When I reviewed Super Mario Maker earlier this year I applauded how easy it was to create your own Mario levels, but mentioned that some iconic features of the series have been left out, including mid-level checkpoints that were originally introduced in Super Mario World. They can really change how a level plays, so they’re an important aspect of creating new content.
It seems as though Nintendo has been listening to fans who have been asking for more features from Mario games, as a new update for Super Mario Maker brings some of the features that were missing in the original release. The checkpoints come as a secondary form of the arrow sign item, simply shaking it will allow you to place a checkpoint flag.
Other new options include the ability to add conditional items dependent upon Mario’s status. For example, placing both a mushroom and a fire flower in a box will give Mario the mushroom when he is small, but the fire flower when he is big.
The other big addition to the game is a new Event Courses section in the Course World hub. These Event Courses will feature levels from sponsored partners and other creators. The first level to be featured in this new hub is Ship Love, the level that won the Facebook hackathon event we told you about a few months ago.
The Super Mario Maker update will go live on November 4, so look forward to checking out those new event courses and finally building courses that you can properly checkpoint.
