10 Best Super Mario Maker Levels

At first glance it would seem that Super Meat Boy and Super Mario Bros. couldn’t be further apart as far as platformers go. After playing this New Super Mario Bros. rendition of a Meat Boy level however, you’ll realize that there’s very little separating the two. The spinning saw blades, the wall jumping, the enemy-spewing pipes, it’s all here. The level itself might be a bit short but like its namesake it requires near perfect jumps and reflexes. If you’re looking for a fun challenge, give it a shot.

This level, like many others on this list, is a very clever use of the existing tools in Mario Maker. The point of this level is to not only navigate the level as Mario, but also make sure you keep the path open for Yoshi as it travels an alternate path. This level requires expert timing and a bit of trial and error as there are multiple ways Yoshi can go, and only one path will lead to the end. It might take a bit for the concept of the level to click but when it does it’s an extremely satisfying experience. This level is perfect for anyone looking for a unique Mario challenge.

If you’ve played Super Star Wars on the SNES at any point in your life this level will feel familiar to you, only better. This level takes some platforming elements from the SNES Star Wars game and uses clever level design to really drive home the Star Wars aesthetic. This level runs through the entirety of Episode IV so naturally only so many things can make it into the final level. Not only is this a fun level to play through, it’s a better Star Wars platforming experience than even the old SNES games.

Ever wanted to know how Mario would handle himself on Shadow Moses Island? Well this level’s got you covered. This level uses the ghost house theme to recreate the Metal Gear aesthetic and while there isn’t a lot of stealth outside of some boos here and there, the feeling of Metal Gear is there. There’s even a fairly well done Hind-D battle at the end that feels like an actual boss fight. This level emphasizes puzzle solving and patience more than the traditional run-and-jump Mario mechanics. Overall, a pretty good homage to Metal Gear Solid.

This level is series of micro-challenges similar to the Warioware games, and you even get to play as Wario. These challenges are all one-room puzzles that need to be cleared quickly, as some of them will become impossible if you linger too long. Every time you clear a challenge music blocks will play a neat little rendition of the Warioware stage clear music. Once again, this level shows how many drastically different playstyles and design elements can come to life in Mario games. If you enjoy a bite-sized experience, give this level a try.

That’s right, even the Charlie Brown Christmas special has a Mario Maker level. This level runs through the whole thing, the pageant scene, the picking of the tree in the tree lot, and even a question mark block power-up to really tie things together. Best of all, this level features a pretty good Charlie Brown theme played by music blocks. There’s no real challenge to this level, it’s more of a pleasant stroll for those who enjoyed this Christmas special when they were younger, or even those who’ve never seen it and want to experience it.

Recently a good number of event courses were added to the game as part of an update, and while most of them are simple and serve to teach some basic building mechanics and themes, there are some real gems in there. One such gem is Bowser’s Puzzle Dungeon. Anyone familiar with the Kaizo Mario series will immediately recognize this level of complexity and challenge. The kicker here is that this is a Nintendo made level so the puzzles, traps and challenges feels more robust and fair than anything the Kaizo Mario series has had before. If you’re looking for a real challenge then try your hand at this dungeon.

If you’ve browsed the top creators section of Mario Maker at all you’ll have seen that one of the top creators is IGA. This is famous Castlevania director and level designer Koji Igarashi. Of course, his levels are mostly recreations and re-imaginings of Castlevania levels in a Mario Bros. template. this level is a recreation of the the first level from Castlevania on the NES. All of the enemies from that level are featured in their Mario counterparts. Goombas are zombies and a wiggler takes the place of the dog.There’s no giant bat boss to speak of but everything fro mthe level design and layout to the enemy placement is extremely well done, which is to be expected from Koji Igarashi. If you miss Castlevania like a lot of us do, this level is right up your alley.

Auto-scrolling levels are a dime-a-dozen in Mario Maker, and they’re also some of the most popular levels. This level changes things up a bit by making it a bit more involved, and unforgiving. Rather than just holding right or not doing anything at all, you’ll to do some pretty well timed jumps over spike pits, or die and start all over. All the while a very good Green Hill Zone theme plays below on music blocks. As far as auto-play levels go, this level is actually a breath of fresh air and a lot of fun.

Before the most recent update added the fire-breathing clown car, a fire flower and a normal clown car was all you could use to mimic a side-scrolling shmup(shoot’em up). There’s no ground or platforms in this level, just you and a clown car against the world. It’s surprising how well Mario aerial enemies fit the shmup without making the level feel like too much of a bullet hell. There’s a even a boss fight against Bowser Jr. at the end of this admittedly short level. If you fancy something new or want some inspiration for your own shmup level, give this level a shot, no pun intended.