Super Mario Maker is clearly the sort of game that was always designed to grow and evolve over time. In fact, gamers have already seen it: Nintendo has been adding new items and mechanics — such as checkpoints — ever since the game first launched. It's surprising, especially given Nintendo's history with online updates. Thankfully, Super Mario Maker has improved quite a bit over the past few months. Now, Nintendo is aiming to fix one of the game's longest-standing issues.
While it's easy to hop into Super Mario Maker and play a random level, finding something specific can be a nightmare. It's clear that the system in place simply wasn't designed with such functionality in mind. But, thanks to the Super Mario Maker Bookmark system, players will finally have an alternative to the game's frustrating search options.
Launching on Dec. 21, Super Mario Maker Bookmark is basically a browser-based search engine made specifically for the game. Once the site launches, players will be able to sign in with their Nintendo IDs and start searching for stages with a litany of different filters. It's still relatively simple, but even so, Bookmark looks to be a vast improvement over the system found in the game:
A new search engine is great, but it just wouldn't be a Super Mario Maker update if there weren't some new toys to play with. For the December update, Nintendo is adding in a few items that should open up the level-creation tools quite a bit. The first of these new items is relatively simple: the 'bumper' is basically a giant round rubber block. It's similar to the Note blocks, except that it'll push Mario back in any direction — it's a lot like the bouncy pinball pins in classic Sonic the Hedgehog games.
There's also the new 'P-Warp Door,' and anyone who played through Super Mario World back in the day will instantly recognize it: normally, the door is invisible, but if you hit a P-Block, it'll magically appear. The P-Warp Doors were a huge part of classic Ghost House levels, and they should fit in right at home with Super Mario Maker.
Finally, anyone hoping to make a shoot-em-up level that doesn't scroll diagonally will be happy to know that Nintendo is adding in a new version of the Koopa Car built specifically for those stages. The new 'Fire Koopa Clown Car' fires in a straight line, meaning that designers won't have to MacGyver the standard Koopa Car and a Fire Flower anymore — no more firing at an awkward downward angle.
It'll be interesting to see where Nintendo goes from here — the publisher is clearly listening to its fans when it comes to adding in new features. Who knows, maybe we'll finally get that Paper Mario filter....
Bookmark, the bumper, the P-Warp Door and the Fire Koopa Clown Car will all arrive in Super Mario Maker on Dec. 21.
Editor's Note: Story was updated to correct the release date to Dec. 21.
