Nintendo does Sonic a solid and puts him in a bona fide classic

Poor Sonic the Hedgehog doesn't have the reputation he had back when he was competing with Nintendo's moustachioed plumber, Mario. The two mascots pushed each other to great new heights in the '90s, giving us some of the best 2D platformer games ever made. Then the revolution of 3D graphics occurred, and Sonic never quite got his footing the way Mario did. Now, Sonic is being given a second chance - and it's all thanks to his longtime rival.

Mario Maker will allow players to create their own Super Mario Bros. courses, and those who have the Sonic amiibo can blaze through those DIY levels as the heroic blue hedgehog. Simply place the amiibo onto the GamePad and a mushroom, which transforms Mario into that amiibo character, can be dropped into the level. So if you were to, say, change the mushroom in a faithful version of World 1-1, Sonic would become part of the original Super Mario Bros. - unquestionably a classic work, now given a new twist.

Mario Maker will support more than 70 amiibo total, including both classic characters like Pit from Kid Icarus and newer ones like the Inklings from Splatoon. But it's Sonic and Mario that have always held the closest of rivalries, and it's Sonic's appearance in the style of a 2D classic that feels the most significant. After all, if you feel like Sega hasn't given you the 2D Sonic game you crave, Nintendo (kind of) lets you make it yourself.

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