A fan has just finished a colossal project inside Super Mario Maker 2 – spending seven years (across both Mario Maker games) creating an entire Mario game, which they’ve dubbed Super Mario Bros. 5.
On Twitter (below), Metroid Mike 64 wrote, “I’ve finally finished creating my Super World in Mario Maker 2 and have unofficially named it Super Mario Bros 5. I’ve been working towards this moment since 2015, trying to create a classic Mario game that plays as if Nintendo created it themselves.”
I’ve finally finished creating my Super World in Mario Maker 2 and have unofficially named it Super Mario Bros 5. I’ve been working towards this moment since 2015, trying to create a classic Mario game that plays as if Nintendo created it themselves. pic.twitter.com/eUNvHQysVq
— Metroid Mike 64 (@MetroidMike64) September 25, 2022
If those dates don’t quite add up for you, it’s because Metroid Mike 64 says he’s been planning to do this since the first Mario Maker game arrived in 2015. When the sequel came out for Switch, he says he studied his creations and “painstakingly imported them block-for-block” from the first game to the second.
The key was the addition of the World Maker update for Mario Maker 2, allowing players to stitch multiple levels together into full games, with proper World Maps. Metroid Mike 64 used it to bring together 40 courses spread across 8 worlds, separated into three styles – “24 courses from Super Mario World, 14 from SMB3 and 2 courses from SMB.”
The unofficial Super Mario Bros. 5 is a love letter to the NES and SNES era of Mario games, and includes some of their hallmarks with new touches: the 7 Koopalings are end-of-world bosses, there are branching world maps, puzzle courses are included, and more. The gameplay is described as “classic Mario”, without the troll levels or highly difficult skill challenges that dominate a lot of Mario Maker’s user catalog.
Ultimately, Metroid Mike 64 says he’s been trying “provide you with something Nintendo should’ve done already, make a full Mario game within Super Mario Maker 2, that’s fun as heck!” You can play through his work by typing in the Mario Maker 2 ID, 0G9-XN4-FNF.
Unique course design like this airship course that’s made to look like a tank. This is Wendy’s Battletank of Doom. pic.twitter.com/lYQPKBaLNY
— Metroid Mike 64 (@MetroidMike64) September 25, 2022
The response has been incredibly positive, with Metroid Mike 64’s announcement garnering almost 4,000 retweets and more than 25,000 likes at time of writing. on Twitter, Klein Felt wrote, “Played through a bunch of it yesterday and am blown away. This is the classic Mario sequel you have been waiting for.” Benzuko said, “The attention to detail and satisfying risk/reward gameplay is brilliant. Fire it up and get involved.”
Many have pointed out the oddity of a fan having to take the creation of a new 2D Mario game into their own hands. The last new, mainline 2D Mario game came in 2012 with New Super Mario Bros. U, and while 2019’s Mario Maker 2 did have an excellent Story Mode, it was built more to showcase the flexibility of the tools than to provide a new, classic Mario game. The Switch has seen New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, but we’ve yet to hear word of a brand new 2D Mario from Nintendo itself.
This is, of course, testament to how flexible and impressive Mario Maker 2 is – which is why we were awarded it a 9.5/10 review, calling it “the most accessible game design tool ever created,” and saying “it’s astonishing how incredibly well it’s all held together in one cohesive package.”
Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.