Slopes!! —
Super Mario Maker 2 news dump: Finally, Mario gets an online-versus mode
Nintendo Direct presentation spells out tons of new features coming to the series.
Sam Machkovech - May 15, 2019 11:41 pm UTC
with 39 posters participating, including story author
Yes, you can stack Goombas, or any characters, in Super Mario Maker 2. And more. Much, much more.
A first for any Super Mario game: online play. This expands upon the local-multiplayer insanity of the New Super Mario Bros. series.
And, gosh, don't Toad and Toadette look cute in their junior-sized SMB3 forms? (They look different in each of the game's five skins.)
Every versus match begins with players bouncing around a line-marked starting barrier. Once a timer counts down, you can run freely through the thing and race for the goal.
SMM2 will include a first for a Nintendo Switch game: its local multiplayer content will only work if one of its users is a) connected to the Internet and b) a paying Nintendo Switch Online subscriber. That's a bad look for a cool new mode, Nintendo.
This level-sorting interface definitely resembles the stuff of the original release.
Network play, eh?
Pick a few filters before searching for a random course made by another SMM2 fan.
We hope there'll be a few more tags available for custom-level searches by the time the game launches.
When you beat an uploaded level, you can tag it in Miiverse-like fashion with a comment. New to this sequel: Level creators can choose whether or not players need to have reached that point in a level to see comment indicators.
Unsurprisingly, Nintendo has included a series of family-friendly stickers for the level comment feature.
However, this screenshot seems to imply that custom-drawn images will be supported. The video presentation didn't clarify exactly how players will be able to draw and upload custom comments.
Should users really like the levels you upload, you'll earn more "maker points."
Since the game has a variety of in-game currencies, including "versus points," it's not exactly clear how you'll buy new outfits for your in-game avatar. But Nintendo has packed some cool ones in here, and it sounds like none of them can be paid for with real-world money.
I'm a huge fan of this Bullet Bill-themed skirt, which replaces human legs with a burst of flame.
No look is complete without a personality trait, right?
A few familiar-looking hat options.
A starting screen before diving into any "Network Play" mode.
Nintendo's optional SMM2 bundle makes one thing about the game very clear: the full enjoyment of its create-and-share potential requires a paid NSO subscription.
You can also now get any two Nintendo-published Switch games via the eShop for $100. Considering how rarely Nintendo's first-party games drop below $50, this might be a decent way to save a few bucks... but, then again, you have to pay for an NSO subscription to even access this offer.
The single-player mode begins with a visit to Peach's famed castle...
...before it's blown to bits.
How exactly do we rebuild it?
By completing side-scrolling levels, of course.
Each level you beat, which was designed by Nintendo staffers, pays out coins exclusive to this mode.
Which option do I pick...?
Errand boards hint at having to complete special objectives in existing levels for more coins.
With only six weeks to go before launch, Super Mario Maker 2's new and updated features have mostly emerged thanks to tiny teases. That changed on Wednesday with a whopper of a Nintendo news video that revealed, among other things, the series' first-ever online-versus mode—and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the series' first online-subscription requirement for some of its content.
The game will launch on June 28 at a standard $60 retail price, though Nintendo will also sell Super Mario Maker 2 as a $70 bundle with a 12-month Nintendo Switch Online subscription code. If you're already a paying NSO member, that code will stack on top of however many months you've already purchased (currently $4/mo or $20 for a 12-month subscription).
That bundle will hit store shelves for good reason, as Nintendo will gate much of the original Wii U game's content behind a paid-online requirement—including the ability to upload custom-made levels and to search for and download other users' creations. Should you wish to play a slew of custom levels offline, SMM2 will support offline play for any levels you've already downloaded to your Switch. As of press time, Nintendo did not clarify whether the game will require any routine online check-in to access those downloaded levels after, say, being offline for over a week or canceling a NSO membership.
That bad news is washed down to some extent by the surprise announcement of versus and co-op modes, which Nintendo once declared would never work online in the Super Mario series. Up to four players can either compete or team up to tackle whatever objective is attached to a given SMM2 level, whether it's as simple as reaching the goal first or additionally racking up custom requirements, like coin pick-ups or 1-UP mushrooms. Both modes include a New Super Mario Bros.-esque physics system, which means each of the four players can shove or bounce off other players.
These modes will also work via local networking... with a bizarre catch. One of the Switch systems in local versus or co-op play must be connected to the Internet and confirm NSO credentials. At a bandwidth-starved gaming or comic convention, this could put a real damper on the seamless local-multi fun we're accustomed to from Nintendo. (No other Nintendo Switch game currently requires such an online check-in for local-multiplayer modes.)
As was teased in the game's original reveal, slope control is pretty granular this time around. So, yes, Mario and friends can finally slide on their tushies.
Gentle or severe slopes—your choice.
Put enemies in blocks!
Many of the game's enemies and items can be combined. You've made super-sized versions of enemies in the original game, but now you can do things like slap foes into floating Lakitu clouds...
...or turn walking enemies into Bullet Bill operators.
Super Mario Bros. 3's angry sun is here to pester players.
The short, animating, and moving "snake blocks" from Mario games of yore is back, and it's a welcome addition to a build-your-own-level bonanza like Super Mario Maker.
On-off switches should lead to some clever level-design moments. Here, players must be mindful of a bouncing, red shell constantly turning this switch on and off.
And here, players must manually toggle the on-off switch to make sure the bouncing enemy reaches the key coin below.
Physics-based seesaws! Finally.
Grab onto a swinging claw to propel yourself forward...
...or build a rig so that enemies launch at Mario with them.
Pick both the lowest and highest levels of water in a level, then mark the speed at which the water level fluctuates.
That fluctuating water level can also be applied to poisonous water and pools of lava.
Nintendo, we call it "auto-scrolling." But sure. We're glad to see the classic series feature finally come to SMM2.
What's more, you can direct both the angle of the scrolling and the speed at any time. Start slow, go faster. Or vice versa. Or change the speed up dozens of times. However you roll.
Want to build a vertical auto-scroll? By all means.
If you want to build some classic rooms that have defined scrolling boundaries, that's now available. The next screen clarifies how this works in action.
A room like this, which was a staple of SMB1 and SMB3, wouldn't work in the original Super Mario Maker. Now, you can enjoy more granular camera control and not reveal other parts of a custom stage.
Set custom directions for super-sized Bullet Bill foes. Or turn them red and they'll automatically home in on Mario's position.
A Dry Bones Shell can now work as a mode of transportation. It's immune to all fire effects, and it lets Mario temporarily transform into an invincible bundle of bones in a pinch.
Want to put a whopping 10, 30, or 50 coins in a tucked-away bit of a level? Now you can.
Want to spice up your custom levels with requirements beyond simply reaching the goal post? Now you can add that.
Nintendo showed a variety of weird, custom win conditions.
The Twister, introduced in SMB3.
Falling icicles.
Lots of stuff enjoys sloping powers now, including conveyor belts.
Get Yoshi into the fire-breathing spirit by putting a red Yoshi into your levels by default. (This seems imperative for the shown level, which has a "kill 25 Blurps" requirement.)
Put a parachute on anything.
Put a Boom-Boom in any level.
Want to turn any level from day to night? Now you can. And if players successfully touch a floating moon, you'll automatically stagger all on-screen enemies.
It's not just aesthetic.
Every level type reacts differently to nighttime mode. Here's an example of the entire screen flipping upside down.
Here, Goombas transform from slowly marching baddies to hovering baddies. You could probably pester players by building a huge wave of these floating jerks.
The spotlight effect from Super Mario World can be toggled by setting the Ghost House skin to night mode.
Turn the normal water of a forest level to deadly, poisonous water by turning day to night.
And the snow skin's slippy floors become even more slippy when the moon is out.
A breeze pushes players when the desert skin is set to nighttime.
Gravity becomes moon-like when the sky skin is set to night.
It's easy to slap nighttime effects onto any skin in the level editor.
What's this? Super Mario 3D World as an option? Yep. This is new to Super Mario Maker 2, and it opens up a huge new variety of objects and enemies.
Super Mario 3D World level options, as seen in the sequel's new radial-wheel selector interface.
More Super Mario 3D World options, including the high-speed, fire-breathing Meowser.
More Super Mario 3D World options.
The Cat Mario suit is exclusive to Super Mario 3D World levels, and it enables, among other things, wall-climbing and diagonal-diving.
Nice 3D effect on that climb.
Mario and enemies alike can warp through Super Mario 3D World's clear pipes.
What you can't see in this image: Mario and friends can pick up and throw Super Mario 3D World's crates. That little bit of Mario physics could very well drive some clever custom levels.
Super Mario 3D World's spiked blocks, seen here with an on-off switch toggle for funsies.
You've seen blinking blocks in many 3D Mario games. These are on a set timer (which you can customize as a level builder) and have different colored blocks become solid or clear in alternating fashion.
Another example of how blinking blocks can play out. Get your timing right with these jumps!
I can't wait to see full levels designed around the Koopa Troopa car, which I don't recall ever seeing in a 2D Mario game before. (Unless you count the car-transformations in Yoshi's Island, anyway.)
Vroom.
In addition to looking cool...
...Charvaargh can also be aimed to leap through three-dimensional space.
So many star-throwing Pom Poms.
Super Mario 3D World's Banzai Bills can also be aimed to move through 3D space.
I'm looking forward to seeing what kinds of devilish levels await the final challengers in this E3-timed contest.
In very good news, the level-building possibilities in SMM2 soundly surpass the stuff of the 2015 Wii U original. The above gallery catalogs the bounty of updated features. It includes basic building blocks like slopes, animated "snake" platforms, and on-off switches; level-altering tweaks like auto-scrolling world movements, varying water levels (which can also be applied to lava and poison pools), and physics-altering "nighttime" modes; and a surprise Super Mario 3D World palette, which adds so many game-altering options that it cannot simply be applied as a re-skin to retro Mario levels.
For players who abhor online play (and enjoyed the 3DS version's utter lack of online options), Nintendo will ship a campaign mode with more than 100 levels designed by Nintendo staffers. These are joined by a range of familiar and brand-new melodies, including a few new songs composed by series legend Koji Kondo.
We'll get to see more about Super Mario Maker 2 soon enough: on June 8. That's when Nintendo will host an "invitational" competition at that week's E3 conference. Nintendo didn't announce any public way to take part in this contest; instead, its players will be "invited" as per Nintendo's discretion. But based on the competitors at its E3-timed competitions last year, we expect some of the world's best platformers and speedrunners will take part in this contest, as well.
Super Mario Maker 2: a 15-minute explainer.
Listing image by Nintendo
Sam Machkovech Sam has written about the combined worlds of arts and tech since his first syndicated column launched in 1996. He can regularly be found losing quarters at Add-A-Ball in Seattle, WA.
Email sam.machkovech@arstechnica.com // Twitter @samred