with everything else, huh? Still, for a good 8-9 years, an innumerable amount of people would've interfaced with them. I wonder who all played them, and what they got out of 'em? Were my levels part of peoples' rush to beat everything before the service shut down? I hope folks had fun.