Fortunately, there’s a dojo for learning level design within the game, which is led by a pigeon for some reason. At the very least, Mario Maker 2 will leave you with a profound appreciation for the in-house design team at Nintendo, as you’ll discover that making a legitimately well-designed level is even more challenging than beating one. Whatever your method, creation is a joy for all, even the least creative among us. After a long day at work, I daresay I prefer it to handheld creation. Despite the slightly slower pace, familiarising myself with the various shortcuts quickly dispelled any concerns I had about clunky creation. Making levels in docked mode isn’t quite as efficient as it is in on the touchscreen, but it feels great with a pro controller. That said – and this is apparently a controversial opinion – this is Mario Maker 2’s greatest achievement. With the Switch’s docked mode taking the touchscreen out of the equation, I couldn’t imagine how Nintendo could possibly make level creation intuitive on a controller. The original Mario Maker took full advantage of the Wii U’s hardware, with level creation taking place on the tablet’s touchscreen and level testing on the TV. Like many others, I was sceptical about designing levels on the Switch.

It’s difficult to think of anything the first game did better, and that’s a telling sign of a stellar sequel. It’s borderline impossible to list all the improvements here, but additions like sloped terrain for smoother travel, vertical sub-levels, new contraptions like the ‘on/off switch’, and an all-new style in Super Mario 3D World are stand-out evolutions. Starting with the ‘better’, Mario Maker 2 is a superior expansion of the first game in every way. Chock-full of charm, splendour, and the gratifying pride of making fun for others, Mario Maker 2 has Nintendo written all over it… for better or worse. It’s a brilliant experience that turns game development into a game itself, allowing players to tinker with elements, styles, and themes from just about every mainline 2D Mario game since the NES’ original Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Maker 2 is a meta delight that’s all about creating, sharing, and playing Mario levels for all to enjoy.

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