Let's Make a Mario!

Super Mario Maker's finally out, and it's wonderful. Sure, a lot of fan made stages are "flag pole immediately next to the start" junk or stuff that's absolutely ridiculously hard, but there's lots of good stuff out there, and there's plenty of Nintendo-made courses to play! If you're makin' Marios, how about sharing some of your stages? Unfortunately you need to use kind of a clunky code system instead of being able to search by user name, tags, or stage name or anything like that. Making progress, Nintendo, but you're still kind of weird about this whole internet thing. 

Here are my first stages. I haven't unlocked most of the stage maker elements yet, so they're pretty minimalist! If you've got a Wii U, give them a shot and post your own stage IDs. Let's stomp on everything! 

Donkey Konga (2004, GameCube) - Donkey Ain't Funky

The GameCube was a weird time for Nintendo. Existing franchises were taken in unexpected directions, from a Luigi-centered ghost busting game launching with the system instead of a Mario Bros platformer to Metroid's graceful transition to first-person shooting to The Legend of Zelda's cartoony visual reinvention with The Wind Waker. Star Fox turned into a crappy Zelda knockoff with Star Fox Adventures,the only Kirby game released was a racing game, and after the successful Donkey Kong Country trilogy on SNES and Donkey Kong 64, Nintendo decided the system's Donkey Kong title should be a bongo-based rhythm game.

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse (Wii U, 2015) - The Goodness of Gluttony

Nintendo's puffy marshmallow hero Kirby alternates between two types of games: Traditional platformers, like the Kirby's Dreamland series, Kirby's Adventure, and Return to Dreamland, and experimental spinoffs like Kirby's Dream Course, Kirby Mass Attack, and one of my personal favorites, Kirby's Canvas Curse. Canvas Curse, released on the DS in 2005, is one of the many Kirby spinoffs that turn the hero into a rolling ball. In this one, players guide his course using the touchscreen. Ten years later (an amount of time that feels staggering now; Canvas Curse doesn't feel like it was that long ago), Nintendo has released a sequel on the Wii U that offers more of the same, but when that content's this good there's nothing wrong with that.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (2014, Wii U) - High Dededefiniton Fighting

With the fourth incarnation of their Super Smash Bros. party fighting series, Nintendo decided to release both a console and handheld version. The 3DS version, released October 3rd, is a decent but barren game with pretty terrible online play and, depending on your comfort with the 3DS itself, awkward controls. The Wii U version, released November 21st, takes everything good about the 3DS game and makes it better. Graphics, sound, and control options are obviously improved, but there's also far more content for both single and multiplayer fights and an online system that, while still lacking, is much more stable. This is the definitive version of the game.

Click here for more Smash Bros. U screen shots.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (2014, 3DS) - Dedede Still the Best, Online Play Still the Worst

I can still remember picking up a copy of the original version of Super Smash Bros. when it launched on the Nintendo 64 way back in 1999. I was in high school at the time and this was before I really followed gaming news or online reviews, so all I knew about the game was that it was an unconventional fighting game that took characters from a variety of Nintendo titles and tossed them into a four player arena. I didn't know who was in it, what it would play like, or whether I'd even like it, but it would end up being my most played game on the system. I was hooked on this series from year one.

Earthbound (1994, SNES) - Fear and Loathing in Eagleland

I've played more than my fair share of turn-based, Japanese RPGs over the years. I've even spent years making my own games in the same style. Yet for some reason, I'd never put any real time into Earthbound, a cult classic 1994 RPG published by Nintendo and developed by Ape and Hal Laboratories under the direction and writing of Shigesato Itoi, with programming and production by future Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. It's a game that's earned a dedicated following, with everything from thriving fan sites to an in-depth study of its localization to oppositional readings. After years of fan demand, Nintendo of America re-released it on the Wii U in 2013, and I finally had my chance to give it at a fair shot. I'm glad I did; Earthbound is a stylish, imperfect game that stands out as a sort of precursor to the writing style of the modern indie game movement.

Click here for a complete gallery of screenshots taken during my play through of this game on the Wii U.