Mario Maker’s creation tools span 30 years of Nintendo art styles

By Adam Rosenberg December 6, 2014

Fans got a new look at Mario Maker, Nintendo’s Mushroom Kingdom-infused LittleBigPlanet competitor, in a new trailer that debuted during 2014’s Game Awards.

The Wii U exclusive isn’t so much a single game as it is a suite of creation tools aimed at letting Mario fans dream (or nightmare) up their own hellish platforming puzzles. The trailer skips the nitty-gritty creation process in favor of a more general look at what someone fully versed in Mario Maker‘s tools might be able to create.

Coin-spewing cannons and Lakitus, question mark blocks that conceal Piranha Plants, and giant Goombas that split like amoebae when jumped on. And all of it is moldable, as the trailer reveals, using the art assets of Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U.

Mario Maker is expected to arrive for Wii U sometime in the first half of 2015.

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Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

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