E3 2014: Even a Creation-Inept Person Can Make Fun Levels in Mario Maker

People tell horror stories about my created levels. Those pour souls who ventured through one of my Little Big Planet levels still have the mental scars to prove it, and I would advise you to stay far away from my Sound Shapes transgressions. At one point, I spent an entire business day constructing an Animal Farm facsimile in Blast Works and, well, the results weren't pretty. There's a reason I write about games instead of developing them. So now that all of my flaws (all of them!) are on the table, it's time that I told you about the half hour I spent with Mario Maker. Will the fat plumber be able to survive after I'm through with him?

The answer is a resounding yes. It's so incredibly easy to craft a level in Mario Maker that even I, a person who couldn't even slap together an obstacle-free stage in a 2D fighter, was able to make a reasonably fun level, all in less than 10 minutes. I'm sure you don't believe me; I wouldn't either if I wasn't there. But that's the truth. Mario Maker makes the arduous task of designing a stage into something that's so straightforward, and so entertaining, that I enjoyed my little time with the game almost as much as anything else I've seen at this show. Now I finally understand why people spend so much time creating their own virtual worlds.

Part of the reason Mario Maker captured my attention is how basic it is, at least in its early state. An empty world stretched before me, something that would normally make me quake with fear. Trying to create from scratch is one of my nightmares. Well, trying to create from scratch while naked, to be exact. But in Mario Maker, there's only a handful of different items to play around with. You've got your blocks, some coins, a couple enemies, a jumping pad, and a warp pipe. After decades of playing Mario games, I felt like I could whip together an approximation of something fun with just a couple objects. And you know what? I could. Platformers don't need tons of different obstacles to be good; it's the placement that's important.

So I cobbled together something pretty snappy. Put a gaggle of goombas as the beginning to get my feet wet, and built a staircase of blocks above them. Then I put a jumping pad before a warp pipe (complete with piranha plant), and a trail of coins leading me along the safest route. I removed the ground in a pinch and stuck a couple of moving platforms up above, and put a trio of hammer brothers before the flag to provide that extra dose of urgency. It doesn't sound that special, believe me I know, but it worked really well. My platforms were far enough apart to demand precise jumping, and my enemies were plentiful enough to make me plan each leap. In fact, I even died once, though that's between you and me. The stage was something I could be proud of, and that was my first attempt playing the game.

Also, that meager object count can be expanded with a couple of flicks of your stylus. Grabbing a koopa troopa and shaking him around makes him angry and, as we all know, an angry koopa troopa is a red koopa troopa. And as you place him back in his place, he squirms and sweats with anger. That's a charming touch that makes the act of creation all the more enjoyable. Tapping platform blocks expands them in a pinch, and you can elongate the warp pipe with a quick tug. There are even wings if you want your enemies to be more vertical. Just affix a pair of wings to a goomba and watch those little guys go airborne. It's so simple even I could do it!

My one wish? A sound editor. The interface is so similar to Mario Paint, and there's even a little dog in the corner (that brings back memories) and a fly to swat. Now it only needs a midi editor to let you design your own tracks. Other than that, this is shaping up to be one rad game. Yes, there will be some pre-made levels to get you started, and I'm sure they'll integrate community sharing (though it's not a feature now), but the main appeal is making your own Mario stages. And if I can do it, you can too.

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