Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS
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Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS Media
Critic Reviews for Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS
The core idea behind Super Mario Maker is the ability to create, play, and share your creation, but the 3DS drops the ball on the last part of that credo. It’s worth noting that designing stages is as easy at it is convenient on the portable 3DS, but not having a larger platform to showcase unique creations will left me wondering what the point is. It’s still an excellent way to play a bottomless pit of classic-style 2D Mario, though, and that makes it worth keeping in your pocket.
Nintendo's port of Super Mario Maker is a great distraction for those that missed out on the Wii U installment, but it is lacking when compared to the console iteration.
Some of the best 2D Mario levels in years, but the lack of online options means the construction aspect is unnecessarily limited.
Mario Maker 3DS is missing some core features from its Wii U counterpart, but it absolutely works as a portable Mario creation suite
Super Mario Maker for 3DS comes pretty close to being a perfect portable adaptation of an incredible Wii U game. It certainly works a lot better than previous ports had led me to expect! That said, the absence of one of the original game's most important elements truly diminishes this conversion. The new format and new pre-baked content go a long way toward making up for the loss... but while this version is worth owning for the 100 (!) new levels alone, it's still not the definitive Super Mario Maker.
On the other hand, the 100 included levels from Nintendo aren't to be missed if you want some of the best Super Mario Bros. levels released to date; they just aren't worth the $40 price tag alone. Super Mario Maker for 3DS isn't a bad game or even a bad creation tool, but without its online heart continuously pumping life into it, it feels more like a useless skeleton, and nobody likes skeletons. NOBODY.
Worth picking up for fans of Mario games, but there are too many jarring limitations that I really hope Nintendo see fit to address.