Bookmans Recommends: Super Mario Maker

By Alex Dittrich, Bookmans Grant Electronics Department

Super Mario Maker on the Wii U is no stranger to the spotlight. It has a slew of Youtubers playing fiendishly difficult levels, a song made from noteblocks and enemies, and is ranked second on Metacritic’s 25 Best Wii U games. It’s no wonder that so many players love it. Nintendo puts the developer tools in the gamer’s hands to allow your creativity explode!

Each day, so long as you play a few minutes in the creator mode, you unlock more components of Mario levels throughout the years, from NES to Wii U. Out of the gate, you only have what the first Mario Bros. offers, forcing you to switch up your normal train of thought. After about a week or so, you have enough items and features to create incredible courses that tests other players’ abilities and often their patience.

All levels uploaded to the online database must be beaten before they’re allowed to be shared. Still, some courses push even the coolest of cats to a point of such irritation that the sound of their gritting teeth is almost indistinguishable from the pattern of sounds they locked into trying to clear the level in one go. I normally reserve that type of comment for a bad game, but this is pure bliss.

For kids, teens and parents, this is a fantastic family game. For the adult gamer, this is schadenfreude to the fiftieth power. Your friends will question themselves physically, mentally and spiritually as they try for the thirtieth time to clear the goal in under one minute or try to clear the lava pit with seemingly no way around those invisible blocks. Don’t worry, clearing a course is cause for a celebration. You feel like Ground Control landing Rosetta’s Phailae probe on the Churyumov–Gerasimenko comet. Every. Time.

Super Mario Maker is a must have for any Wii U owner. Pick it up either in-store or online through Nintendo’s E-Shop on the system!

* Bookmans is your store to explore. We hope you will come and browse our video game selection, but if you are looking for Super Mario Maker or another specific title, please give us a call. We’ll check our orange shelves for you.