3.04.2016

Making Super Mario Levels at the library!

Ever since Super Mario Maker came out, I've been wanting to use it for a library program! For those that don't know, this is a new game for the Wii U that allows you to easily make your own levels for Super Mario, then upload them for others to play. It's like someone took what I always wanted to do back in elementary school and made a game out of it!


Last Wednesday we had 9 teens come in to play around designing their own levels. I started by having some of them play through the first level of Super Mario Bros for the original Nintendo Entertainment System that I had brought in, then talking a bit about the design of that crucial first stage. I had printed out a huge 6.5' copy of world 1-1 so we could have a better look. After that everyone grabbed some graph paper and pencils and colored markers and got to work planning out some level ideas. Some people decided to put their heads together and create a level together, while others worked on their own.


When their level ideas were completed, they were handed the Wii U gamepad and started laying down the elements of their level. Even with limiting the time each person could get at the gamepad, we ended up running short on time (it flies so quickly when you're both hard at work AND having fun), and unfortunately the grand finale of playing everybody's levels had to be pushed back. We'll start off Monday's gaming club by playing through the levels everybody made instead. The levels have already been uploaded however, and anyone that has a copy of Super Mario Maker can play them! Below are all the levels, as well as their ID (in case you want to enter them directly) as well as a link to the Bookmark (a feature that lets you bookmark each level you want to play through a browser, then when you open the game and go to bookmarks, they'll all be there!).

Chompy Chomps (ID 05F3-0000-01E6-7EDE)


Topman Stage (ID 6A50-0000-01E6-6877)

Danger (ID 1553-0000-01E6-67DF)

Doomsday Zone (ID 3428-0000-01E6-6741)

Red Rage (ID 6EE9-0000-01E6-66BA)

MLG (ID 780D-0000-01E5-8E31)

Thanks to everyone that came out to make some Super Mario levels! With something like this it feels like the possibilities are truly endless and  you can let your imagination go crazy. I'm really looking forward to doing another one of these programs in the very near future!