Nintendo's E3 2014 Digital Event also brought us the announcement of Mario Maker, a game which allows players to create and play their own custom Mario courses with either 8-bit or New Super Mario Bros. graphics. While the first comment I noticed about it on Twitter was negative (something like "yeah, that'd be fun...for five minutes), I think the game is a solid idea. When I was first saw the trailer unfold, my first thought was how much fun Youtube gamers might be able to have with it. On a more personal level, I was more drawn to the game given it's ties to Mario Paint.
Mario Paint for the SNES was one of my favorite ways to pass the time as a kid. I spent many Friday nights staying up far too late trying to make the perfect four frame animation, master the Gnat Attack mini-game, and creating absolutely chaotic cacophonies with cats and Yoshis in the music generator. I even remember dragging the game and it's peripherals around with me to family outings, and I'm pretty sure I was still toying around with it well into the Playstation and Nintendo 64 era. Some of Mario Maker's interface, icons, and sound effects appear to be Mario Paint throwbacks, and that definitely got my attention. The fly swatter even turns up at one point. The fly swatter!
Now, I'm not going to claim that this makes Mario Maker some kind of amazing must-have. It does look like a good time however. Sometimes that's all you need. With the added bonus of some strong nostalgic nods thrown in, I'm sure the game will go a long way. I'll be more than willing to give it a shot upon its release in 2015.
I'll leave you with the trailer:
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I don’t have a Wii U but I enjoyed seeing this, too. If there’s some kind of UGC upload and share space for people to post their creations for others to play, just like Little Big Planet has on PS3, then I think it’s got great potential. If you’re restricted to playing just your own levels, it’ll be less fun.
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