Super Mario Bros. Wonder was an unfiltered banger. From its visual style to the barrage of new ideas found in almost every level, it was everything we wanted after a few too many New Super Mario Bros. But I’m convinced the series peaked with Super Mario Maker 2 in 2019, and for me, that's the bar to clear as Nintendo walks into the Switch 2 era.
Mind you, we could argue the second Mario Maker was (and continues to be) limited by the ‘building blocks’ it borrowed from everything before it, along with Nintendo’s tight grip on what players can and cannot create with the vast array of tools included in the package.
Whereas creative-sandbox games such as Little Big Planet 2 became unrecognizable if the right person got their hands on them, Super Mario Maker 2 is ‘more Mario’ even at its best and most surprising. That’s not a bad thing though.
A delicate balance
Super Mario Maker 2 review: "has an unbelievable capacity to totally satisfy you whatever you're looking to get out of it."
The genius of Super Mario Maker 2 is that it’s the perfect amount of flexible. Some of the player-made Super Mario Maker 2 level codes out there are absolutely bananas, and you can come across truly random and personal experiments, but Nintendo, widely known to stay on top of what happens with its properties to the point of shooting down non-profit fan projects, was intelligent when it came to establishing a set of guard rails.
A fresh (back in the day) series like Little Big Planet could be allowed to be as playful as possible because, well, that was its identity; there was no Little Big Planet without the players. For a franchise as firmly established as Super Mario, especially in its 2D form that’s retained a profoundly traditional style of retro platforming for decades, embracing such a player-driven model wasn’t an easy switch.
Mario fangames and ROM hacks already existed long before even the first Mario Maker arrived. Create something influential enough and the most dedicated players will aspire to become developers inside that sandbox. The golden era of dev-backed modding on PC is now treated as ancient history outside of exceptions such as Valve’s games. As for getting user-made content on consoles, Bethesda’s own platform might be the one console-centric push worth celebrating. Because of all this and more, seeing Nintendo put out not just one but two fantastic Mario-themed sandboxes was shocking to say the least.
Sickos taking over
Innovation must come from the games themselves, and it turns out that players can help with that...
I’m happy Super Mario Bros. Wonder came and gave us renewed hope for the future of 2D Mario. At the same time, however, I’m fairly sure Super Mario Maker 2 directly influenced Wonder’s design (and it seems this take is widespread).
Back in 2023, the developers admitted a brand-new generation of side-scrolling Mario adventures needed to borrow elements even from the 3D series, so it’s not a reach to theorize much of Wonder’s DNA comes from the finest user-made levels and worlds uploaded to Mario Maker 2’s servers.
Mikey Mike’s Super Mario Bros. 5 is the perfect example of how utterly incredible the god tier of Super Mario Maker 2’s creations can be thanks to the ambitious post-launch World Maker update. Drawing inspiration from all of Mario’s 2D history and even the most famous fangames and ROM hacks around, this user painstakingly created a fifth ‘classic Super Mario’ adventure that mixed past and present design philosophies.
The complete experience swings wildly between being the 2D Mario time forgot and taking the formula to new, more chaotic heights thanks to the power of the editor’s tools.
Saving these levels and worlds to your list of favorite creations is like amassing a high-quality library of Nintendo-endorsed, professional-feeling fangames. It rocks, and feels like the most un-Nintendo thing ever, like an anomaly in the company’s usual plans to roll out inventive but market-tested new instalments.
For a very brief moment in time, 2D Mario was ‘officially’ refreshed and kept alive by fans, and the IP was all the richer for it. Despite Wonder being nearly perfect and keeping the unpredictable creative spark alive, I couldn’t help but feel that we’d left something big and meaningful behind when Mario Maker 2 faded into the background.
Could other Nintendo IPs receive the same treatment?
That all sounds overly dramatic, given that Super Mario Maker 2’s servers are still online (and likely will be for a long time). I don’t want Nintendo and the fandom to downsize its importance though.
It shouldn’t be treated like ‘that one spinoff for the diehards’ and a skippable entry. It’s much more than that, and the presence of an actual story mode and full-blown online capabilities backs me up. After all the support was done, it became the most complete Super Mario package ever and far more than a playground filled with silly little levels.
It rocks, and feels like the most un-Nintendo thing ever...
Super Mario Maker 2 also ended up among the best-selling Switch games in spite of the central premise being targeted at folks who had burned through all of the official Mario games. Its depth didn’t put the overall accessibility at risk, and that translated into a win for both players who wanted a deeper connection with the developers and casual gamers looking for a new Mario game to pick up.
After looking at all the data and returning to Mario Maker 2 in 2025, I started to wonder whether this winning formula could make other hit Nintendo games shine under a new light. I’m now dreaming of Metroid Maker, Kirby Maker, and Donkey Kong Maker. Those are lazy provisional titles, Nintendo. I don’t care. Just make them happen, please.
With Nintendo Switch 2’s arrival finally around the corner and the entertainment giant choosing to iterate and not reinvent the wheel with its hardware, innovation must come from the games themselves, and it turns out that players can help with that when they’re entrusted with the right tools and supervised in a healthy and collaborative way. As the developers usher in a new future, communities are perfectly capable of protecting and rephrasing the past.
Here are all the upcoming Switch 2 games we currently know of, from Super Mario World to Donkey Kong Bananza
