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[thecouncil]

Still bummed about Nintendo deleting my level the other day. It was such a good level. My most densely designed one. Without any explanation as to why it was deleted, I can only assume it was because it wasn't played enough. Now I have to start marketing my levels so they stick around!

So,...

here's one I made. It's very straightforward.

https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses

Can someone please play it?

 

[GokouD]

Here's my latest, Ride Like The Wind. It's a SMB level where you play as the ExciteBike. Everything blows up or falls, so you'll have to keep moving! I imagine this will be a love it/hate it sort of level, I like it though

https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/495E-0000-01F9-6153

Also, so far only 2 people have beaten Incinerator, surely someone else can do it?

 

[UlaWeylin]

The Burial Cave of the Old Koopa. (Bookmark page)
Level Code: 5C82-0000-00F4-8DD0

Hello.

This is my first post here on Neogaf. It's great to finally be a part of this community. I have played a ton of your levels posted here already, and I am finally able to comment on them.

It is inspired by the origins story of The Koopas found in the manual to the original Super Mario Bros.

"One day the kingdom of the peaceful mushroom people was invaded by the Koopa, a tribe of turtles famous for their black magic. The quiet, peace-loving Mushroom People were turned into mere stones, bricks and even field horse-hair plants, and the Mushroom Kingdom fell into ruin."

That evolved to making a level about a burial cave of The Old Koopa. Back before the internet people played their games with most of the backstory in their heads.

I wanted to make a chill level and I am pleased with the way it turned out.

Please try it out, I hope you like it.

 

[Heropon]

I'm very grateful for the feedback on my levels, thank you guys! I'll try to not overextend the next exploration level I make, but it's so tempting to just add more, more and more.

My levels really didn't get many stars and now I've got 25+ in one week. I know it isn't that much compared to other people but for me it seems huge compared to some other weeks.

 

[woopWOOP]

Found out Nintendo deleted a level of mine.

RIP Clown Attics.

Still bummed about Nintendo deleting my level the other day. It was such a good level. My most densely designed one.

So does this happen more often now? I mean, I have some junk stages I couldn't care less about losing, but if Nintendo deletes/blocks one of my 'traditional', numbered stages I'm gonna be pretty bummed out...

On that note, I've made a few more of those! Five worlds, 20 stages total to be exact. Reuploaded all the old 'n easy levels to include pink coins too. Each stage has three pink coins now. Though there's no use for the key, it's just a little extra something for the player to hunt down if they'd feel like it.
I'll link to the first stage of each 'world'. If you happen to have the time, check it out!

 

[Gotdatmoney]

Just wanna say the quality of gaf levels especially lately has been crazy good. Like it was already imo the best community in terms of quality to density but holy shit the last 2 weeks has been incredibly good. I actually have been lame and not been commenting but I played and starred pretty well all the levels up to this page. Keep it up guys.

 

[jholmes]

First things first, GAF: I've played two levels in the last 24 hours that require patience and mastery of the controls. I figure if anyone would want to play these, it'd be those of you of the NeoGAF OT.

Crouch Jump Crusade isn't a new stage or an unpopular one, but it's new to me. You have to know intimately how to make Mario jump while crouched. Can you do it?



Second, P on the door (yes, that is the title) requires you to make use of two advance-level skills: throwing and catching P-blocks during wall jumps (easier than it sounds for the most part, once you get the hang of it) and entering a door just as you land on a P-block (really easy, just hold your breath, hammer up and pray, and you'll usually do it right). This level is brand new, and I just happened to stumble upon it in 100-Mario Challenge. Can you be the second to clear this challenge?





GAF! Have you read the reviews?

Ahh, what a godlike water level.

This is probably one of the best water levels I've played.

Skewer Sewer is the critical underwater autoscrolling hit of the week! See for yourself what everyone's raving about right here!




No more foolishness. Time for feedback:

An ode to the ground pound:

Ground Pound to Victory!

I wanted to play to the strengths of the NSMB mechanics with a pretty straightforward obstacle course. Let me know what you think?

I like it! It's short and pretty easy and it doesn't take advantage of smart power-ups, which I find annoying, but it's a good way the ground-pound the time away. I don't love lakitu up top but it's not a bad little stage at all.

Coins in the Coral City

And another coin collectathon in a more open space, this was basically me thinking of Super Mario Galaxy and how it would scatter the 5 star pieces to make a launcher in some areas.
So really it shouldn't be tricky, just thought I'd experiment with an open water stage.

Also short and easy, also scrimps on the smart power-ups. The hub-based exploration is a great fit for an underwater level -- kudos for putting two and two together there. Really good design too.

So, I had started to pick up my old "Mario Kart Assault" series again, but the update changed my focus to another series I paused after just one level: "Topsy-turvy Waluigi".

The concept of Topsy-turvy Waluigi is to pay homage to the openness, tone, platforming and exploration/light puzzle elements of Wario Land, but with a gimmick : when you go through a door, you actually go behind the level. Areas in the open air are therefore symmetrical, but ground areas and areas with backdrops differ since you can see what's "on the other side".

I had started creating a ghost mansion sequel quite some time ago, but managing the openness with the Super Mario Maker options back then was a nightmare - but everything changed thanks to the pink coin update! So here is Topsy-turvy Waluigi (Mansion) (53DE-0000-01F5-35F6):

Fun level! I think the checkpoint might be a bit too hard to find as I had to play this level a few times to beat it but never found the flag. Easy to recommend this one, even if it's a bit longish (maybe I only think that because I never found the checkpoint!).

A lot of moving parts on this one so please do let me know if you find bugs. Hope you are up to beating the "boss"

Title: A Ghost in the Shell
Style: NSMBU
Code: F9ED-0000-01F8-8102
Difficulty: Normal
Bookmark:https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/F9ED-0000-01F8-8102

Fun and clever stage, really tightly designed. Definitely on the easy side though, other than not getting the puzzles (which are fairly simple) and letting the time run out, I'm not sure how you could possibly die.

Finally uploaded a new level the other day.

Wingin' it to the POW Train

Played around with some different concepts involving wings. It's a little tricky and admittedly a bit unpolished, but I had a lot of fun making/testing it. I discovered the mechanic of the last section quite by accident!

Challenging but really enjoyable. I don't love shoving the mushroom onto Mario before the wriggler -- there are more elegant ways to handle that, I think. But making the player grab a moving POW block is really a stroke of genius. One of those stages where I played and I just don't know how you guys come up with this stuff.

 

[Kaban]

Challenging but really enjoyable. I don't love shoving the mushroom onto Mario before the wriggler -- there are more elegant ways to handle that, I think. But making the player grab a moving POW block is really a stroke of genius. One of those stages where I played and I just don't know how you guys come up with this stuff.

Thanks a lot! I understand the bit about the mushroom. In retrospect, I suppose I could have had the propellor pipe unblocked to begin with, rather than relying on the ground-pound. But it's great to hear you liked the POW block section. I might try to make another level based on that concept.

Baron Kuribo's Screwy Skewery it is!

I put a lot of work into this, so let me know if any of you find something seriously wrong with it so I can fix it.

Obviously from the name, skewers figure into everything in the level one way or another. I honestly don't know about the overall difficulty. There's a mini-boss fight, as well as a final "boss" fight. I put that in quotes since it's not really a fight. It's more of an endurance thing where you need to stay alive.

Speaking of the boss fight, some people will find it incredibly difficult, and others fairly easy. There's also a way to seriously cheese it as well. I tried to counter it a bit but didn't do well enough. I decided to leave it in since I think people like to figure that kind of thing out.

This level was fantastic. Great progression of the skewer concept, and it kept me on edge the whole time. It got seriously nerve-wracking by the end, though in a good way. Great job!

 

[thecouncil]

So does this happen more often now? I mean, I have some junk stages I couldn't care less about losing, but if Nintendo deletes/blocks one of my 'traditional', numbered stages I'm gonna be pretty bummed out...

On that note, I've made a few more of those! Five worlds, 20 stages total to be exact. Reuploaded all the old 'n easy levels to include pink coins too. Each stage has three pink coins now. Though there's no use for the key, it's just a little extra something for the player to hunt down if they'd feel like it.
I'll link to the first stage of each 'world'. If you happen to have the time, check it out!

I bookmarked these levels to play later.

Two things:

1.
The stage of mine that Nintendo deleted was one of my numbered levels. But without reason as to why it was deleted, I can't offer anything to assure you some of yours won't be deleted. I read a story today about how a guy's daughter's level was deleted even after it was played and starred. So who knows.

2.
You say your keys don't lead to anything but you can put a locked door at the very end of the level that leads to something as simple as a room with a few 1-ups. That would help a person playing your levels in a single run or if your level pops up in someone's challenge run.

Another idea (which I used for the level Nintendo deleted. haha.) is to have the key unlock a door that sends you past a particularly difficult section or to the end of the level. That way there is reward for finding the coins but it's not necessary to collect them all in the chance that you die post-checkpoint or something.

edit: I played the first 3 worlds completely and starred them all. The first two worlds were pretty simple and I did some speed runs on a few. World 3 was more advanced as far as design goes. I was liking those levels.
Dead End Doorways and Skull Fort were my favorites so far.
I'll get back to the other two worlds eventually.

 

[Thud]

So does this happen more often now? I mean, I have some junk stages I couldn't care less about losing, but if Nintendo deletes/blocks one of my 'traditional', numbered stages I'm gonna be pretty bummed out...

Well my troll stages are still up. This one had 30-40 stars and 100 or more plays I think.

So I'm quite confused at what it could be. I deleted it from my side as well, never was a fan of copying my work. If my interest is still there, then I'll make a new level in the same spirit.

They could have at least added a reason for deleting.

Anyhow, I played some of the skewer levels from the last few pages and I'm practicing with a level again.

 

[VandalD]

I'm not sure how he spawned there either, but as I recall it's above solid ground so it's fatal because he'll never be able to jump out of there, and since it's one-way you can't goad him out or attack him directly. Hopefully it's just a very wild one-off glitch, it seemed like the weirdest thing to me too.

Oh, he spawned there? I thought you meant he was just right next to the one-way into his room. How could that even.. maybe he can move off screen, and if the one-way is far enough away then he can ignore it? That's incredibly weird.

Lots of new levels to try here again. I'll have jump in again soon.

 

[jholmes]

I just want to point out this thing, because this is going to blow some people's minds, but this is how this works: that level I posted just a while before, P on the door, has an Easy rating and an 8.69% completion rate right now.

 

[Ranger X]

Ok I took time and play some more GAF levels tonight...


SMV 1-4: Havoc Harbor
I like levels like this. Traditional, simple, well done. I actually discovered your series just now. I played the first 4 levels as it is and I will definetely try the rest. When I try to do a simple level like that, in the end I still get a level that is not more complex than a real Mario game. (ex: Clear The Way!)

Castle Black
Ok this level was fun, I wasn't annoyed to the point of quitting or anything real bad. Still this level left me hungry. There was something missing. It felt like it was parts sort of randomly put together. The sense of direction wasn't really good, it didn't feel whole. There some esthetic choices I didn't like (this is something minor but still...) like entering a pipe and below the pipe there's like one block wide. This doesn't give the impression I will enter into something.

Classic Underground Vibes
This one was not a bad level but still, while being traditional (and I get the appeal) I think it fell into "too simple and straightforward" for its own good. I would have loved some more secrets, twists and turns, the level just is missing personality while by no mean being bad.I also noticed its your only level, I suspect you don't really play the game anymore but oh well, if you feel it, you should create again.

Shipyard Shenanigans
This level was pretty good. The boat theme wasn't used to traditionally and that gave some personality to the level there. I didn't like the part where you feel like you're inside and there's 4 floors with goombas and hammer bros. I always feel I just wanna skip this part, probably because its too samey. I like the sometimes mandatory use for the walljump and also that checkpoint where I need to use the little spin in the air while you jump. Lastly, I feel the level might miss some intricacies, secret, I don't know. Something more engaging that would make me go "hmm, am gonna try and replay that".

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Some levels I would still love to receive feedback on:


CLEAR THE WAY!
- Let the skewers help you show where to go
- Face the boss or explore to find the red coins and skip it
- Beware of those pipes parts!

KURIBO'S SAVAGE ISLANDS
- Trek in the dangerous jungle (bring a Kuribo shoe!)
- Or take the sky for an easier ride

FORTRESS OF CONFUSION
- Metroidvania style level in a fortress
- Did you find the 12 invisible coin blocks?

OCEAN DEEP FIRING
- Shoot-'em-up style level with the fire kart
- Use both the kart and Mario himself to proceed

NOW THAT'S A SKULL RIDE
- Inspired by DKC's minecart levels
- Test your concentration and ability to figure things out fast. Pay attention to arrows and coins!
- Sequence break the level and complete it in ways that looks unplanned (but totally are!)

 

[Inkwell]

I just want to point out this thing, because this is going to blow some people's minds, but this is how this works: that level I posted just a while before, P on the door, has an Easy rating and an 8.69% completion rate right now.

Now I'm just confused. There's got to be something somewhere that explains how all of this works. It only has had 10 players, but we're the only ones to have cleared it. I made it through without dying or running out of time. I'm assuming you must have done the same? It also works out as approximately 2 deaths per person at the moment, which isn't too terrible. I feel bad for a brand new player doing easy 100 mario and getting that level.

This is sort of similar to my level Wall Jump Through the Fiery Keep. 0.88% completion rate and it's listed as expert. Most super experts have a lower percentage than that, but on a quick glance I saw some higher. One was at 1.81%.

 

[VandalD]

I'm thinking that maybe the completion rate and course difficulties aren't matching up because of the restart option. If you restart from the pause menu, it records as a death, but it doesn't (I assume) put an X on the stage as if you died. Maybe the courses with very low %s but lower difficulties have a lot of restarts. I really don't know how else they could automatically weight courses, except maybe if they also take into account the amount of time one life typically lasts, or maybe the average finishing time of the course. Just another thing Nintendo doesn't explain.

 

[thecouncil]

Baron Kuribo's Screwy Skewery it is!

I put a lot of work into this, so let me know if any of you find something seriously wrong with it so I can fix it.

Obviously from the name, skewers figure into everything in the level one way or another. I honestly don't know about the overall difficulty. There's a mini-boss fight, as well as a final "boss" fight. I put that in quotes since it's not really a fight. It's more of an endurance thing where you need to stay alive.

Speaking of the boss fight, some people will find it incredibly difficult, and others fairly easy. There's also a way to seriously cheese it as well. I tried to counter it a bit but didn't do well enough. I decided to leave it in since I think people like to figure that kind of thing out.

I loved this level. It was awesome. But that boss fight was odd. I didn't really understand what I was supposed to do until I came on here and saw you write that it was an endurance thing.
The problem is that you're literally thrown into the insanity right after coming through the door and you have absolutely no time to focus on the fact that the spike pillar is breaking stone over on the side. There are immediately an incredible amount of things to dodge.
I found the spot where I could just crouch and wait but I still think it went on way too long. I'm not sure someone will even survive long enough to accidentally realize it's a waiting game.
I'm not so sure how you can fix it though.
I think the final checkpoint should be relocated to right outside the door instead of where it's at because I had to constantly get reset and wait for those spike pillars to break that skull image (which was awesome, by the way). It became a bit frustrating.

That being said, my levels are definitely bad compared to this. Haha.

Also, I favorited you so I can get back to all your other levels.

Finally uploaded a new level the other day.

Wingin' it to the POW Train

Played around with some different concepts involving wings. It's a little tricky and admittedly a bit unpolished, but I had a lot of fun making/testing it. I discovered the mechanic of the last section quite by accident!

As long as I'm signal blasting, I'll do one of my other courses:

Playing with Fire: Bomb Edition

Bomb-inspired platforming and puzzles!

I played these two also and, boy, they were cool. I liked the bomb one more than the other but they were both great. Really inventive stuff in that bomb level and I even commented on the level to say as much. It was awesome.

 

[Inkwell]

I loved this level. It was awesome. But that boss fight was odd. I didn't really understand what I was supposed to do until I came on here and saw you write that it was an endurance thing.
The problem is that you're literally thrown into the insanity right after coming through the door and you have absolutely no time to focus on the fact that the spike pillar is breaking stone over on the side. There are immediately an incredible amount of things to dodge.
I found the spot where I could just crouch and wait but I still think it went on way too long. I'm not sure someone will even survive long enough to accidentally realize it's a waiting game.
I'm not so sure how you can fix it though.
I think the final checkpoint should be relocated to right outside the door instead of where it's at because I had to constantly get reset and wait for those spike pillars to break that skull image (which was awesome, by the way). It became a bit frustrating.

That being said, my levels are definitely bad compared to this. Haha.

Also, I favorited you so I can get back to all your other levels.

I'm glad you mostly liked it, but man am I regretting that boss fight. I thought it would be divisive, but more people are falling on the side of hating it. I'm a little depressed too because it's a little too late to change anything. I have so many better boss ideas too. I'm working on a boss fight level at the moment, and even the one I consider the worst is miles better than this one. This boss was kind of strange to develop because it started out as the mid-boss. I was clearing it very easily. Since I thought it looked pretty cool visually I decided to place it as the final boss. The only major change I made since first making it was adding the doughnut blocks, and no matter what someone has a fire flower before the fight. Both of those were changed just before I uploaded it.

You're totally right about that checkpoint too. I had a bit of a face-palm moment after reading your post. Originally I didn't have the skull there and it was simply the midpoint of the level. There were just a couple more skewers and a door to the next room at the top. See, I had almost everything made at a basic level early on, but constantly shuffled around the room order. I added that skull after the room order was completely set and simply didn't think to move the checkpoint. Stupidly I did most of the boss testing by resetting at the top of that room. Exactly where the checkpoint should be.

 

[Thud]

I just want to point out this thing, because this is going to blow some people's minds, but this is how this works: that level I posted just a while before, P on the door, has an Easy rating and an 8.69% completion rate right now.

Lol what.

Bookmarked just in case.

 

[Gotdatmoney]

I just want to point out this thing, because this is going to blow some people's minds, but this is how this works: that level I posted just a while before, P on the door, has an Easy rating and an 8.69% completion rate right now.

I played it. I like the idea but I ran out of time and had no desire to start from scratch. If there is a checkpoint it needs to be before the like 6th door. The throw into wall, wall jump throw again part was already pushing it but that next part? I dunno if that was the end but the level was not fun enough for me to wanna redo everything else.

 

[thecouncil]

I'm glad you mostly liked it, but man am I regretting that boss fight. I thought it would be divisive, but more people are falling on the side of hating it. I'm a little depressed too because it's a little too late to change anything. I have so many better boss ideas too. I'm working on a boss fight level at the moment, and even the one I consider the worst is miles better than this one. This boss was kind of strange to develop because it started out as the mid-boss. I was clearing it very easily. Since I thought it looked pretty cool visually I decided to place it as the final boss. The only major change I made since first making it was adding the doughnut blocks, and no matter what someone has a fire flower before the fight. Both of those were changed just before I uploaded it.

How come you added the donut blocks? Were those spaces you could just stand without getting hit so you needed to make them unstable?
Did you try making the cannonballs normal speed instead of fast? That might've taken some pressure off.
Does the skewer on the side start doing it's work even if you don't spring the person into the main space? Could the spring be eliminated so that the player has some time to stand off to the side to assess the situation before jumping in and then the skewer starts breaking blocks after you cross that barrier line?

Why do you say it's too late to fix though? You could delete it and re-upload. Or is that the problem? Freakin' Nintendo! You can't even fix things in your level after advice / criticism without losing all the stats / stars / plays you've already accumulated. I wish you could edit and re-upload the uploaded file instead of the save file.

edit: Here's something. I don't remember how much room there is between the skewer and the action in the center, but all that's really needed is a way to convey that the skewer is doing the work and you have to wait until it kills the enemy with the key. You could put a whole vertical set of arrows, in the stone wall, pointing to the action on the right with the skewer and the goomba. You could even stick a key in that wall near the goomba to indicate that is where it will be coming from. Here, I drew a picture because I'm not doing anything else at work. Haha.: http://i.imgur.com/xEHYUg1.png

 

[Inkwell]

How come you added the donut blocks? Were those spaces you could just stand without getting hit so you needed to make them unstable?
Did you try making the cannonballs normal speed instead of fast? That might've taken some pressure off.
Does the skewer on the side start doing it's work even if you don't spring the person into the main space? Could the spring be eliminated so that the player has some time to stand off to the side to assess the situation before jumping in and then the skewer starts breaking blocks after you cross that barrier line?

Why do you say it's too late to fix though? You could delete it and re-upload. Or is that the problem? Freakin' Nintendo! You can't even fix things in your level after advice / criticism without losing all the stats / stars / plays you've already accumulated. I wish you could edit and re-upload the uploaded file instead of the save file.

edit: Here's something. I don't remember how much room there is between the skewer and the action in the center, but all that's really needed is a way to convey that the skewer is doing the work and you have to wait until it kills the enemy with the key. You could put a whole vertical set of arrows, in the stone wall, pointing to the action on the right with the skewer and the goomba. You could even stick a key in that wall near the goomba to indicate that is where it will be coming from. Here, I drew a picture because I'm not doing anything else at work. Haha.: http://i.imgur.com/xEHYUg1.png

Thanks for trying to help! I already have plenty of plays/stars to where it will kill all of the levels momentum if I re-upload . There's a lot to reply to here.

First, you have it right about the doughnut blocks. I tried quite a few other methods but all of them made it even more difficult. Fireballs would nearly be instant hits. Having pits or a single doughnut block to a pit was too punishing. At one point I had a note block under the doughnut block but it ended up feeling a little too troll-like. Those doughnut blocks were the best thing I could think of to remove the safe area. I actually tried using regular cannonballs pretty early on and it made the boss even more difficult. They hung in air so long it made the area even more crowded with projectiles.

I think there's something like 1 or 2 spaces on the left where the skewer will stop moving. It's not that big of a problem though since the player either has to move around a lot, or stand in the safe spots that bring the skewer into view. You actually end up in a completely safe spot if you don't move after the spring launches you in. Even the big cannonball just misses you. It's the only reason I kept it that way. I thought most people wouldn't react fast enough to make that not work.

About your drawing. That specific design wouldn't exactly work, but I could have done something very similar to get the point across. I think I may just suck this up and let the level be what it is. On the positive side, other than gaffers starring to be nice, it seems most people who clear the level star it.

 

[thecouncil]

Thanks for trying to help! I already have plenty of plays/stars to where it will kill all of the levels momentum if I re-upload .

Yeah, it's the pits.

I read everything you wrote there. Thanks for writing it. There's really no need to "fix" any of that level anyway. Like I said, that level is awesome!

You actually end up in a completely safe spot if you don't move after the spring launches you in. Even the big cannonball just misses you. It's the only reason I kept it that way. I thought most people wouldn't react fast enough to make that not work.

That's pretty interesting.

 

[Inkwell]

Yeah, it's the pits.

I read everything you wrote there. Thanks for writing it. There's really no need to "fix" any of that level anyway. Like I said, that level is awesome!



That's pretty interesting.

Oh ok. By the way, it's a safe spot until fireballs come at you from the piranha plants. It happened completely by chance too. You even end up slightly to the right of the doughnut block to where you're standing on solid ground, even though the doughnut block falls.

 

[Dimentios]

I'm a little depressed too because it's a little too late to change anything.

Aw, come on, man. Your level is fantastic. Almost every level has a flaw here and there. It's true, that the boss fight is pretty intense and you will see a lot of X there. But that doesn't change the fact, that this is one of the best SMW castle levels I and most certainly others played. I really died several times (>6-8) but I didn't ragequit or anything. First, my ego is too big to let that happen. Secondly, it is an almost perfect level up to this point and you desevered my respect up to this point, so you earned that fucking completion and star.

Sure, many will skip that level at that point, but lifes are precious man. Dedicated players will keep trying nonetheless. 32 stars to 51 plays is rock solid and I already recommended it to other people. Keep up the good work.

 

[slow-twitch]

For those who like traditional levels, I made World 2 of Lost Levels in Mario Maker. That means I have two first worlds now. (click images for level links)

2-1


2-2


2-3



2-4




It's challenging to remake properly Lost Levels because of the limitations.

• The jump is slightly higher, farther and drops slower.
• Platforms are not solid.
• Level limit is a little smaller (I had to cut some content in 2-2).
• Springs are completely different.
• No turtles flying sideway.
• Shells drops slower.

Despite this, I think my World 2 is pretty close to the original. I'm looking forward at keeping the original feeling on harder levels to remake.

New Level:

A Castle in Time
Theme: SMB3
Difficulty: Normal

It's about time travel. You need to go back in time and retrieve the key to exit the castle.

Let me know what you think!

I liked this one a lot.
Good flow. Difficulty is just right. Well implemented boss.

Baron Kuribo's Screwy Skewery it is!

I put a lot of work into this, so let me know if any of you find something seriously wrong with it so I can fix it.

This is a great skewers level. Good looking, good pace, very active. I don't like skewers levels where you spend most of the time waiting for skewers to move. Your level have none of that.

Like others, I did not really appreciate the boss. It didn't really fit with the rest. Dodging fireballs? It would have been a better fit to dodge skewers no? Don't worry, it did not spoil the whole experience. You do not need to fix anything.

 

[Inkwell]

Aw, come on, man. Your level is fantastic. Almost every level has a flaw here and there. It's true, that the boss fight is pretty intense and you will see a lot of X there. But that doesn't change the fact, that this is one of the best SMW castle levels I and most certainly others played. I really died several times (>6-8) but I didn't ragequit or anything. First, my ego is too big to let that happen. Secondly, it is an almost perfect level up to this point and you desevered my respect up to this point, so you earned that fucking completion and star.

Sure, many will skip that level at that point, but lifes are precious man. Dedicated players will keep trying nonetheless. 32 stars to 51 plays is rock solid and I already recommended it to other people. Keep up the good work.

Thanks! I can be very critical of myself, so it's nice to have encouraging words like this from others.

This is a great skewers level. Good looking, good pace, very active. I don't like skewers levels where you spend most of the time waiting for skewers to move. Your level have none of that.

Like others, I did not really appreciate the boss. It didn't really fit with the rest. Dodging fireballs? It would have been a better fit to dodge skewers no? Don't worry, it did not spoil the whole experience. You do not need to fix anything.

I tried to think of a boss where they were of better use. If the skewers worked more like burners I probably would have. I'm glad you enjoyed the level!

Still bummed about Nintendo deleting my level the other day. It was such a good level. My most densely designed one. Without any explanation as to why it was deleted, I can only assume it was because it wasn't played enough. Now I have to start marketing my levels so they stick around!

So,...

here's one I made. It's very straightforward.

https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses

Can someone please play it?

Pretty nice level. I like how varied the challenges and puzzles are, and it never gets too difficult. I have to admit I was stuck at those skewers for a while trying to figure out the timing to slide under that small gap and jump to the top. I had to laugh at myself when I finally figured out the correct way to do that part.

Here's my latest, Ride Like The Wind. It's a SMB level where you play as the ExciteBike. Everything blows up or falls, so you'll have to keep moving! I imagine this will be a love it/hate it sort of level, I like it though

https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/495E-0000-01F9-6153

Also, so far only 2 people have beaten Incinerator, surely someone else can do it?

I really loved this level except for 2 parts. First was the thwomps. Maybe I was doing something wrong, but I'm sure the intended way was to wait for them to drop for continuing on. I died a few times there trying to figure it out. The player is trained to just keep holding right unless there's some tricky platforming, and having to completely stop and wait goes against the whole first section of the level. It's a bit too abrupt of a change for a player to adjust.

Second part is when you have to bounce upward on the bob-ombs. Having to jump off-screen is always nerve wracking. There's a simple pattern, but you never know if it's going to change up. This is more of a level design pet peeve of mine.

Other than that, the level was super fun. I love straight platforming challenges like this. Both the gameplay and aesthetics are very polished.

The Burial Cave of the Old Koopa. (Bookmark page)
Level Code: 5C82-0000-00F4-8DD0

This was a very interesting level. Even though the underground theme and mushrooms are used quite a bit together, you were still able to pull off something visually unique. It does work against the level a little bit. Sometimes there's a lot going on, and pairing this with the fairly open level design, side areas, and extra pipes, it can get a little confusing. This isn't too serious though since the level is ultimately linear. Players are eveuntually funneled to the correct location. Overall it's a well designed level.

 

[KingBroly]

Hidden Foes and Dinosaur Doors

This one's straight forward and pretty easy. Just something I kinda slapped together.

 

[megaStryke]

I've started working on a "DX" expansion to my set of Mega Man 1 remake levels. These will incorporate levels featured in Mega Man Powered Up for PSP and Dr. Wily's Revenge for Game Boy.

First up is my Oil Man recreation: 6FE3-0000-01FB-27FE

And second is my Time Man recreation: CE99-0000-01FB-2C3B

My next two levels, which will round out the DX set, will be the two Wily levels from Dr. Wily's Revenge. I'll take a short break before I start on those since I'm currently in the process of moving.

I hope everyone enjoys them! I know my levels have been called out as super tough before, but hopefully I'm getting better at giving players more breathing room.

 

[jholmes]

FYI, the Shadow Mewtwo card is NOT compatible with Super Mario Maker.

Got a level in the hopper but I probably won't get it out this weekend, going to be busy with Pokken Tournament and real life.

 

[Dorygrant]

https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/7C5A-0000-01FB-BA3E

The Mushroom Shuffle

My attempt at a more traditional stage! Enjoy!

 

[TheLastFantasy]

New level!

Chamber of Trials
Theme: SMW
Difficulty: Expert

4 rooms, 4 coins, and a hub area with an always-available checkpoint (you can save after each room). Very gimmicky, and kinda tough.

Let me know what you think!

 

[taku]

Here's a little ghost level I made on my brothers account if anyone would like to try it out.

https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/6B28-0000-01FA-5452

My brother also made a Toad level recently.

https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/5B61-0000-01F7-CFD5

Hidden Foes and Dinosaur Doors

This one's straight forward and pretty easy. Just something I kinda slapped together.

Well slapped together. I thought it was short but sweet!

https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/7C5A-0000-01FB-BA3E

The Mushroom Shuffle

My attempt at a more traditional stage! Enjoy!

I think it worked, it did feel more traditional compared to all the crazy levels out there.

 

[jepense]

Some feedback. I bookmarked a bunch of stages but since I haven't had much time to play, I figured I'd play Inkwell's and jholmes' first since you guys drive the thread.

Baron Kuribo's Screwy Skewery it is!

I like the stage a lot, the bosses not so. The end boss has been discussed already, but personally it took me three deaths before I even figured out what the heck I was supposed to do. I know you show how the skewers work plenty during the stage, but the boss just throws so much stuff at you that I didn't even notice Baron Kuribo there. After that I just searched for a cheese spot because I didn't feel like dodging.

As for the stage, maybe you could use the "wait until the skewer retracts" thing a little bit less. Especially the first one where you need to jump down on one is a bit unfair, since I didn't realise I couldn't fit by it before I died on it.

I made a new level! I was going to call it Skewer Shark but chickened out at the last minute. You know what that means, GAF: The name is still yours for the taking!

I invite you to play Skewer Sewer!

This is pretty Nintendo-like in that the stage is easy but the coins add challenge. One thing though: getting the fire flower is difficult even though it's really the beginners who need it. The stage is not too different from my "Go with the flow", although your autoscroll is slower.

Then my own stuff.

Since a lot of people are making new stages with the updated tools, I figured I'd check out the other great addition: failure points. My levels are more difficult than I'd like, so I went and checked some of my old levels for particularly punishing traps and tried to soften them. I also added optional pink coin collecting for extra challenge. Collecting them will give you 1ups and possibly a shortcut. I'm listing all the levels I updated, but I most recommend the first levels on the list.

Oh, and these are all autoscrolling or on-rails levels except for "Equip before you go". It's easy to add optional pink coins in those, and I really like them. But I realise not everyone does.

Red hot railway

This is probably my favorite of my own courses and I highly recommend it if you like on-rails levels. It's a ride through fiery hazards where for the most part you choose between two moving platforms. I made some tough spots easier and added a bunch of coins to hint where to move.

Equip before you go

A level I posted before the update that almost nobody played. You can pick up optional powerups to help you or just superjump your way across spikes. It's now a lot easier than it used to be if you take the shoe. Multijumping is still my preferred method of travel.

Track record

A slow autoscrolling level with buzzsaws. The end was way too hard before, so I made it a lot easier and added pink coins. I like it a lot more now.

Cannonball cakewalk

A shortish airship level. I made some of the jumps easier but at the same time I added some pretty tough pink coins.

Explosive escape

I made a couple of versions of this level before the update, but it was still a bit too difficult. I added some donut blocks to give you a chance to save yourself in some spots where people had died where they shouldn't. Also coins.

Go with the flow

A fast autoscrolling swimming level. I added a mushroom midway through and removed some hazards at the beginning. More importantly there are now pink coins to grab on your way.

 

[Rösti]

My first course in quite a while, Clouded Vision:

https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/038E-0000-01FB-C1FA

A rather short course with a decent challenge. The "theme" is that you don't see Mario for the majority of the stage, and have to rely on more senses than just vision. I found playing this on my TV quite difficult, so best is probably to use the GamePad.

 

[Thud]

Got a level in the hopper but I probably won't get it out this weekend, going to be busy with Pokken Tournament and real life.

I got Pokken Tournament as well. My return to Mario Maker is delayed again haha.

 

[taku]

My first course in quite a while, Clouded Vision:

https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/038E-0000-01FB-C1FA

A rather short course with a decent challenge. The "theme" is that you don't see Mario for the majority of the stage, and have to rely on more senses than just vision. I found playing this on my TV quite difficult, so best is probably to use the GamePad.

You definitely succeeded in playing with my senses, Rösti.
It felt like I was playing where's Waldo (I mean where's Mario) throughout the level! It's good that you kept it short to avoid frustration.. neat idea!

 

[thecouncil]

New level!

Chamber of Trials
Theme: SMW
Difficulty: Expert

4 rooms, 4 coins, and a hub area with an always-available checkpoint (you can save after each room). Very gimmicky, and kinda tough.

Let me know what you think!

Great idea but the timing is too exact on almost all 4 rooms. I couldn't beat it.

The room where you kick the goomba into the cannon/bullet bill was too many levels and then I wasn't even sure what to do at the top with the saw blade coming up behind me.

I didn't get how the spiny room worked. I got to the side with my helmet on, got the POW block but couldn't kill all of the spinys in the same POW block shot. Only some died and I couldn't get to the other side to break the stone to get out.

I also could not get the last jump right on the shell head / spike run. Jumping over the last divet didn't pick the last shell up and falling into that divet wasted too much time.

I actually don't know how you beat it but maybe if there were a youtube walkthrough to show me how it was done, I could follow that or something.

One thing though, how did you place a flag after every section? I thought you could only place a single checkpoint per level?

edit:
I just played your 'A Castle In Time' level and it was awesome. Your levels are really well designed even if that trials one is way too hard for me. Haha.

edit 2:

Pretty nice level. I like how varied the challenges and puzzles are, and it never gets too difficult. I have to admit I was stuck at those skewers for a while trying to figure out the timing to slide under that small gap and jump to the top. I had to laugh at myself when I finally figured out the correct way to do that part.

Oh, thanks for playing! I didn't want people to be able to carry a shell up there but I didn't know how to keep people out of there either!

 

[UlaWeylin]

The Burial Cave of the Old Koopa. (Bookmark page)
Level Code: 5C82-0000-00F4-8DD0

This was a very interesting level. Even though the underground theme and mushrooms are used quite a bit together, you were still able to pull off something visually unique. It does work against the level a little bit. Sometimes there's a lot going on, and pairing this with the fairly open level design, side areas, and extra pipes, it can get a little confusing. This isn't too serious though since the level is ultimately linear. Players are eveuntually funneled to the correct location. Overall it's a well designed level.

Hello. Thank you for the kind words, and I hear you. I try to use up as much space as possibly allowed by Mario Maker but I do make linear levels, but by making the player go back and forth, up and down they get the sense that the level is more open. I always start with a theme, then I create the level from there. Most of my levels are around the 10% mark so they won't be too difficult for your average NeoGAF-player.

Now to some feedback, I have played a lot of good levels from this thread. Too many to give feedback to, so for this post I've narrowed it down to a few of my favourites. Please note, that I consider myself above average but by no means an expert player. I mostly enjoy traditional platforming Mario levels and "easier" speedrunning levels.

I'll begin with your level, which is actually one of my favourite levels (I'm the current record holder and have been for a while now):

I don't think this level is quite finished, but The Witness is out today. This has been my most anticipated game for years. The game seems crazy long if I want to complete everything (I do), so the majority of my gaming time will probably go to this. I wanted to get this level out there before my Mario Maker break. I might pop in here and play a level here and there.

By the way, the level may not seem like it, but the majority of it is set up for speed-running.

Perilous Platforms, Scary Saws

One of my favourite levels made with the Super Mario World theme. Perilous Platforms, Scary Saws offers up a perfect mix between tricky platforming and a speedrun element. Not too easy, not too hard. It looks great and could very well be in a regular Mario game.

I have tried to make easy and hard, short and long!

My favorite creation is Infestation Investigation

A very short but addictive speedrun level. It has a nice look to it and makes me come back to it once in a while to try to beat my previous best times.

Finally uploaded a new level the other day.

Wingin' it to the POW Train

Played around with some different concepts involving wings. It's a little tricky and admittedly a bit unpolished, but I had a lot of fun making/testing it. I discovered the mechanic of the last section quite by accident!

Good level. There's a sense of urgency all through out the level, withouth making it "panicky" or unbeatable. A good speedrun level with a lot of different mechanics and power-ups. My only minor gripe with the level is that sometimes the second flying muncher/cannon combo in the beginning doesn't spawn a cannon. Other than that a very good level.

 

[GokouD]

I really loved this level except for 2 parts. First was the thwomps. Maybe I was doing something wrong, but I'm sure the intended way was to wait for them to drop for continuing on. I died a few times there trying to figure it out. The player is trained to just keep holding right unless there's some tricky platforming, and having to completely stop and wait goes against the whole first section of the level. It's a bit too abrupt of a change for a player to adjust.

Second part is when you have to bounce upward on the bob-ombs. Having to jump off-screen is always nerve wracking. There's a simple pattern, but you never know if it's going to change up. This is more of a level design pet peeve of mine.

Other than that, the level was super fun. I love straight platforming challenges like this. Both the gameplay and aesthetics are very polished.

Thanks the feedback, I'm glad you liked it overall. I think your criticisms are very valid actually. I ummed and erred for ages over that thwomp section and I kind of wish I'd left it out, but couldn't think of anything to replace it with that wouldn't be too similar to the other obstacles! It annoys me because it's the only place in the level where you're likely to take a hit but not die outright, I even had to put the spare costume mushroom in later on to compensate for it. With the right technique it is possible to fly through it pretty fast, and it looks really cool because you're always jumping off the platforms just as the skewer smashes them, but I imagine most people just cheese it and take a hit.
I hadn't even considered what you said about the vertical bomb section, I guess that's a classic example of creators blindness, I knew the pattern so I assumed the player would know it too!


I thought I'd post a level from a few months back which I haven't shared on GAF before, which could do with some love. It has the distinction of being my worst rated level with only 6 stars since December, and a really odd difficulty rating, Normal with a 2.25 % clear rate. It's called Springy Sproings, and it was made after the update with the bumpers so features them heavily. I will admit that it's pretty infuriating in places, but I don't think it's ever unfair, and don't think it deserves to have done as badly as it has. It also has an unintentionally phallic thumbnail image which I'm amazed has survived whatever penis-detection algorithms Nintendo are running!

https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/358E-0000-0127-7DA5

 

[TheLastFantasy]

Great idea but the timing is too exact on almost all 4 rooms. I couldn't beat it.

Thanks! And yeah, I guess it's pretty tough. It requires timing and skill, but I'm pretty sure you can beat it if you keep trying. I specifically added the checkpoint mechanic to avoid frustration.

The room where you kick the goomba into the cannon/bullet bill was too many levels and then I wasn't even sure what to do at the top with the saw blade coming up behind me.

You need to throw it on the spines, then spin jump on it to the door platform.

I didn't get how the spiny room worked. I got to the side with my helmet on, got the POW block but couldn't kill all of the spinys in the same POW block shot. Only some died and I couldn't get to the other side to break the stone to get out.

You need to wear the helmet, kill all the spineys before they land on the platform with it, get the POW block, remove the munchers, break the block on the right side with you helmet, then head to the door.

I also could not get the last jump right on the shell head / spike run. Jumping over the last divet didn't pick the last shell up and falling into that divet wasted too much time.

Yeah, you need to slow down a little, get the shell between the spines, then jump and keep going.

I actually don't know how you beat it but maybe if there were a youtube walkthrough to show me how it was done, I could follow that or something.

I uploaded the level just hours ago, haha. Only one has cleared it so far, and I don't have a capture card to record, sadly. I'll see what I can do.

One thing though, how did you place a flag after every section? I thought you could only place a single checkpoint per level?

You can place two checkpoints, actually; one in each world (the regular world, and the pipe world). When you get to any of the two, the second ones becomes available to use (even if it was already used before). So it's like this: Get to the first one (the one in the hub area), clear a room, get to the second one, then go back to first (available again now!). I hope it's clear.

edit:
I just played your 'A Castle In Time' level and it was awesome. Your levels are really well designed even if that trials one is way too hard for me. Haha.

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed them! And yeah, my levels tend to be widely different from each other, haha. I don't like to stick to a single design pattern, tbh.

 

[J-Fr]

I caught a severe cold just for the Mario Maker update.. I have so many courses to play!


I streamed a few levels, the streaming quality is not quite right yet:

Equip before you go

Minion Disposal Unit v2

Pac Man's New Adventure

Bodacious

Righteous

 

[GokouD]

New level!

Chamber of Trials
Theme: SMW
Difficulty: Expert

4 rooms, 4 coins, and a hub area with an always-available checkpoint (you can save after each room). Very gimmicky, and kinda tough.

Let me know what you think!

I just got the first clear on this with a time of 26 minutes... Absolutely loved it, hard as nails but brilliantly designed, the save point makes the whole thing much more fun than it would be otherwise. How did it work when you were uploading it? Did you have to do all the rooms in one run from each checkpoint? If so, that must been a nightmare! You might like my level Incinerator, it's a similar type of short, tight challenge and so far only 2 people have managed to beat it.

https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/5078-0000-01F5-1FC5

Give it a go if you fancy.

 

[thecouncil]

I uploaded the level just hours ago, haha. Only one has cleared it so far, and I don't have a capture card to record, sadly. I'll see what I can do.

Oh, no, no, no... The descriptions were very helpful. I think I can try to tackle it again based on that. The beetle one is the hardest of those to get right but that spiny one I was just not seeing. Ha.

You can place two checkpoints, actually; one in each world (the regular world, and the pipe world). When you get to any of the two, the second ones becomes available to use (even if it was already used before). So it's like this: Get to the first one (the one in the hub area), clear a room, get to the second one, then go back to first (available again now!). I hope it's clear.

Ohhhh, that's cool. Good to know.

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed them! And yeah, my levels tend to be widely different from each other, haha. I don't like to stick to a single design pattern, tbh.

Yeah, I played a bunch of your levels actually. And, like I said before, they were all very well designed.

 

[Rösti]

You definitely succeeded in playing with my senses, Rösti.
It felt like I was playing where's Waldo (I mean where's Mario) throughout the level! It's good that you kept it short to avoid frustration.. neat idea!

My courses are usually quite lengthy, but that doesn't work well for this concept. There's also a checkpoint on this course mid through, not having one turned out to be quite stressful. Thanks for your comment.

 

[Dimentios]

This guy, man. This guy. <3

 

[thecouncil]

My courses are usually quite lengthy, but that doesn't work well for this concept. There's also a checkpoint on this course mid through, not having one turned out to be quite stressful. Thanks for your comment.

Oh, I played your level too. It was cool. Glad for that checkpoint though, no doubt.

 

[Heropon]

New level!

Maniac mole mines (7127-0000-01FA-582E)

The evil Mushroom Kingdom's moles stole Mario's lasagna and while he was pursuing them he found this facility. Discover what they're doing and reach the end goal!

This level has five pink/red coins to collect and multiple Yoshis scattered around. Do not let them die too much.

 

[RPGam3r]

snip

Awesome feedback! Stupid update made me excited for the key, but it warps to you. Should have just kept the p-switch.

Thanks for playing it, I plan on revisiting the stage with this feedback and removing the issues, especially the once and done pitfalls. I'll also carry that forward for my stages in progress.

Really wish I could use more check points, *shakes fist at two limit*.

Anyway, again really great feedback! Sorry for any frustration/disappointment!

 

[TheLastFantasy]

I just got the first clear on this with a time of 26 minutes... Absolutely loved it, hard as nails but brilliantly designed, the save point makes the whole thing much more fun than it would be otherwise.

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

How did it work when you were uploading it? Did you have to do all the rooms in one run from each checkpoint? If so, that must been a nightmare!

Yep, haha. I did all the rooms many times before though while I was creating the level. So it wasn't really a pain.

You might like my level Incinerator, it's a similar type of short, tight challenge and so far only 2 people have managed to beat it.

https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/5078-0000-01F5-1FC5

Give it a go if you fancy.

Played it (world record, 33 sec). Great level! Simple, creative and challenging. It's the kind of levels I enjoy the most. Followed!

Baron Kuribo's Screwy Skewery it is!

I put a lot of work into this, so let me know if any of you find something seriously wrong with it so I can fix it.

Obviously from the name, skewers figure into everything in the level one way or another. I honestly don't know about the overall difficulty. There's a mini-boss fight, as well as a final "boss" fight. I put that in quotes since it's not really a fight. It's more of an endurance thing where you need to stay alive.

Speaking of the boss fight, some people will find it incredibly difficult, and others fairly easy. There's also a way to seriously cheese it as well. I tried to counter it a bit but didn't do well enough. I decided to leave it in since I think people like to figure that kind of thing out.

Fantastic level! My favorite skewer level I've played so far. Fun, challenging, and visually pleasing. The final boss was tough, but "good" tough. Great job. Definitely looking forward to your next levels.

-------------------------------------------------

Decided to put up a video of my latest level (Chamber of Trials) so that if anyone finds it too difficult, they can at least watch a playthrough of it and tell me what they think.

Super Mario Maker - Chamber of Trials

-------------------------------------------------

I'll come back with more feedback on the levels posted here as soon I play them. Sorry for not being that active.

 

[Inkwell]

I've started working on a "DX" expansion to my set of Mega Man 1 remake levels. These will incorporate levels featured in Mega Man Powered Up for PSP and Dr. Wily's Revenge for Game Boy.

First up is my Oil Man recreation: 6FE3-0000-01FB-27FE


And second is my Time Man recreation: CE99-0000-01FB-2C3B


My next two levels, which will round out the DX set, will be the two Wily levels from Dr. Wily's Revenge. I'll take a short break before I start on those since I'm currently in the process of moving.

I hope everyone enjoys them! I know my levels have been called out as super tough before, but hopefully I'm getting better at giving players more breathing room.

These levels were fun but very challenging. I think you hit a good balance there. If I have a chance I'll take a look at the original set you made. The only major issue I had was the Time Man boss. I got killed way too many times from off-screen chomps that would just come out of nowhere.

https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/7C5A-0000-01FB-BA3E

The Mushroom Shuffle

My attempt at a more traditional stage! Enjoy!

This is a solid level, though I think it would have benefited if it wasn't so dense. Just a little more open space could have helped. The difficulty felt about right, and it did have a traditional feel to it.

New level!

Chamber of Trials
Theme: SMW
Difficulty: Expert

4 rooms, 4 coins, and a hub area with an always-available checkpoint (you can save after each room). Very gimmicky, and kinda tough.

Let me know what you think!

The general design is very good, especially using that checkpoint system. I thought the challenge with the spiny helmet was genius. Unfortunately I couldn't finish the level. The buzzy helmet room was kind of infuriating, but I eventually made it through. It was the fourth challenge that got me. I didn't know what I was supposed to do. I just caught the video you posted a few minutes ago and face palmed. I'll go back to your level soon to try to complete it.

Fantastic level! My favorite skewer level I've played so far. Fun, challenging, and visually pleasing. The final boss was tough, but "good" tough. Great job. Definitely looking forward to your next levels.

Thanks! I think you're the first person to say anything remotely positive about the boss fight.

Here's a little ghost level I made on my brothers account if anyone would like to try it out.

https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/6B28-0000-01FA-5452

My brother also made a Toad level recently.

https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/5B61-0000-01F7-CFD5

Your ghost house was pretty fun and well designed. That last room got kind of crazy, and it was a fun way to make a challenging room filled with boos.

Your brother's level wasn't bad, but it was a tad basic. Having 2 bowser jrs is a tad overkill.

I like the stage a lot, the bosses not so. The end boss has been discussed already, but personally it took me three deaths before I even figured out what the heck I was supposed to do. I know you show how the skewers work plenty during the stage, but the boss just throws so much stuff at you that I didn't even notice Baron Kuribo there. After that I just searched for a cheese spot because I didn't feel like dodging.

As for the stage, maybe you could use the "wait until the skewer retracts" thing a little bit less. Especially the first one where you need to jump down on one is a bit unfair, since I didn't realise I couldn't fit by it before I died on it.

This was my first attempt at trying to make a serious boss fight. I'm doing a boss fight level at the moment trying to make some that are much better. I think I've learned a lot from this and hope this next level is better.

The reason I used the skewer retracting mechanic so much was that it is easily controlled and more consistent. I think skewers are fine for intermittent use, but most of the time you can run right by them. Obviously this doesn't mean it's necessarily a good idea to use them like this. I wondered about that first one. There was another version of that part that actually had a gap just big enough for small mario to fit through if someone jumped down just right. I had to remove because I think a whole lot more people would have died there.

Then my own stuff.

Since a lot of people are making new stages with the updated tools, I figured I'd check out the other great addition: failure points. My levels are more difficult than I'd like, so I went and checked some of my old levels for particularly punishing traps and tried to soften them. I also added optional pink coin collecting for extra challenge. Collecting them will give you 1ups and possibly a shortcut. I'm listing all the levels I updated, but I most recommend the first levels on the list.

Oh, and these are all autoscrolling or on-rails levels except for "Equip before you go". It's easy to add optional pink coins in those, and I really like them. But I realise not everyone does.

Red hot railway

Equip before you go
A level I posted before the update that almost nobody played. You can pick up optional powerups to help you or just superjump your way across spikes. It's now a lot easier than it used to be if you take the shoe. Multijumping is still my preferred method of travel.

Track record
A slow autoscrolling level with buzzsaws. The end was way too hard before, so I made it a lot easier and added pink coins. I like it a lot more now.

Cannonball cakewalk
A shortish airship level. I made some of the jumps easier but at the same time I added some pretty tough pink coins.

Explosive escape
I made a couple of versions of this level before the update, but it was still a bit too difficult. I added some donut blocks to give you a chance to save yourself in some spots where people had died where they shouldn't. Also coins.

Go with the flow
A fast autoscrolling swimming level. I added a mushroom midway through and removed some hazards at the beginning. More importantly there are now pink coins to grab on your way.

All of these level range from good to excellent! I know I've played the majority of these levels before, but I don't remember them playing this smoothly. Especially Explosive Escape. I think you finally nailed it. Also, adding the red coins has made the levels much more fun. The placement is very well done and adds a nice optional challenge. I'm not big on re-uploading levels, but with how improved some of these feel I'm tempted to go back and give it a shot.

One of my favourite levels made with the Super Mario World theme. Perilous Platforms, Scary Saws offers up a perfect mix between tricky platforming and a speedrun element. Not too easy, not too hard. It looks great and could very well be in a regular Mario game.

Thank you . I'll always regret that I rushed it out at the end, but I'm surprised by how well it was received. My newest level started as a bit of a sequel to this but turned into something different.

I thought I'd post a level from a few months back which I haven't shared on GAF before, which could do with some love. It has the distinction of being my worst rated level with only 6 stars since December, and a really odd difficulty rating, Normal with a 2.25 % clear rate. It's called Springy Sproings, and it was made after the update with the bumpers so features them heavily. I will admit that it's pretty infuriating in places, but I don't think it's ever unfair, and don't think it deserves to have done as badly as it has. It also has an unintentionally phallic thumbnail image which I'm amazed has survived whatever penis-detection algorithms Nintendo are running!
https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/358E-0000-0127-7DA5

I'm cracking up about that thumbnail. I missed that in the original post the first time through.

The level has some tricky sections, but I'm not sure why it has such a low clear rate. I would be curious to see where all the deaths are. I had trouble at 2 parts. The first is the descending bumpers. The next is the very end. I died there because I didn't realize you needed much more momentum going into it, but you have that checkpoint right there.

New level!

Maniac mole mines (7127-0000-01FA-582E)

The evil Mushroom Kingdom's moles stole Mario's lasagna and while he was pursuing them he found this facility. Discover what they're doing and reach the end goal!

This level has five pink/red coins to collect and multiple Yoshis scattered around. Do not let them die too much.

Excellent level. It felt like it could have come straight out of SMW. It had a nice look to it. I like how the bridges are suspended by "ropes". Again, great job with this one.