Today’s special stream of announcements for Super Mario Maker 2 was both exciting and overwhelming. Clocking in at exactly 15 minutes, Nintendo did a stellar job at cramming in as much information about the upcoming title as humanly possible in the Direct. There’s a lot to cover here, but have a look at some of the highlights listed below:
MAKE MODE DETAILS:
- A myriad of new tools will be available for level creation.
- Slopes with customizable angles can be added to levels now.
- New enemies include the Angry Sun, Banzai Bills (homing Bullet Bills), Boom Booms, Piranha Creepers, Skipsqueaks, Pom Poms, Charvaargh, and more.
- Snake blocks have been added. These follow custom paths drawn with the touch screen.
- On/Off switches have been added which allow you to toggle various mechanisms.
- Moving seesaw platforms can now be added.
- New swinging claw mechanisms allow Mario to swing between platforms (among other uses).
- Sub-levels can now be set to scroll vertically.
- The scrolling function in created levels can now be stopped mid-level.
- Mario can use the new Dry Bones shell object to travel across lava.
- Big Coins can now be placed in created levels. These can be set to hold a value of 10, 30, or 50 coins.
- Various new sound effects have been added.
In addition to the new additions to the “Make” mode, a brand new “Story” mode has been added. In this mode, players will complete various custom courses created by Nintendo and earn coins for doing so. Amassing these coins are necessary for the purpose of rebuilding Peach’s destroyed castle. As the castle becomes more and more complete, new areas within it will become available. These new areas will unlock even more custom stages to play through and earn coins. There are over 100 expertly-crafted stages to traverse, all of them featuring original music from series veteran Koji Kondo.
There will also be noticeable and welcome changes made to the Course World Hub. A list of these can be found below:
COURSE SHARING DETAILS:
- All online functionality, including the sharing of stages, will require a Nintendo Online membership.
- Local co-op and online multiplayer has been added!
- Up to four local players, each with a Switch, can all play custom stages provided that at least one of them own the full game (the owner must host a session for the others).
- Online multiplayer will allow for both cooperative and versus-style gameplay.
- A versus rating will be assigned to each player based on how many wins/losses they have in versus mode.
- Search functions have been greatly improved upon and include a better tag system now.
- Commenting on custom courses has also been improved. Comments seem less cluttered.
- Each player will be assigned a Maker Profile with points assigned based on how well their custom content is received.
In addition to information about the game itself, Nintendo also made us privy to several promotions which begin today. For one of these deals, Switch owners can pick up a digital copy of Super Mario Maker 2 as well as a 12-month subscription to the Nintendo Online service for just $69.99. The service alone is normally priced at $19.99 for 12 months ($34.99 for family plans) and the base game’s MSRP is $59.99. Additionally, there is a special running right now where Switch owners can purchase a bundle with two digital title vouchers. Paying $99 for the pair of vouchers will allow you to redeem them on two regularly priced digital titles. These vouchers will remain usable for one year after the purchase date.
That was a lot of information to digest, but if you’d like to learn more about Super Mario Maker 2, please take a trip to the game’s official website. Alternatively, head to the official pre-order page to snag a copy before it comes out. The full game is set to launch on June 28, 2019 with a special tournament being hosted just 20 days earlier on the 8th.
