Slight Changes, but Big Consequences in Mario Maker 3DS

Slight Changes, but Big Consequences in Mario Maker 3DS

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Mario Maker on the Wii U was a huge hit, thanks to wonderful level creation tools, the Mario Challenges, and the ability to play the levels of other players from around the world. The question must be asked, however: without the ability to play the levels of others via the internet, will Mario Maker on the 3DS be as successful as its Wii U counterpart?

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It’s a Port

Mario Maker was not built from the ground up for the Nintendo 3DS, and if you are familiar with the Wii U version, you will be very familiar with the 3DS version as well. There are minor and major changes, however. There are many new Mario Challenge levels only for the Nintendo 3DS, the way you unlock new creation tools is also different, and no ability to upload your levels online for others to play.

Instead of unlocking new tools as you play through the level creation mode, the 3DS title actually makes tool unlocking much more difficult and time consuming, which in my opinion is a detraction from the original Wii U release. This time around, players will have to navigate through the various worlds Nintendo has preloaded into the game to get new creation tools. While I see why this was done – to get people to play more of the title – it seems a bit much, especially for less experienced Super Mario players.

Some Sharing Features, But Not Enough?

When it comes to the 3DS, Nintendo has been very careful about the privacy of those playing, and has severely limited interactions between players over the internet. For the 3DS version of Mario Maker, there will be no ability to upload courses to the internet for others to play, or the ability to download levels created by others, even a friend who lives across the country.

You will be able to share levels locally between two systems, or via street pass, so all sharing functionality is not gone. If you want to co-create a level with a friend locally, the game should allow you to do that. Since we only had one copy at the time of this review, we cannot verify how well this works.

Other Missing Features

The Nintendo 3DS can support amiibo, but apparently – as of today at least – this version of Mario Maker will not support amiibo, and therefore, the Mystery Mushroom that would turn Mario into a variety of characters based on compatible amiibo will not be available in this version.

As well, those wishing to bring Wii U levels into the 3DS game won’t be able to transfer levels that incorporate the Mystery Mushroom. Nintendo will be curating a list of the best Wii U levels available, but sadly the Mystery Mushroom levels are out. Some of the best levels on the Wii U incorporate that Mystery Mushroom; as a purely cosmetic feature of a level, I wish Nintendo could find a way to mass patch that out. This decision to limit amiibo compatibility is a head scratcher, and hopefully it is something that can be patched in after launch.

Still a Wonderful Title

We will copy our review of the Wii U version below, as outside the changes list above, the game is much the same in terms of content. Even without the online functionality, this title will still have some legs. I spent more than enough time with the Wii U version having friends locally play my levels, and I will do much of the same again.

Unfortunately, the lack of online will make this an instant turn off for many Nintendo fans, and the very long term play-ability of this title is definitely in question. But for a few months? I think it will grab peoples attention and end up being a worthwhile purchase. Although we scored the original release a 9.5/10, we give this 3DS port a 7.5, only because of the lack of online functionality.

Our Review of Mario Maker on Wii U 9.5/10

After a slow summer, Nintendo’s big releases for 2015 are starting to land. First up is Super Mario Maker on the Wii U, the game every Mario fan has wanted since Super Mario Bros. came out oh so long ago. However, does the thought of building your own levels live up to preconceived notion we have all had in our heads for year? Yes, yes it does.

The title for Super Mario Maker is fairly self explanatory. You make things. However, you get to make things like never before, doing things never done before in a 2D platforming Mario title. Lets back up for a second, and talk about the story.

Wait, there is no story, and that is not a problem. This game is all about building evil, nasty, and downright insane levels. At least, that’s what the game is all about if you are evil, nasty, and downright insane. But you are not limited to that. You could make a level filled with coins, a level that requires players to maneuver through a maze, or even a level that involves math problems!

Math problems? Yuck! But it is true. The creation options in Super Mario Maker are almost endless. The game does hold your hand early on to keep first time makers anxiety to a minimum. Each day that you play (up to Day 9), a new truckload of parts comes. So on Day 1, you are limited to a few platforms, basic enemies like Goombas and Koopas, and your typical Mario mushroom, among other things. Prior to the release, I thought this was ridiculous way to introduce new building elements. I was wrong. Initially, I was worried that my play time for Day 1 would be minimal, because I had minimal parts to work with. However, I created level after level using just the basic building pieces. Before I knew it, I had clocked almost six hours into Mario Maker, using less than 10 building items.

This is truly were Super Mario Maker shines. Even in the earliest stages of the game, I notice people were creating some outstanding levels. These levels did not need Bowser, lava, fireballs, or anything else. With just the basic elements, I was finding hours of play time going through level after level. Fortunately, players are not limited to just Day 1 pieces, as each day produces new items to experiment with. At each day, however, you never really feel like you are missing out on something you have yet to unlock.

There is also things to do outside the creation tools, and outside playing random levels from other players. Super Mario Maker also includes a challenge mode: the 10 Mario Challenge and the 100 Mario Challenge. In 10 Mario Challenge, players receive 10 lives to complete 8 levels created by the game’s developers. These levels can take 30 seconds, or a few minutes. Some levels require precise jumping, while others are just merely puzzles. For example, here are a set of doors, which one do you need to go through to ultimately finish the level? In 100 Mario Challenge players are given 100 lives to beat 16 user created levels. The difficulty on these challenges definitely ranges. I beat 10 Mario Challenge without losing a life, and I’ve only made it to level 5 before losing all my lives. The same can happen with 100 Mario Challenge.

There is so much to do in Super Mario Maker, and so many interesting things to discover. This review has not even touched on amiibo functionality, and for good reason. When you finally get a hold of the game, experiment. Try putting random things inside a Bullet Bill canon! Try shacking various items that you have unlocked to see what will happen. And definitely try creating a Blastoise by placing a canon on the back of Bowser. These are all possibilities, and there is still plenty more. This game is all about experimentation, something I won’t ruin for you here. All I can do is recommend that you pick up Super Mario Maker when it launches on September 11th, We are not giving this a 9.5 for no reason!