E3: Nintendo Announces Mario Maker for Wii U; Sadists Rejoice

You might have played Super Mario Bros.: the Lost Levels. For those who aren’t familiar with it, The Lost Levels was a compilation of brutal Mario levels that required absolutely perfect timing on every jump and frequently punished players just for turning the game on. It was, in less words, Dark Souls without armor or swords.

Well, great news for those who have fond memories of siblings ripping their hair out after missing that jump the umpteenth time: Nintendo has announced Mario Maker for the Wii U.

Mario Maker is just what it sounds: a chance for you to make your very own Mario Levels and play them through the Wii U. Players can use the Wii U Gamepad to essentially “draw” in blocks of 8 bit landscape and create their own traps, jumps and hazards to navigate through. The game will let you swap those graphics into the newer 3D Polygon designs of the New Super Mario Bros., too.

Mario Maker 2

Simplicity and versatility is also clearly a focus for the designers. When asked about the possibility of a level editor before the E3 announcement, New Super Mario Bros U director Masataka Takemoto stated, “The important thing is that it has to be something that is uniquely Nintendo. Where a beginner can easily make something and have a good time, and simultaneously, someone who is really into Mario can delve into it deeper and make something more complex.”

Nintendo hasn’t revealed which Landscapes are going to be available for construction yet, nor what power-ups will be available for use, but expect to see the entirety of the original Super Mario Bros. plus a gamut of New Super Mario Bros. Fare.

Mario fans can expect a return to brutal challenges sometime in the first half of 2015.