Super Mario Maker screenshot (Photo : YouTube)
Facebook's recent Hackathon gave the social network's employees the chance to create a Super Mario level at the tech company's California headquarters. The event arose from Nintendo's invitation to make, beat, and crowdsource the world's most challenging level possible for Super Mario Maker.
Mario Maker has a September 11 release date. In an interesting twist on the popular franchise it allows players to design and share game levels.
The game allows players to put bricks, coins, mushrooms and turtles anywhere they want, according to ABC7 News. This is done by using the Wii U's controller touchscreen.
Nintendo and Facebook struck an interesting deal. The Japanese video game giant gave Facebook a sneak peek of Mario Maker so it could design its own ultra-difficult level, according to NDTV.
The game's launch will also celebrate the 30th anniversary of the "Super Mario" franchise, allowing players to crowdsource levels for play. It was first released for the Famicom (Japan's Nintendo Entertainment System) console on Sep. 13, 1985.
AJ Glasser is a Facebook team manager. He told Agence France-Presse (AFP) at the event that the company includes some of the tech industry's brightest people, allowing them to make "diabolical" puzzles.
Glasser said that such skills are ideal for Mario Maker. The goal of the new game is to reinvent a franchise that is three decades old.
Competing teams made game levels that included tricky jumps, tough enemies, and challenging sections. They also infused Facebook or Instagram logos and "thumbs up" icons.
Krysta Yang of Nintendo of America told AFP that the players must be able to beat levels that they make. It is not enough just to make people crazed.
Facebook's team took different design approaches. Some methods included using graph paper to make diagrams, sketching plans on white boards, and arranging sticky notes and then reshuffling them.
Sony's PlayStation and Microsoft's Xbox have worked to create high-resolution action-packed games. Nintendo has gone in a different direction. It has focused more on creating fun games that feature franchises such as Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, and Wii Fit.
