Mario has starred in a number of spin-off games over the years that place him out of his platforming comfort zone. From playing various sports at the Olympic Games to beating other Nintendo characters senseless in Super Smash Bros., Mario has seen action in all kinds of video game genres.
This latest genre, however, might be a first for the Italian plumber: shoot em' up.
Using the apparently limitless power of the upcoming Super Mario Maker, the folks over at GameXplain have taken Mario and all his enemies airborne in a game they call "Super Shmup Bros."
Featuring a fire-ball wielding Mario in a cloud car and more airborne enemies than even Star Fox is comfortable fighting off, this custom level looks intense. Players must fire at enemies while dodging spike projectiles, invincible enemies and deadly flying bombs. Mario fires off his fireballs at an angle, requiring players to fly above enemies and fire down on top of them, all while bobbing and weaving through flying squids and deadly spikes.
It starts off relatively slow but quickly picks up. At around the 50 second mark in the video below the action gets truly intense. Spikes fill the screen, but whoever is behind the controller proves they know what they are doing, emerging unscathed. Just when you think Mario has made it to the end, none other than Bowser Jr. appears to crash the party. Only after he is defeated are Mario and viewers finally allowed to breath easy.
If this isn't proof that Super Mario Maker is a powerful tool, I don't know what is. The game truly does look to let the creativity of Nintendo fans truly shine. No doubt there will be plenty of other absolutely crazy creations made in the game in the weeks and months to come, and we can't wait to see what fans cook up next. For more on Super Mario Maker, be sure to check out some of the Easter eggs hiding on the game's start screen, or see how one user has already recreated Flappy Bird in the game.
Super Mario Maker releases on Nintendo's Wii U console Sept. 11.
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