Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS Reviews
Super Mario Maker 3DS is a fun game on this console that offers some really fun gameplay and more importantly, the ability to create your own 2D arcade worlds with an intuitive creation system. However the downside of this title is the lack of sharing your creations with other players from the around the world and if this was included in Super Mario Maker 3DS, it would have been a fantastic game on this console. It’s still a fun game but is missing that final piece of the gaming puzzle!
This is one scenario where Nintendo should have been generous, instead of making players work for everything. You can tell that it’s just not the playground it used to be, despite some options still being present.
Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS does tick the boxes when it comes to core solo play, serving up an assortment of Nintendo's own crafted creations and also a handful of compatible user-made courses. The tool maintains the Wii U's edition's flexibility and has a good majority of tiles to play with. However, where the game truly is lacking is in the online component - no course sharing and searching is a big oversight and does dampen the selling appeal of the 3DS edition, something that Nintendo should resolve.
Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS is in almost every way a better quality release to the already-superb Wii U game. A better introduction and tutorial, and the superb Super Mario Challenge mode show that there’s been significant work done to this version to improve it over the Wii U title. However, the inability to upload and share levels that you’ve created is unforgivable. It rips the soul of the original Mario Maker right out of the game, leaving a shell of a game that does very little to encourage you to make interesting courses
The local level creation is nice when it’s available, but that’s probably not going to be very often. The ''Maker'' part of the title seems less to matter. While I never made too many levels to begin with, having the possibility missing is something that can't be denied.
Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS is a great game, and possibly the best 2D Mario available on the system. The creative mentality seems to unlock the developers from holding true to past level designs, and allows creators to toy with the varied elements of a Mario level to really create something special.
Super Mario Maker for 3DS comes pretty close to being a perfect portable adaptation of an incredible Wii U game. It certainly works a lot better than previous ports had led me to expect! That said, the absence of one of the original game's most important elements truly diminishes this conversion. The new format and new pre-baked content go a long way toward making up for the loss... but while this version is worth owning for the 100 (!) new levels alone, it's still not the definitive Super Mario Maker.
Mario Maker is an excellent concept that, in my opinion, suffers from a few issues in execution on both platforms. For the Wii U, the way course elements unlocked felt like a drag, having to play the waiting game before you could play the game you actually wanted to. The way they’ve addressed this in the 3DS version is technically faster but feels like a complete slog just to unlock everything. Some features have been taken out when they could easily have been left in, and there are a lot of missed opportunities with what they did introduce. If you’re the kind of person that only owns a 3DS, and never plans to buy a Nintendo console (weirdo), then Mario Maker 3DS is still worth picking up just to experience the game. Otherwise, I’d recommend waiting for the inevitable Switch release, when Nintendo will no doubt take a second swing at making some improvements.
At the end of the day, Super Mario Maker 3DS excels at the level editing the Wii U game was known for. Sadly, that was only a fraction of the full Wii U package. While the game does boast to have a hundred built in levels, I feel like that they should have just taken those and repacked the game as New Super Mario Bros 3, as the sheer lack of online functionalities makes this game very hard to recommend. If you can still find a Wii U, or already have one and are debating on whether or not you should pick up this game, I would say just get it on Wii U.
Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS continues to delight with wacky and unexpected creations. It falters in not looking to foster an online community of its own but remains the perfect construction kit to live out your Mushroom Kingdom dreams.
Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS is a good game but has so many features missing that made it the hit on Wii U.
It is unfortunately hampered by its limitations on this platform. While its social elements are severely lacking, the act of playing, and most importantly, creating a level from your own mind is still really fun. If you find yourself not able to be creative, the 100 Mario Challenge and Super Mario Challenge provide the inspiration you’ll need to make fantastic levels and share them for the world to play.
Super Mario Maker 3DS isn’t definitive, but the exhilaration of making a Mario level wherever you are in the world is a pretty amazing thing, as is one of the best 2D Mario experiences in recent memory.
No one needs an online community when you can build Mario levels at the laundromat.
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The fact that players cannot share and play others' courses on the 3DS through a complete course browser is the single thing that holds this version back. With the Super Mario Challenge and the fluid mechanics intact, we still have a solid product in Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS.
The problem with Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS is that while it does everything it needs to be a fun title, it does still have a bigger and better older brother. It comes around as a sleeker model that offers much of the same experience but it, unfortunately, left the popular features of the older model behind.