The month of October marks the return of Making It Rainfall, oprainfall’s ongoing Super Mario Maker 2 inspired series. Since I personally love Halloween and everything it entails, I decided that me and my cohorts would focus all our levels on spooky things. Specifically, ghosts this time. So there’s a lot of Boos in these levels, but also a good number of other creative ideas. This week we’re also joined by my talented cousin Sam, who kindly volunteered some stages of his own. Meaning this Making It Rainfall has 8 levels instead of the usual 6! So join me first in checking out the offerings from our own Michael Fontanini.
Font’s Levels
Level 1 – Luigi’s Nightmare
Course ID – BNN-N92-6RF
Luigi is having a terrible nightmare involving a spooky deserted tower! He has no choice but to push on, though. Oh how he wishes he had his poltergust with him! Inside the creepy tower, he sees terrifying images of skeletons and ghouls, as well as skeletonized versions of characters he knows, such as Dry Bones Bowser. The others you’ll have to discover for yourself at the top. Along the way, Luigi can discover two hidden 50 coins and a few 1-Ups as well.
Font always has really elaborate and complex levels, and this one is no exception. I especially enjoyed the use of visual and sound effects to make the stage creepy, such as the haunting red and black face portrayed above. Most of Luigi’s Nightmare is pure black and white, only interspersed with frantic flashes of color. The two towers are very tall, and though not that challenging to scale, it does a good job of keeping things claustrophobic and unsettling. Definitely a fun spooky jaunt.
Level 2 – Peach’s Royal Crypt
Course ID – 62D-SHD-7HG
Mario must find the entrance to the royal crypt and enter it. Skeletons are running amok and a few have escaped the crypt! There are also three hidden 50 coins in this level, along with a few 1-Ups of course. The crypt area would’ve been longer, but I ran into the block limit for the stone blocks. That actually ended up being a good thing though, since you can’t have check points and clear goals at the same time anyway.
Whereas Luigi’s Nightmare was mostly vertical, Peach’s Royal Crypt gives you more room to run around. Which is good, since you’ll need to find and kill a bunch of Dry Bones to leave the Crypt. Though I like the creativity of this stage, I kind of preferred the last one a bit. That said, there’s plenty to enjoy here, and it’s definitely more challenging, since a stray hit from a Dry Bone will make you unable to kill them.
Josh’s Levels
Level 3 – Spooky Treasure Hunt
Course ID – 7P1-2C0-FTF
Avoid the Boos and find enough treasure to escape. The brave will collect it all!
As hard as I try, I can’t seem to stop myself from making obstacle courses in Making It Rainfall. And I try pretty damned hard. Thankfully, I think this one turned out pretty well. It’s a linear stage, but the challenge is surviving with enough coins to win. There’s lots of Boos to mess you up, and several sections where you’ll be hopping repeatedly on Donut Blocks to avoid rings of Boos. But it’s still not all that challenging of a stage, so long as you don’t do anything crazy like trying to collect all the loot. I made sure you can beat the stage without having all of it, though you’re welcome to be a perfectionist.
Level 4 – Peek a Boo!
Course ID – D1G-QTR-LPF
Find the red coins, avoid the Boos and beat Jr. to escape!
So in this stage we have traded collecting a ton of yellow coins for a few red coins. That said, I’m proud of this stage. It’s more of a puzzle than an obstacle course, and I spent lots of time tweaking it to make it fair. It’s still linear, but less hardcore platforming is required. Though you will have to get past Bowser Jr. and find all the red coins to exit the stage. And watch out for the dangerous duo right at the end…
Ken’s Levels
Level 5 – Ghosts in the way
Course ID – QDR-M62-2FF
Mario just wants to jump some platforms, but the ghosts get in the way.
One of the biggest reasons I appreciate Ken’s levels is that they remind me that mine aren’t the most challenging. Both Ken and I try very tricky and experimental things, and this stage is a great example. It’s a very short, very linear stage, and it’s one I almost wasn’t able to beat. That’s cause it consists of small platforms, lots of Boos and not much else. It’s almost Lost Levels style hard. If you fall, it’s to your death, so gauge those jumps accurately. It’s really challenging, but also super satisfying when you win!
Level 6 – Face of Fear to the Outer Limits
Course ID – V0B-XD2-60H
Parade of spooky faces may scare Mario & wig out Luigi. More than one way to exit.
While I had my difficulties with Ken’s first Making It Rainfall level this week, I really like this one. Face of Fear to the Outer Limits (which I imagine is a nod to the long running series) is like a demonic parade of spooky faces. And while there aren’t many Boos per se, the end of the level makes up for it with a bunch of skeletal fish! I admit I only did one route for Face of Fear, since I couldn’t figure out how to access the other one, but either way it’s a lot of fun.
Sam’s Levels
Level 7 – Spooky Boo Mansion
Course ID – NRF-RN3-50H
Explore 4 floors of the mansion, get the key and get outta there!
This level is a bit of a haunted elevator ride, with multiple floors and tricky traps to keep you guessing. Each floor will require some puzzle solving to progress farther upwards. You can even fall to your death if you’re not careful, or maybe you’ll lose to the fight against the giant winged Boo. Either way, a fun and clever stage, with lots of nasty ghosts!
Level 8 – Boo Chase
Course ID – VX2-R3D-SKF
Grab that Moon!
In many ways, I feel like this level perfectly exemplifies the spirit of this Making It Rainfall. Because the essence of a ghost is horror from something unkillable. So making a stage based around killing a ghost is oddly brilliant. The stage starts off slow, with Mario running around and avoiding Boos. Then you have some tricky platforming and things get insane when you find a Clown Car. Suffice to say, you’re not the only one with a Clown Car, and you have to quickly grab an elusive Moon to escape. It’s a really clever level, and I’m glad we could include it in this week’s article.
Thanks for joining us here at oprainfall for our largest Making It Rainfall in recent memory! And be sure to tune in later this month for even more Halloween themed Super Mario Maker 2 levels.
