Super Mario Maker (Nintendo 3DS)

Super Mario Maker "Because Super Mario Maker 0.5... Aren't you excited to dive into this one?" - Nathaniel Bandy Protagonist(s): Mario Genre(s): Platform Platform(s): Nintendo 3DS Release: JP/HK/TW: December 1, 2016 NA/EU: December 2, 2016 AU: December 3, 2016 KOR: August 3, 2017 Developer(s): Nintendo EAD Publisher(s): Nintendo Country: Japan Series: Super Mario Successor: Super Mario Maker 2

Super Mario Maker is a platforming game developed and published on September 10, 2015 by Nintendo. It was initially released as a Wii U exclusive, then ported to the Nintendo 3DS on December 1, 2016.

This article will only cover the 3DS version.

Bad Qualities

1. You need Wi-Fi to play the user levels, while this is understandable, that means that you need to be at home or use mobile hotspot to play user generated levels (or maybe a hotel if the internet is somehow decent enough), which defeats the purpose of the 3DS' portability.
   • Despite the 3DS having this functionality, one of the strongest points is that you can only share your levels with friends locally, which also defeats the purpose of the game itself and its a completely stupid and disgraceful idea since in the Wii U version you could share it to the public and without any problems.
2. The game lags constantly, even when playing on the more powerful New 3DS/2DS SKUs, moving sluggishly even through the menus.
3. Designing the levels is more clunky than on the Wii U, mainly because the 3DS has a smaller screen even on XL SKUs.
4. 31 out of 100 premade levels are either remakes of levels from the original Super Mario Bros., or sample levels ripped directly from the Wii U version.
5. You can't search for levels, all that you have are some recommended ones or random levels from the 100 Mario Challenge.
6. You also can't record custom sound effects, or use Amiibo, despite the 3DS having a microphone and being compatible with Amiibo.
7. The Mystery Mushroom is still in the game's data as proven by a glitch (Which is thankfully now patched out). Hacking to game to enable cheat codes also reveals that the Mega Mushroom is in the game and fully functional, but it is unused. In other words, Nintendo basically limited this version on purpose.
8. False advertising: The cover art shows the New Super Mario Bros. U style and looks decent, yet in-game, it looks pretty unpleasant and somewhat pixelated, even for 3DS standards. Likely due to hardware limitations, yet New Super Mario Bros. 2, which came out four years before this game, had better graphics than this. Also in New Super Mario Bros. U, it had simply beautiful graphics, which makes it more embarrassing.
9. Due to the limitations of the 3DS, several features had to be removed.
   • You can't like or leave comments on levels, or even see comments from other users.
     • This also makes some levels that use comments to help the player or to tell a story to be broken.
   • It has no bookmark features.
10. The game's save data is stored on the 3DS system rather than the game card itself, which means that if you put the game card in a different 3DS, all your data won't be available on that different system.
    • To make it even worse, if you want to play the game on another console with the same cartridge, you must either erase your data permanently on the first 3DS, or do a full system transfer.
11. If the players defeat the final boss, it is just a cutscene where Peach thanks Mario and calls him a hero, and that's it, no lengthy cutscene unlike other New Super Mario Bros. games.

Good Qualities

1. The way to unlock parts is a lot better in this version, where you complete levels from the story mode instead of waiting.
2. Before the sequel came out (and later, completely finished adding all the content), this port was at least there for people who owned the 3DS, but not the Wii U. Therefore, it's still a very good game, despite this version being mediocre and unappealing.
3. Although thought in New Super Mario Bros. U looks unpleasant, the styles for Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario World still look good.
4. Since March 31, 2021, the level sharing feature from the Wii U version has been removed. Therefore, it's not that much of an issue that this version doesn't have these features anymore.

Reception

The 3DS port received mixed reviews from critics and gamers. It currently sits at 7.3 on Metacritic.

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