The highly anticipated follow up to the original Mario Maker game is finally coming to stores sometime in June, 2019. Mario Maker 2 features more improvements, tons of new items, power ups, and game selections. The best feature is that it is coming to the Nintendo Switch. The biggest problem about the original is that it was only for the Wii U. Let’s be honest, the only reason you would buy the Wii U is for Mario Maker.

 The first thing introduced in the trailer where slopes which wasn’t in the first game and are a highly anticipated feature. Slopes allow the player to slide down hill taking out enemies on the way. It also makes it much easier to traverse up hills providing a smoother experience to the player. Another thing I noticed is that the screen scrolling mechanic seemed smoother when falling down hills. One of the many problems with the old game was that when playing a fast paced level you might die from on off-screen spike. In the trailer, however, the screen stayed with Mario making it easier to see what is above or below you.

  When creating a level they have made it more user friendly and faster to place and find enemies blocks and more. The new inventory design features a circular panel instead of old Mario Maker’s horrid inventory paneling, which would bring up multiple items you didn’t even want to use. The new paneling shows your most recently used objects so if you are creating a level and are sticking to a visual theme it is easy to bring up the blocks you want to use.

  Another one of the things Nintendo went overboard with the new items and enemies. The first addition we get to see is a cloud sprite which pushes you up into the air a solid 7 blocks. A new power up the “Cat Suit” has been added which was a common power up in Mario 3D Land. Along with the power up comes a new theme which is like a 2.5d area. Also it seems that Nintendo has added mini bosses into the newest and now you can make big Bullet Bills. Mario Maker 2 also shows off the Angry Sun which was introduced in Super Mario Brothers 3. There are way more features to discuss in the trailer but these are the best ones.

  Personally, I am most hyped for the on and off switches. These switches allow certain blocks to either appear or disappear whether the switch is pushed on or off. What makes these so cool is that these aren’t in any of the original games in fact they got introduced when people in the Mario community started making Rom Hacks for Super Mario World. I think it is cool that Nintendo is paying attention to its community.

  Over all I think that there are so many new features in this upcoming game that people won’t know what to do with them. It is hard to make a new good level when there is some much  new content to work with. Level creators might just stick to the old tricks and ideas until people find new mechanics. I’m hyped for the new game and can’t wait to buy it. If you want to see the trailer of the game click here.