30
years after the original Mario NES game, Nintendo has released Super Mario
Maker, a game where players can create their own Mario levels and other people
can play their creations. Nintendo
has created a game that allows players to freely create whatever they want. Thousands
of Super Mario Bros players have spent millions of hours making Mario levels.
But are they of quality?
Grayson
Davis expresses his opinion about the level creations from players:
"I’ve played levels that were clearly
the first attempt of a 10-year-old who didn’t appear to have much enthusiasm to
begin with. I’ve played levels designed to be as hard as possible without being
remotely fair—slogs of unpredictable traps and random deaths. I’ve played
levels built around obvious, tiresome gimmicks. Many levels are simply broken,
with obstacles much harder or easier than they should be, shortcuts that
shouldn’t work, and elaborate contraptions that don’t function as
intended."
Grayson
Davis doesn’t think that bad designs in videogames are all that bad:
"Bad design isn’t always always without value. On the
contrary, Mario Maker is an amazing tool. Much like listening to someone
describe their dreams, the Mario Maker experience is a fragmented mess, […]
So video game producers and art directors
put them in their creations to draw on that shorthand."
It is interesting
to see what players create. Mario maker allows us to take a peek into the inner
workings of the creator's mind. It enables us to witness and experience
processes of creativity. Grayson Davis has played many creations from Mario
Maker and found that:
"Many
creators work within the framework of other Mario games, either emulating or
subverting those conventions. [...] Other creators try to simulate other genres
entirely, making levels that resemble Metroid-style exploration games or
bullet-hell schmups.
[...]
We
share our thoughts and feelings as they tumble out, and Mario Maker would be a
poor creative tool if it tried to corral player expression into a prescriptive
formula. It is exciting to consider that, at any point, I can explore levels
that are, yes, sometimes mean and ugly, but also far more singular and personal
than anything Nintendo will ever make."
After
reading about Grayson Davis's experiences with Mario Maker, I think that the game
was intended for letting out your imagination, whether the level designs are
good or not. Players don't have to follow rules or any fundamentals of level
design. They are free to create whatever they want, even if their levels are
extremely absurd.
This Week in Videogame
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Grayson Davis article Super
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