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Southwest Airlines made the first Super Mario Maker level with the sky pop costume

It’s not quite a trend yet, but Super Mario Maker may soon become the game that triggers a new wave of sponsor-created content in video games: Southwest Airlines announced Wednesday that it has created a level for Super Mario Maker introducing an all-new item, Mario’s “sky pop” costume from Super Mario Land.

The level, called “Southwest Sky Adventure,” includes a mystery mushroom that grants Mario access to the Game Boy-palette plane. Players who find the costume and complete the level will be able to incorporate it into their own Mario Maker levels.

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The prize, however, does not completely deliver on its promise. In Super Mario Land, the sky pop costume allowed Mario to fly and fired a gun. The Super Mario Maker version does not seem add either ability, so don’t expect to see a wave of flying levels popping up in your 100-Mario challenge. Mario can honk the plane’s horn, though.

Southwest is not the first company to make its own promotional level for Super Mario Maker. Last month Mercedes-Benz released “Mercedes-Benz Jump’n’Drive,” an event course where Mario races through a Mercedes-Benz dealership and the Autobahn, according to Nintendo. Like the Southwest level, Mercedes-Benz’ “event course” included a collectible power-up that put Mario behind the wheel of Mercedes-Benz GLA.

Though the GLA had been featured in Mario Kart 8 as free downloadable content, the decision to release new content from a classic Mario game, Super Mario Land, in conjunction with a corporate sponsor feels like an escalation, and could signal that more and deeper corporate tie-ins are in store for Super Mario Maker, Nintendo, and across gaming’s user-generated content space.

Super Mario Maker‘s “Southwest Sky Adventure” level is currently available to play in the game’s “event courses” section.

Mike Epstein
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Michael is a New York-based tech and culture reporter, and a graduate of Northwestwern University’s Medill School of…
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