Super Mario Maker (Wii U)
By: Nintendo
GIVEN that the patron saint of gaming has shaped its very DNA, it is inevitable that the recent deluge of creation software, from Minecraft to LittleBigPlanet, leads to a slew of Mario-inspired levels.
And to celebrate three decades of fungi-fuelled princess-rescuing, Nintendo are finally giving us the keys to the Mushroom Kingdom, letting fans shake their Mario Maker using genuine assets.
The original Super Mario Bros, one of the most perfectly crafted games in history, turned 30 a fortnight ago, though Nintendo improved on perfection with each sequel. Mario Maker features landscapes, enemies and assorted ephemera culled from the original, 8-bit high-point Super Mario Bros 3, stone-cold classic Super Mario World and the New Super Mario Bros series.
Mario represents the cream of gaming – and it's now time to churn your own rich goodness from the comfort of your bedroom before releasing it on the world. The touch-screen's drag and drop interface trumps the competition for the most accessible game-maker yet.
Reaching clumsily inside Mario's toolbox for the first time, SMM keeps things from becoming overwhelming, holding back content over a nine-day crash course. You'll quickly learn the ropes, however, merrily uploading your masterpieces so the world can point and laugh.
And if your creative pipes are clogged with old age, simply enjoy other people's efforts. The amateur creations are already fantastic, albeit highlighting just how brilliant the real deal is. Initial trends are for elaborate Rube Goldberg devices that play themselves and brutal efforts that are torturous to traverse, though not if you're skillz like what I am.
And you're not restricted to Mario, with an Expendables-esque gang of ageing pixel stars to command, including Link, Pac-Man and Sonic, along with the dreaded 'Skinny Mario' who looks like the last kind of guy you'd want to see in a play park.
Mario, it seems, can do anything (except manage an honest day's plumbing), and his latest is a sheer joy, full of princesses, bright dungarees and big, bushy moustaches.
The surprisingly deep mechanics of Nintendo's well-oiled machine make this the closest thing to being Shigeru Miyamoto without living in Japan as a nationally treasured man-child, while its canny mix of iconic nostalgia and powerful creation tools combine to make Minecraft look like poking some stones around in a box.
