Welcome back to Punished Notes, where I (occasionally) release all of my blandest and most anodyne takes on the world of video games. This week, we’ll be looking at some of my favorite user-created stages in Super Mario Maker 2, why I can’t get into a recent game everyone adores, and how I got emotional over a movie trailer after three seconds.
Super Mario Maker 2 is Heaven for Creatives
I put roughly 400 hours into the first Super Mario Maker after it released for the Wii U in 2015, so when a sequel was announced for the Switch earlier this year, I figured I would end up sinking in another few hundred into it. One concern popped up, though: What could Nintendo possibly add? Sure, the trailer unveiled a couple of new mechanics and the Super Mario 3D World level pack, but the game looked largely like a retread of the original, albeit with a few extra bells and whistles (plus a more thorough single-player mode). I’m already about 50 hours into Mario Maker 2, and not only has it been an absolute blast to play, but it’s also hosted (and is currently hosting) some of the most creative user-generated work in games right now.
The first Mario Maker had its share of clever level ideas, from the insane Kaizo-style gauntlets to fun homages to Zelda and Metroid designs, but the experience still mostly felt like people learning how to make wilder (and, largely, worse) versions of typical Mario levels. Instead of seeking to emulate the kinds of silky-smooth experiences found in Nintendo’s flagship franchise, users often tried to create either the silliest experiences or ramp up the difficulty to an alarming degree. While there was still plenty of room in between for well-designed stages and concepts, most of users’ creations in Super Mario Maker felt weird and gimmicky, as though the game were more of a box of loose Lego pieces than a true level creator. While those kinds of levels could still be a blast to play, it often felt like something was missing.
Such is not the case at all with Super Mario Maker 2, whose newest features are less like adding different kinds of toys to a toy chest and more like adding a much-needed hammer or sockwrench to a toolbox. It’s not just slopes and on-off switches; Super Mario Maker 2 includes so many new level packs and ways to utilize standard Mario elements to build levels that even the brightest minds at Nintendo might not have thought to make. Some of the stages I’ve played burst with wondrous creativity, with one presenting an in-game arcade with pinball and air hockey (8RT-X3V-YRF), another meant to appear like old footage from World War II (3K5-WMB-YGG), another depicting a day at the lake (F7H-Q42-QQF), a trip to McDonald’s (K4W-FG2-HFF), and even one that tasks the player with engaging in a strict “negotiation” with a goomba (GDV-LXK-8HG). What appear to be simple additions greatly expand the world of possibilities, as even giving the player more musical options and scrolling mechanics allows for different atmospheric outcomes.
I could go on and on about all the brilliant levels I’ve played, but I want to highlight one in particular: Asteroids are Attacking Atlas Alpha (QYB-Y3V-7RF).
This excellent stage manages to tell a compelling sci-fi mini-story without speaking a single word. Jumping from space platform to space platform while “asteroids” (falling square blocks) could knock you off course at any moment is exciting enough on its own, but the brief mini-stage — which involves fast-scrolling mechanics, fire, and explosions — deftly utilizes a wide array of new tools to construct an experience that actually lives up to the stage’s name. Very little of what I played in the original Mario Maker was as brilliant as Asteroids are Attacking Atlas Alpha, yet so often in Mario Maker 2 does an equally imaginative fan-made level pop up in courseworld.
Super Mario Maker was a super fun way to get people to try their hand at level creation, but the sequel actually sets the stage for truly brilliant creativity. On any given day, you can find a level that reinvents the wheel on the Mario formula, as the new title’s players clearly have a knack for something that players of the previous game didn’t. Now, I’ve just got another 350 hours to go…
Lightning Round!!!!!!!!!
-I’ve played a few hours of Outer Wilds, which is just as wondrous, enchanting, and intriguing as everyone says it is. For whatever reason, though, I just can’t bring myself to play much more of it. It’ll join the ranks of Majora’s Mask, Mass Effect 2, and Super Metroid as a game whose brilliance I admire even if I don’t feel compelled to finish it.
–Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is one of the few PS1-era games that holds up fairly well, as its visuals are artistically timeless and its gameplay is intuitive and highly responsive. I’m not sure I’ll ever finish this one either, but I’m glad I had the opportunity to see why it remains atop everyone’s lists of best PlayStation games, even if it didn’t end up on the PS Classic…
-On that note, the price of the PS Classic keeps dropping to hilariously low levels and the fact that I haven’t purchased one at this point means I probably never will.
-A handful of hours into a New Game+ of The Witcher 3, I’m still amazed at how marvelous and enchanting this game is in just about every regard. Nearly every second of it is a treat (except the game’s particularly punishing approach to fall damage).
-I’ve already written a bit on Cadence of Hyrule, but one more thing to add on why it works so well: Instead of taking non-Zelda mechanics and throwing some Hyrulean skins over it (à la Hyrule Warriors or Link’s Crossbow Training), the game seamlessly integrates its own unique mechanics into the skeleton of a standard Zelda adventure. It makes Zelda feel new without wandering too far from what fans of the series want.
–The Messenger’s latest (free) DLC, Picnic Panic, is fun and colorful, but it just feels like more of the same. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, I don’t feel too compelled to beat it.
-Even though I know I watched it as a child, I don’t remember much about Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood beyond the opening theme song and the old man’s love of model trains. That said, I had to hold back tears watching the trailer for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood with Tom Hanks as the red-sweatered children’s television giant himself. I’m going to be a wreck during this movie.
