Super Mario Maker 2 is a 2019 platform game and creation tool made by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is a follow-up to Super Mario Maker (2015) and was released worldwide on June 28, 2019. The game plays similarly to its earlier version, allowing players to design custom levels using elements from different Super Mario games and share them online. Super Mario Maker 2 adds new features, such as a single-player story mode and level designs inspired by Super Mario 3D World.

Like its earlier version, the game received good reviews from critics, who appreciated its menu and controls, level-design tools, and music. However, the online multiplayer mode was criticized. By December 31, 2022, the game had sold more than 8.42 million copies, making it one of the best-selling games on the Nintendo Switch.

Gameplay

Super Mario Maker 2 is a side-scrolling platform game where players design their own levels using characters, items, and settings from the Super Mario series. These levels can be shared online for others to play. Players can choose the visual style and gameplay rules of their levels based on previous Super Mario games, such as Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, New Super Mario Bros. U, and Super Mario 3D World. The Super Mario 3D World theme is adjusted to fit the 2D platforming style of the game. Some gameplay features and enemies are only available in specific styles.

The follow-up game adds new tools and assets, including those from Super Mario 3D World. This theme has unique features not found in other styles, so players must reset their level to use it. The game also allows creators to increase the vertical height of levels. It includes local and online multiplayer options, such as co-op course creation, where two players can design levels together locally, and online modes where up to four players can complete user-made levels together or compete.

A feature called World Maker lets players create their own overworld maps, similar to designing their own Super Mario game called a "Super World." The world style is fixed as Super Mario World, but individual levels can use any style. Up to six Super Worlds can be saved, but only one can be uploaded. Each Super World can include up to five levels, such as a castle, and up to eight separate worlds. Worlds may also include Toad houses with mini-games for extra lives and Warp Pipes for quick travel.

The game includes a Story Mode, where Mario, Toadette, and other Toads work to rebuild Princess Peach’s Castle after it was accidentally reset by a character named Undodog. Players must complete over 100 levels created by Nintendo to collect coins and restore the castle. Non-player characters provide additional tasks and challenges throughout the mode.

To access online features, such as playing user-created levels, a Nintendo Switch Online subscription is required.

Development and release

Super Mario Maker 2 was created at Nintendo's Kyoto Development Center. Planning for the game started at the same time as the development of the Nintendo Switch. Many members of the original team returned for this sequel, including producer Hiroyuki Kimura, director Yosuke Oshino, and planner/game designer Shigefumi Hino. Nintendo's producer Takashi Tezuka said the goal was to expand on what was possible in the first game and try new ideas. This included adding new course elements and a single-player campaign. Tezuka also mentioned that players' uploaded levels would help the team add new content after the game launched, seeing it as a way for developers and players to share ideas. Koji Kondo, a longtime composer for the Super Mario series, worked as the game's sound director and composed some music. Additional music was created by Atsuko Asahi, Toru Minegishi, and Sayako Doi.

Super Mario Maker 2 was announced during a Nintendo Direct presentation on February 13, 2019. It was released worldwide for the Nintendo Switch on June 28, 2019. A second Nintendo Direct on May 15, 2019, shared more details about new and returning features, gameplay modes, and pre-orders.

In Europe, a capacitive stylus was included in a limited edition bundle for customers who pre-ordered the game.

Three major content updates were released for the game:

• The first update, released on October 2, 2019, added more multiplayer options, such as playing with friends on local area networks or nearby networks.
• The second update, released on December 5, 2019, introduced a new mode called Ninji Speedruns, where players compete against ghost recordings of other players for the fastest times on Nintendo-created levels. It also added new items, such as a Master Sword power-up that lets Mario become Link with different abilities, ice-encased coin blocks, speed-increasing Dash Blocks, and invisible "P" blocks triggered by a "P" switch. New enemies, including spikes and Pokeys, were also added.
• The third and final update, released on April 22, 2020, allowed players to create worlds containing multiple courses, similar to Super Mario World, with up to eight worlds and forty levels. It introduced a power-up that lets Mario pick up and throw objects, like in Super Mario Bros. 2. Additional power-ups included the Frog Suit, Power Balloon, Super Acorn, and Boomerang Flower, each inspired by different games in the series. Five new power-ups were also added for the Super Mario 3D World style, such as the Propeller Box, Bullet Bill Mask, Goomba Mask, Red POW Box, and Cannon Box. New enemies, including the Koopalings and Mechakoopas, were added. Other changes included red-colored keys guarded by Phanto, an enemy from Super Mario Bros. 2, and new blocks and mushroom trampolines in the Super Mario 3D World style.

Reception

Super Mario Maker 2 received "generally favorable" reviews, according to the review aggregator website Metacritic. Another review aggregator, OpenCritic, reported that the game received "mighty" approval, with 96% of critics recommending it. However, the online multiplayer feature faced criticism for performance problems. GameSpot, which gave the game an 8/10, noted that online lag often disrupted the experience.

The game was the best-selling title in Japan during its first two weeks, selling 279,357 physical copies. By the end of March 2021, it had sold over 7.15 million copies worldwide, making it one of the top-selling games on the Nintendo Switch. According to the 2023 CESA Games White Papers, Super Mario Maker 2 had sold 8.42 million units by December 31, 2022.

The game’s content moderation system faced criticism due to frequent deletions of user-created levels with unclear explanations. Levels containing unintentional game mechanics or glitches were often removed. In June 2019, online streamer David Hunt, known as GrandPooBear, reported that his level, "Pile of Poo: Kai-Zero G," was deleted for "harmful or inappropriate content." Nintendo representatives stated that the word "poo" in his name was not the reason for the deletion. Hunt expressed confusion about the cause of the removal.

In April 2026, thousands of user-uploaded levels were suddenly deleted in a large removal event. YouTuber Alex Tan, known as PangaeaPanga, received an email stating some of his levels were removed for violating the Nintendo Account User Agreement, with the reason listed as "advertising." He suggested that hashtags in level descriptions, such as #TeamShell, used to identify level creator communities, might have caused the deletions. Another YouTuber, DGR, supported this idea, stating that Nintendo claimed any hashtag in a level’s name is considered advertising or spam.