Super Mario Maker 3DS – Beginner’s Tips

After becoming one of the most popular games on the Wii U, Super Mario Maker is finally available on the 3DS. Here’s some Beginner’s Tips to get you started.

09-12-2016  -  by Thijs Kaagman

Super Mario Maker allows you to create your ultimate Super Mario level. You can add pretty much any element from any of the four ‘styles’ of Mario games (we’ll get to that later) or combine them for some creative challenges. Here’s some tips for when you’re building your very first level.

Play the tutorial

When you first start the game, Yamamura the pidgeon offers to give you some lessons in level-building. It’s tempting to ignore his advice, especially because the tutorial is quite lengthy and – quite frankly – a bit boring. In typical Nintendo fashion, it really takes you by the hand and lets you playtest every single element of the game before moving on. Thanks Yamamura, but I know how to stomp a Goomba, I’ve played Mario before.

Regardless,  I suggest struggling through it at least once. There’s some very valuable lessons hidden among the boring bits. There’s a lot of surprising ways to combine different elements and you probably wouldn’t know about these if it wasn’t for Yamamura’s tutorial.

Play the Super Mario Challenge

Super Mario Maker for 3DS comes with 100 levels created by Nintendo themselves. This is actually more than most Super Mario games come with, so if you’d only play these levels and not bother with the ‘Maker’ part of the title, you’d still get your money’s worth.

However, there’s also two good reason to play it if you are interested in creating your own levels. First of all, by completing the worlds you’ll unlock elements to use in your creations. Secondly, they provide some great inspiration. Nintendo used the very same tools you have at your disposal to create these levels and the result is some very wacky leveldesign you normally don’t see in Super Mario games. And why shouldn’t you learn from the master?

Get to know the versions

In Super Mario Maker, you can create levels in four different styles. Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World and New Super Mario Bros. U are all included in the game and game has its own visual style.

But it’s not just the visual aspect that changes between the different styles. Each game brings its own set of possibilities. For example, Super Mario World allows you to pick up object like shells and POW-blocks, while Mario can use wall-jump in the New Super Mario Bros. U style. Getting to know your options in each version will be essential in creating a challenging level.

Shake it up

Of course, by “shake it up” I mean you have to be creative with the different elements at your disposal. But I also mean it literally. It’s mentioned during the tutorial, but it’s very easy to miss: you can shake object before placing them to change their type or behaviour.

Shaking a green Koopa will turn it into a red one, for example. Or shake one of those moving platforms before placing it and it will turn into a platform that falls as soon as Mario steps on it. Try shaking all the different objects and elements to see all the options!

Think outside the box

Literally, think outside the box that is your screen. Vines, trampolines and moving platforms provide a lot of opportunities to move vertically instead of just designing your level from left to right.

Super Mario games also have a long history of objects and bonuses that are in hidden areas of the level. Either by timing your jumps perfectly to reach a platform that’s outside of the screen or by using Warp Pipes that bring Mario to secret areas. So think beyond the traditional left-to-right level design and use vertical design or secrets to surprise and challenge players.

So that’s it, this is what you need to create your very first Super Mario level. Are you interested in buying the game? You can order the game right here on Startselect and download it on your 3DS within minutes. Click to button below to check it out!