Wed, Jan 11, 2017
The Super Mario Maker idea of the year election is over and we have a winner. The best three ideas will get their own small video starting today with the Monty Moles. In this video we will not only take a look on five more amazing Super m Mario Maker tips tricks and ideas featuring Monty Mole Tanks, but we will find out how the huge success at the Mushroom Kingdom Championship changed the life of the starting mole.
Wed, Jan 18, 2017
It's not possible to ever forbid jumping in Super Mario Maker by default. But sometimes it would be great to create a puzzle stage where Mario isn't able to jump, or a small adventure level in the style of Captain Toad Treasure Tracker. Luckily it's not impossible to create such epic stages. We just need to use some cool Super Mario Maker tips and tricks and ideas. In this video we will take a HD look on five hilarious ideas on how to create don't jump, or Captain Toad Treasure Tracker levels in Super Mario Maker.
Wed, Jan 25, 2017
It's finally time to take a closer look at the Super Mario Maker idea of the year winning idea, the Hydra-dra. But is the Hydra-dra really the only terrifying ancient being in the Mushroom Kingdom? Or could it be that there are a lot more mythological creatures living in the Super Mario Maker universe? And if there are, what can be done with them? Is it possible to create a Medusa in Super Mario Maker, or a Mecha-Bowzilla inspired boss fight against a Minotaur? We will find it out, in these five tips tricks and ideas in Super Mario Maker.
Thu, Jan 26, 2017
When people see Kirby, they see a small pink ball, adorable and innocent. A gaming character created for young children. A lightweight, no one needs to fear, no one except enemies, who steal his food. But sometimes our senses fail us. And we are not able to see the truth. Because Kirby isn't innocent and adorable, in fact he is merciless and unpredictable. Kirby isn't just simply a small pink ball, he is one of the most dangerous fighting machines in gaming history. And he is clearly no lightweight, no, Kirby is Nintendo's pink Chuck Norris. But it took Kirby a long time to evolve from a simple ball to one of the most famous action heroes. It was a long path from Kirby's Dreamworld to Super Smash Brothers. This is the story of how Kirby got the strength to win all the difficult fights in his life: The story of Kirby.
Thu, Feb 2, 2017
The Super Mario games have been played by millions of people since Super Mario Bros. That's mainly thanks to brilliant level and game design. In this video we will take a closer look on one of these game design aspects in one of the more recent Super Mario games. We will take a closer look on how New Super Mario Bros. U handles difficulty and the difficult problem on how to design a game for a wide audience.
Wed, Feb 8, 2017
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is about to be released. But while there weren't many official Nintendo Zelda games in the last years, there are tons of cool little Zelda levels made by the Super Mario Maker community. In this video we will take a look on a couple of tips, tricks and ideas on how to create Zelda themed levels in Super Mario Maker, and we will force Link to solve some tricky puzzles.
Wed, Feb 15, 2017
Super Mario 3D World is a game filled with excellent game design. It's a game rich in variety and filled with tons of creative ideas. One thing I always found interesting about Super Mario 3D world is how the game design encourages exploration, and how much fun it is to explore every single area in these Super Mario levels and to hunt for all the collectibles hidden there. But why is this so? Why is it so much fun to discover and search for secrets in every stage? How are these secrets designed. Is there a hidden formula behind their design, and why do players start to search for secrets in Super Mario 3D World in the first place? In this video we try to deconstruct the game design of this Mario game, and hopefully find answers to these questions.
Thu, Feb 23, 2017
Super Mario Maker allows us to create epic and dangerous Mario levels. In most Mario Maker levels our plumber has to dodge bad things, and to avoid all the horrible creatures of the Mushroom Kingdom. And while Mario masters this challenges most of the time, it doesn't make him especially happy. And that's a shame because Super Mario Maker contains all the tools to create amazing reward rooms and wonderful relaxing areas for Mario to explore as well. So today we are going to take a look on different tips, tricks and ideas in Super Mario Maker for reward rooms.
Sat, Mar 4, 2017
Captain Toad Treasure Tracker is a fascinating game. It's basically a Super Mario game with a twist. While the Super Mario games rely heavily on Mario's impressive jumping skills, Captain Toad Treasure Tracker needs to be built in a different way, as Toad's backpack is so heavy that he isn't able to jump. Instead of fighting Toad solves small puzzles and instead of jumping Toad just moves the camera. The game is all about limitations. But is it possible to create an epic boss fight in a game that has no fighting? The game designers of Captain Toad Treasure Tracker were able to pull this off and created the amazing Draggadon fight. In this video we will deconstruct how this epic boss fight works, completely without jumping.
Fri, Mar 10, 2017
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is an amazing game. Exploring Hyrule has never been more interesting and rewarding than in this Zelda game. There are tons of clever game design decisions hidden in this game, but one thing that isn't that obvious at first glance is why it's important that your weapons break so fast in Breath of the Wild. In this video we are going to take a closer look at why the decision was made that weapons are destroyable during the making of the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Sun, Mar 19, 2017
Koopas are Super Mario Maker enemies which are often overlooked and that's a shame. Koopas aren't boring standard enemies. In fact they are Bowser's favorite Super Mario Maker enemy type. They are majestic, they are dangerous, they are perfection. People often think that Koopas are as boring as Goombas, but these people are wrong. In this video we will take a look on unique tips, tricks and ideas in Super Mario Maker with Koopas, and hopefully convince you that Koopas are amazing, and Goombas are lame.
Sun, Mar 19, 2017
Goombas are Super Mario Maker enemies which are often overlooked and that's a shame. Goombas aren't boring standard enemies. In fact they are Bowser's favorite Super Mario Maker enemy type. They are majestic, they are dangerous, they are perfection. People often think that Goombas are as boring as Koopas, but these people are wrong. In this video we will take a look on unique tips, tricks and ideas in Super Mario Maker with Goombas, and hopefully convince you that Goombas are amazing, and Koopas are lame.
Tue, Mar 28, 2017
Ground tiles are probably the single most used Super Mario Maker item. While they aren't as fancy as Goombas, Koopas or Bowser at first glance they are crucial for most Super Mario Maker levels. Without them most Super Mario Maker stages would lack a ceiling, walls and a floor. So today we are going to take a look on different tips, tricks and ideas with ground tiles in Super Mario Maker.
Tue, Apr 4, 2017
There is an endless amount of ideas, tips and tricks hidden in Super Mario Maker. But some of these ideas are no epic boss fights, or stage defining tricks, but rather some smaller neat little tricks to improve your stages. Today we are going to send Mario on a quick journey through 40 smaller Super Mario Maker ideas in only 800 seconds.
Thu, Apr 13, 2017
Goomba Shoes are fantastic Super Mario Maker items. Not only can they be used to create horrific Super Mario Maker boss fights, but they can be piloted by Mario as well. In this video we will not only discuss tips, tricks and ideas with Goomba Shoes in Super Mario Maker, but take a look on an old tale as well. The tale about the Princess and the Shoe.
Thu, Apr 20, 2017
Yooka Laylee is a spiritual successor to Banjo Kazooie. But while most people agree that Banjo Kazooie is a fantastic game, the opinions on Yooka Laylee are a lot more controversial. While Banjo and Kazooie's worlds and game design is often praised, a lot of people seem to be disappointed in the gameplay of Yooka Laylee. In this video we will try to find out in which aspects the game design of Yooka Laylee differs from Banjo and Kazooie and in which points it stays true to it's unofficial ancestor.
Thu, Apr 27, 2017
There is a lot of stuff missing in Super Mario Maker, but while Nintendo decided to include no slopes into the game, they included two different types of clouds in Super Mario Maker: The Lakitu Cloud and the cloud blocks. While these two Mario Maker clouds look very similar at first glance, the truth is, that they are as different as clouds can possible be from each other. But which of these two clouds is the better cloud? Which cloud is the best cloud of Super Mario Maker? Today we are going to find it out.
Sat, May 6, 2017
Many people dislike Lakitus in Super Mario Maker. Maybe that's because they can be used to randomly rain enemies on Mario or maybe people just prefer Lakitu Clouds over their inhabitants. But Lakitus have been in a lot of Super Mario games since the very beginning. They threw Spinies in Super Mario Bros., they carried the camera in Super Mario 64 and they have helped thousands of lost gokart drivers back on their path in the Mario Kart games. So in this video we are going to take a look at some cool tips, tricks and ideas with Lakitus in Super Mario Maker.
Thu, May 11, 2017
There is no real built-in timer in Super Mario Maker. Luckily it's really easy to create one yourself. Timers can be used to create tons of different interesting contraptions in Super Mario Maker. A tower that needs to be escaped before it collapses, a boss fight featuring different phases, a mini game where Mario has to dodge dangerous stuff? All possible thanks to timers. Today we are going to take a look on five different timer designs in Super Mario Maker: there is the Shelmet Timer, the Bob-omb Alarm, the Skewer Clock, the Track Trigger and of course the infamous Wiggler Trigger. And while we are at it, we are going to take a look on a couple of tips, tricks and ideas on how to use them in our Super Mario Maker levels.
Fri, May 12, 2017
Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze is an amazing platformer. The game has beautiful graphics, creative ideas and an amazing game design. But what makes Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze really stand out for me, is how every stage of the game is designed with speed in mind. No matter how fast Donkey Kong wants to go, he will always find something in the levels that helps him to go fast. Retro Studio crafted the game with specific speed-paths in mind because they added a time-attack mode to the game, and while the time-attack mode in Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze is a blast to play, these speed-paths make the overall game better, whether Donkey Kong tries to speedrun them or not.
Sun, May 21, 2017
Power-ups exist in almost every Super Mario game. They are in Super Mario Bros., they are in Super Mario Galaxy and they are in Super Mario Maker. Super Mario Power-ups are everywhere, but they are not only in almost every Mario game, they are quite powerful as well. They helped Mario defeat Bowser in the first Super Mario Bros., they helped Mario beat the levels in the New Super Mario Bros. series and in Super Mario Maker, they...? Well, what can Power-ups actually be used for in Super Mario Maker? In this video we will find out.
Mon, May 29, 2017
Power-ups have always been a part of platforming games, there is the Mushroom, the Star and the Fire Flower in the first Super Mario game, there is the Shield, the Power Sneakers and the Invincibility in the first Sonic game, there are the famous inhalable enemies in the Kirby series, there are the crazy gameplay twists in the Super Mario Galaxy games, there are the transformations in Yoshi's Wooly World and many more. Power-ups have always been used in platformers to vary the gameplay, and empower the player. Interestingly the way platforming games use Power-ups changed drastically over the years. In the beginning they often just granted a short period of invincibility or a small gameplay upgrade, but nowadays they often completely turn the gameplay on it's head. The interesting thing is that, in my opinion the very first Super Mario Bros. game found the perfect way to grant the player special abilities, and recent games are more and more losing focus on what makes a Power-up feel really great and well integrated into a game.
Tue, Jun 6, 2017
Super Mario Power-ups are usually Mario's friends. They empower him and make beating the levels Bowser prepared a lot easier. But today the Power-ups work against Mario. In this video we are going to take a look on six tips, tricks and ideas in Super Mario Maker where the Power-ups are evil.
Tue, Jun 13, 2017
The Mushroom Kingdom is at peace. It's been awhile since Bowser last tried to kidnap Princess Peach and everyone expects the land to stay peaceful until the release of Super Mario Odyssey. But this raises a question. If Bowser isn't trying to kidnap Princess Peach, what is he doing instead? Peach sent Mario to investigate this question and it turns out Bowser built a huge tower, filled with Magikoopas. Mario has to investigate what's going on. And while we don't know what Mario will find in this tower, we already know that the tower is filled with different tips, tricks and ideas for Magikoopas in Nintendo's Super Mario Maker.
Wed, Jun 14, 2017
The first stage of Super Mario 64 is Bob-Omb Battlefield. This place is a crazy place. Cannons shoot dangerous water bubbles towards Mario, Bob-ombs explode close to Mario and in the center lives a horrific Chain Chomp. Mario needs to save the seven Stars which are imprisoned in this magical painting, and if he wants to do so he not only needs to overcome difficult platforming challenges but he also needs to use Super Mario 64 glitches, and he needs to shoot himself out of cannons. But no matter how difficult the challenges Mario has to face, Princess Peach and her delicious cake need to be saved.
Wed, Jun 21, 2017
Last June the eighteen proud Super Mario Maker enemy nations came together and held a huge tournament. The Mushroom Kingdom Championship. It was an epic tournament, legends were born that day, the Chain Chomps won by an incredibly small margin, the press praised the event and everyone seemed to like it. And so they decided to do it again. Each one of the eighteen proud Super Mario Maker enemy obstacle nations will show you one idea today, but only five of them will make it to the finals. At the end of this video you will have to decide which five enemies will make it to the finals and have a chance to win the Mushroom Champion title of 2017.
Thu, Jun 22, 2017
Whomp's Fortress in Super Mario 64 is a beautiful painting. A painting of a magical castle. It's a place where creatures made of stone walk and talk, it's a place where dangerous plants come to life, it's a place where castles can suddenly appear, where mystical birds fly around, where walls come to life and where rotating islands float in the sky. In short it's a dangerous place to explore for Mario. Sadly the Power Stars have been stolen and if Mario wants to beat Super Mario 64 and wants to rescue Princess Peach he has to travel to this dangerous Super Mario 64 painting.
Wed, Jun 28, 2017
Super Mario Maker is an amazing game. There are so many unique and different interactions between the different Super Mario obstacles that it's possible to create really complicated contraptions in Super Mario Maker levels. Today we are going to test the limits of Super Mario Maker by trying to create turn based combat systems.
Thu, Jun 29, 2017
The Cool Cool Mountain is a lovely Super Mario 64 painting of a peaceful glacier. Or at least it was before Bowser stole the Power Stars. Now it's a dangerous place filled with Mister Blizzards and other Super Mario enemies. If Mario wants to save Princess Peach he needs to collect all the seven Stars which are hidden in this Super Mario 64 painting.
Thu, Jul 6, 2017
It's time for the five finalists, you chose, to compete against each other. We had a lot of Super Mario Maker, tips, tricks and ideas with different enemies in the past, but today we will finally find out who is the true Super Mario Maker champion of the Mushroom Kingdom. Each one of our five finalists will show you three Super Mario Maker ideas. First you will see an underwater idea , afterwards they present a Super Mario Maker boss fight to you and in the end they try to convince you with one last freestyle idea.
Wed, Jul 12, 2017
Combination locks are really useful in Super Mario Maker. They can be used to create additional checkpoints, to create puzzle Super Mario Maker levels where Mario needs to figure out the code, or to create passwords systems which allow to carry information from one Super Mario Maker stage to another. Today we are going to take a look at a Super Mario Maker combination lock with a trillion different input states and we will walk about a level which uses this design.
Thu, Jul 13, 2017
There is an old pirate bay in Peach's Castle in Super Mario 64. Or a painting of a pirate bay to be precise. The Super Mario 64 painting of Jolly Roger Bay. It's a place which would fit perfectly into a Super Mario pirate movie. There are sunken ghost ships, horrific huge underwater creatures, forgotten treasures, foggy beaches, underwater caves and of course cannons. It's a mysterious and lonely Super Mario 64 stage. Mario is still on his mission to rescue Princess Peach and the delicious cake she baked. To do so he needs to save all the magical Super Mario 64 Power Stars, seven of them live inside the painting of Jolly Roger Bay.
Wed, Jul 19, 2017
There are no trains in Super Mario Maker, but while Super Mario Maker sadly has no train item and no train theme, the game luckily allows us to come up with unique train designs ourselves. Today we are going to talk about five unique train designs in Super Mario Maker. We will take a look at the Block Express, the Enemy Delivery Train, the Wall Jump Locomotive, the Ghost Wagon and finally the Super Mario Maker Boss Express.
Thu, Jul 20, 2017
Mega Maker was released a couple of days ago. In case you are not familiar with Mega Maker, it's a fan made game, completely free and it allows you to make and share your own Mega Man levels. This Mega Man Maker is a surprisingly good game. In fact it is so good that Super Mario Maker could learn a couple of things from Mega Maker. In this video we are going to talk about 4 things at which Mega Maker beats Super Mario Maker.
Wed, Jul 26, 2017
Super Mario Maker is a game about jumping. But Toad sometimes carries a backpack so heavy that he isn't able to jump. While it is possible to create crazy Super Mario Maker boss fights and mini games where Mario happily jumps in between lethal threats, Super Mario Maker has no built in bosses for poor Toads whose backpacks are too heavy to jump. But luckily that's a fixable problem. Today we will take a look at six designs for boss fights without jumping in Super Mario Maker.
Thu, Jul 27, 2017
The robot master boss fights are probably the most iconic thing about Mega Man. But a great Mega Maker boss fight does not only need to have a dangerous foe, a great Mega Maker boss fight also needs a unique gimmick. Today we are going to take a look on nine different and hopefully useful designs for boss fights in Mega Maker.
Wed, Aug 9, 2017
In theory there is no built in randomizer in Super Mario Maker which is a pity as randomized Super Mario Maker levels can be a ton of fun. Luckily Super Mario Maker allows us to come up with designs for randomizers ourselves. In this video we will take a look on 5 different and easy to set up designs for randomizer levels in Super Mario Maker and we will take a look on a couple of tips, tricks and ideas on how to use them.
Wed, Aug 16, 2017
Super Mario Maker has no built in counters. But today we are going to build some Super Mario Maker counters nonetheless. Counters are Mario Maker contraptions which track how often a specific event in Super Mario Maker occurred, like how often Mario went through a door, or how often a specific block was triggered. While this may sound incredibly boring at first glance, Super Mario Maker counters are incredibly useful and it's possible to build some amazing things in Super Mario Maker because of them.
Wed, Aug 23, 2017
Super Mario Maker is a game that allows Mario to turn around whenever he wants to. But what if you want to create a Super Mario Maker level where looking back is forbidden? Where some horrible Super Mario Maker contraptions are triggered if Mario tries to turn around? If this is your plan this video is for you. In this video we are going to take a look on three different don't look back contraptions in Super Mario Maker, and we will take a look on a Super Mario Maker level which uses all three of these designs.
Wed, Aug 30, 2017
Is it possible to recreate the "The Floor is Lava" challenge in Super Mario Maker? If we want to create a "the Floor is Lava" level in Super Mario Maker we need a couple of things. We need to find a way to test Mario's vertical position in Super Mario Maker. We need to set this Super Mario Maker contraption on a timer so that the floor isn't always lava, and we need a way to communicate this to Mario in Super Mario Maker. In this video we are going to create exactly such a the Floor is Lava Super Mario Maker level, and we will take a look on a couple of other designs where touching the floor is forbidden.
Wed, Sep 6, 2017
We continue our search for contraptions which forbid Mario to perform certain actions in Super Mario Maker. So far we already discussed "Don't Jump in Super Mario Maker", "Don't Turn around in Super Mario Maker" and "Don't Touch the Floor in Super Mario Maker", but there is one last box we weren't able to check on our dangerous list of evil so far. And that is a working "Don't Run in Super Mario Maker" contraption.
Wed, Sep 13, 2017
Bowser Jr. is one of my favorite entities in Super Mario Maker. All you need to do is to build an interesting arena, place Bowser Jr. inside it and you got a great boss encounter. Today we are going to do exactly this, we will take a look at six different and crazy arenas and contraptions for Bowser Jr. boss encounters in Super Mario Maker.
Wed, Sep 20, 2017
Glitches in Super Mario Maker are always fun to toy around with. Recently a French Super Mario Maker level creator named Pat GLITCH reached out to me and asked me if I wanted to give his Super Mario Maker glitch levels a quick look. And so I did. Pat GLITCH has tons of different and crazy Super Mario Maker glitch levels which I have never seen before. In this video we will take a look on seven of these Super Mario Maker glitches, and we will learn how to recreate them.
Thu, Sep 21, 2017
Right before Super Mario Odyssey, Nintendo changed Mario's job. Mario is no longer a plumber. But why? Why did Nintendo decide that Mario is no longer a plumber before Super Mario Odyssey. Is it because of Super Mario Odyssey? Or is there another reason? In this video we are going to discuss three possible explanations why Nintendo decided that Mario is no longer a plumber right before the Super Mario Odyssey release.
Wed, Sep 27, 2017
There are tons of little but useful tips and tricks in Super Mario Maker. A lot of these small Super Mario Maker tips and tricks don't fit thematically into any videos. So what we are going to do in this video is take a look at a lot of these little advanced Super Mario Maker techniques at once. The main things which we are going to discuss are Super Mario Maker input conversion, basic spawn blocking and interesting invisible block shenanigans, but there will be a couple of other Super Mario Maker tips and tricks as well.