Man vs. Mario Maker 2: The Superball, Arby's, and World 1-1 is Burning
On this week's Man vs. Mario Maker, we bring you eight new courses full of delight and despair.
This article first appeared on USgamer, a partner publication of VG247. Some content, such as this article, has been migrated to VG247 for posterity after USgamer's closure - but it has not been edited or further vetted by the VG247 team.
Another week passes by, as the Super Mario Maker 2 community tests my patience with new levels. Like the first entry of Man vs. Mario Maker, we have a round-up of various courses that pique the interest of our team here at USG. We try to make sure that these complications have something for everyone: hard levels, easy levels, runners, themed courses, and more.
We've included brief descriptions of each course, alongside a video of me playing through nearly every course. We hope you enjoy playing them, and if you see any courses that strike your fancy, let me know in the comments below and they may appear in next week's Man vs. Mario Maker.
Rocket Base Galaxy
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Let's start out with something that's not too hard, not too easy. Rocket Base Galaxy uses a style and theme combination that I don't see that often in Super Mario Maker 2 courses: the Super Mario Bros. Airship at Night. The opening half is pretty easy, while the second requires a bit more skill to pass, with a series of saws and see-saws. It's not too bad, but maybe watch the kiddies and be ready to give them a hand.
The Arby's Level
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Yes, that Arby's. This is a level created by the social media-savvy fast food chain to promote its assortment of meats while providing a bit of a challenge. There's one trollish bit toward the end of the level, but the hardest part is probably the run of flaming Cheep-Cheeps just prior to that. I'm just surprised that Arby's made an entire level.
SM64 - Peach's Castle (V6)
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As I said, we try to offer a nice mix of different levels. This homage to Peach's Castle in Super Mario 64 is actually a puzzle level, requiring you to pick up keys in different rooms. I was stymied a little bit for a solution, but like always, the answer is I was thinking too hard. Put your mind to the test and find a way out!
Super Castlevania Bros
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This is the second themed level this week, pulling roughly from Konami's Castlevania series. The course is more about vibe than actually taking Castlevania gameplay ideas. The latter part of the course is built for the Propeller suit, and you will have to climb the stairs to face off against Mario's rival, just like many of the Castlevania titles. It's a solid medium difficulty level.
Switching Speed (Hard)
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As the name suggests, this is one of the harder levels. Switching Speed is all about pure execution, hitting all of the On/Off Switch while running and jumping. You're also facing off against a fairly tight timer, meaning there's no time to stop and think about what you're doing. Don't stop; get it, get it!
True Friendship
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Moving on from the difficulty of Switching Speed, we're doing something far lighter and less stressful. True Friendship has Mario and a Red Koopa Troopa working their way through a course together. You only move forward when your red-shelled friend does. This is a very cute course—a nice respite from most of the painfully trollish Mario Maker levels.
Mario Land Superball Shooter
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Another feature in Super Mario Maker 2 that's not used in a lot of courses is the Superball Flower. A throwback to Super Mario Land, the Superball is a Fire Flower that bounces around levels. Here you have to use it to destroy POW blocks. It sounds easy, but there's a bit of coordination and timing required to complete the level. But it's very fun, and I hope to see more Superball levels in the future.
1-1, But With a Twist
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Creator YTSunnys offers a new spin on Super Mario Bros.' World 1-1, offering a literal walk through the fire and flames. With a clear rate of just 0.02%, this is the hardest course we have in the round-up this week. As such, only a smaller portion of the course is within our compilation, but you can see the creator run through the entire thing in the tweet above. I'm feeling a twinge in my heart just looking at it.