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Super Mario Maker oozes charm - I said as much in my review back in September. It seems some of that charm is leaking out of the game and into the real world, thanks to a new series of webcomics Nintendo created called Super Mario Maker: Crash Course. This series of six comics are meant to instruct players on the secrets of good game design. They also feature an angry, expert level-creating pigeon named Yamamura, and it'll probably be the best thing you'll read all day.
Mary O. and Yamamura, two characters who are prominently featured throughout Super Mario Maker's interactive, in-game instruction manual, are the stars here. Mary's created a new level, and she's excited to show it off to Yamamura - you can even play it yourself, thanks to the code included in the comic.
He scolds her amateurish design, pointing out that the off-screen enemies ambushing the player from all sides may make for a challenging level, but doesn't necessarily make it fun. He then gives Mary (and us) a little homework: to design a level with a limited toolset while keeping the ground firmly in sight.
What will happen in the next episode of Super Mario Maker: Crash Course? Will Mary learn from her mistakes? Or will Yamamura's palpable disappointment remain until the very end? You'll have to read on to find out.
