I don't get why so many other reviewers list Sturgeon's Law as something worthy of docking off points for, but they never say how Nintendo could put a quality filter on uncountable levels created by thousands of users across dozens of countries.
De Romanīs, lingua Latina gloriosa non fuī.
The problem is one of organization, Matilda. As it stands, there aren't many kinds of filters to use.
Not to mention searching for certain kinds of levels are next to impossible unless you have recommendations from friends. As of now, every level you play is a roll of the dice on whether or not the next level is good or absolute garbage.
Remember, these idiots drive, fuck, and vote. Not always in that order.
I might have low standards, but if all they added was the ability to search by level title or creator name, as well as being able to filter levels based on game (SMB, SMB 3, SMW, NSMB) and level type (overworld, underwater, underground, ghost house, airship, castle), I'd be perfectly happy with Course World.
De Romanīs, lingua Latina gloriosa non fuī.
Thankfully, they're already adding DLC in a game that absolutely begs for it, so I can foresee most of these features being added at some point. Checkpoints are certainly a welcome addition.
Oh yeah. I am getting really tired of the lack of visual theme variety in the levels, so I'd really like to see DLC for that in particular. Or at the very least, water (aboveground) and slopes. That would open up more gameplay ideas.
The checkpoints will help a lot with people who get very far, die and get frustrated and quit.
Took very long (well, three and a half years, but for me that\'s an eternity), but soon the wait for the next step of this \"something beautiful\" will finally end!
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A flawed start of something beautiful
Years ago, level editors and ROM hacking tools have allowed hackers to create their own levels for classic games, such as Super Mario World. However, the average person had no idea how to use these tools, and they weren't as intuitive as they should have been. The result was that while there were a number of hacks for Super Mario World and other games, both Mario games and other franchises, the hacks tended to be relatively small in number, and not very good.
At first, it was impressive being able to play modified versions of games I'd loved. Over time, though, my tastes began to refine, and I needed the hack to actually be high-quality, not merely to exist. It needed to have good gameplay. Good level design.
Well, now everyone has access to a level editor. One that's insanely easy to use, and allows anyone to easily create a level and upload it to the internet.
Sturgeon's Law hits, of course. Most levels are awful. But at the same time, if you give a million monkeys a million typewriters, eventually, one of them will write Shakespeare. There are some great levels buried in the ocean of shit. Truly great ones that feel like they belong in an actual official Nintendo-developed Mario game. Ones that strike the right balance of aesthetics, challenge, and accessibility for less-skilled players. The problem is finding them, but they are out there.
The editor itself is a thing of beauty in its simplicity, but is lacking many features I wish it had. But first, the good: this editor is so easy to use that my 7-year-old nephew picked it up very quickly and began experimenting, throwing wacky ideas out there that take advantage of everything possible. That says it all.
The bad is the missing features. Why can't I choose the "athletic" background music from each game? Why can't I create slopes? How about putting water and/or lava in outdoors levels? I'm not talking about something as complex as entire level themes (e.g. snow, desert), but features that seem pretty basic to me. Maybe in DLC or a sequel...
Super Mario Maker may have a flawed system for finding levels, and a significant lack of features in its editor, but its core concept is brilliantly executed, and it could be the start of something beautiful.