With Super Mario Maker's servers being completely shut down on 31st March (the original Wii U game, that is, not Super Mario Maker 2 on Switch), one indie developer has decided to give it a mighty send-off.
That send-off arrives in the form of a 36-course feast courtesy of Ultra Dolphin Revolution, a developer which has been wonderfully dedicated to the Wii U throughout its life and beyond. The studio has launched at least one game per year on the Wii U eShop throughout the Switch's time on the market, with the most recent titles being 2020's Space Hunted: The Lost Levels, and Seasonal Assistant which launched just over a month ago.
"We here at Ultra Dolphin Revolution are huge fans of the iconic gaming plumber," the team says. "We’re also huge fans of the original Super Mario Maker and are sad to see the service ending. As our final send off and celebration for Mar10 Day, our team of play testers have created over 32 courses and have dubbed them 'The Last Levels'. Each course ranges from various difficulty and styles."
We've shared the first eight of these levels below, but you can check out all of the Course IDs in a specially-made PDF here.
If you do decide to try these out, make sure to let us know how you get on in the comments below.
Comments 45
Is 6 years really long enough for a server based game to 'live'
Maybe... and maybe not. I do get that the Wii U was a bit of a special case due to it's very small user base. But still, I hope this won't be the fate of similar games on Switch - including SMM2 of course.
When I like a game, I come back to it down the years - if the game allows.
The title is misleading. You'll still be able to play preexisting courses in April and beyond, just not upload new ones.
Super Mario Maker's servers aren't getting shut down. You just can't upload anymore.
@brunojenso I think Nintendo monitors how many active users a game has and even what features they use. So if a game like MarioMaker 1 doesn't have a lot of uploaders anymore, it's safe to end the services on it. No more need for moderation and such.
So yeah, one day Nintendo will release MarioMaker 3. And a few years after that they will discontinue MarioMaker 2.
wow what an amazing effort! kinda sad for people that wont download them if they dont know
Discontinuing uploads is as anti-consumer as it gets. Buy this game, but throw it in the trash on March 31, 2021. It's as bad as putting an expiration date on food.
I think most agree that Nintendo's online support isn't optimal in 2021.
@Burning_Spear I agree with what you say overall but that comparison doesn't make sense.Food needs an expiration date,expired food can cause health issues.
@brunojenso
They were just as disrespectful to the Wii and its userbase, while that thing was wildly popular. I'm sure the Switch will get the same treatment once it's last gen. That's just one of the unfortunately many nasty quirks of Nintendo.
@Randomname19 Food companies, like Nintendo, just want you to discard perfectly good items and needlessly purchase another. I've got a giant bag of mini Yodels from several Halloweens ago, and I'm not going to buy another until all those Yodels have been consumed. It's my right to eat them whenever I want to.
@sanderev Yeah sad but true. I just wish they could leave them a bit longer. Also I hope they give it one last update so that inactive features don't flash up error dialogs and obstruct when your trying to enjoy offline content. Wipeout 2048 on Vita is a terrible for that - they chopped the multiplayer servers but left the game with about four online-error messages before you could enter the campaign. It's a brilliant game but feels ruined now before you start because the lazy company couldn't be arsed doing final maintenance on the game. I hope Nintendo is more responsible in how they walk away form their games. Anyway it is what it is
You can still play street fighter 4 online on the PlayStation 3
Does anybody have some really good levels to recommend we download before the servers shut down?
@1UP_MARIO A fighting game doesn't require moderation. User created content does. You will still be able to play SMM1 courses after 3/31, just not upload new ones.
This is why I don't buy games like this. Because they are abandoned making them pretty much unplayable. It'd be nice if they would let the fans continue on and host their own servers but I'm sure Nintendo would shut that down too.
@Aurumonado There's no rush to download levels. The servers aren't going anywhere. The author of the article just didn't do a very careful job of reading Nintendo's notice.
What's ending at the end of the month is the ability to upload brand new courses. Otherwise, the online features will essentially remain intact for Super Mario Maker.
Worth noting that the 3DS port never featured level uploading. While a sad change, this essentially brings both versions to an equal footing.
@nab1 that’s a fair point
@Burning_Spear do you do that with milk by any chance as well? Just curious.
@brunojenso honestly though I'd say that's mostly my issues with online-dependent games in most form. the fact that servers can and WILL close someday.
Which's why I'm glad for every games that leaves room for local or at the very least wireless local multiplayer. Since that does leave at least an "option" less dependent on game servers.
@acNewUpdates
This article almost made me doubt this fact.
I thought any levels already uploaded on SMM would still be playable after the shutdown. Am I wrong?
This article is wrong, unless you know something that Nintendo isn't telling us. Because so far, they just announced that there weren't going to be any new level uploads, and the bookmark website won't work anymore. That's a big bummer, but as far as I know, we can still play the levels that are there, until they announce their shutting it down for good.
Hey look, something else Nintendo is doing that people are overreacting about and NintendoLife is blowing out of proportion and providing misinformation.
Online games get shut down all the time. But hey, that's not even what's happening here (as this article states), they're just shutting down uploads while leaving the ability to play ones already up. But yes, even that will be gone someday. It's an online game, no one in their right mind should expect it to last forever.
They should give the Option for Dedicated Servers nowadays.
I can play the original Doom online and Quake 3, but Games from the last Ten years die?
Thats really disappointing.
@Randomname19
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony
@Burning_Spear The game is six years old and it is on a dead console.
@brunojenso yeah I hope mario maker 2 doesnt share this same fate
@Burning_Spear Anti-consumer to what...the 50 people who still play this game? Everyone moved on by this point
@Burning_Spear how is it anti consumer to shut down servers on a 6 year old game that you can get on switch. it has had its run. that is the problem with online based games most if not all the content will be unavailable in a few years because no one is playing
@Burning_Spear
dude um i would maybe trust the expiration dates for your own good unless it is like bottled water. seriusly why does bottled water have a expiration date that is just dumb
@Shadowthrone
2k gets shut down after 2 years but people dont complain about that. they complain about everything else but not that
@Doktor-Mandrake
they will in 5-7 years when it is irellavent
@blindsquarel Sort of interesting how a game can become so "irrelevant" in 5-7 years
Sounds like bs to me
I thought only UPLOADS were being turned off for SMM1.
You can still play the levels after March just can’t upload the levels you have made.
You should really correct this article, it’s confusing lots of people.
Your site is meant to offer news, not confuse people by misleading them.
Thank you for the new levels Ultra Dolphin Revolution!
I played the space hunted level ASAP when I got Mario Maker recently.
The ending A vs ending B was a good design tip for new players.
@Doktor-Mandrake
when they release a sequal with the a near identical name. i do not know anyone who said. well i cant play mario maker 2 i have to know what happens in the original
The ides of March.
@Sculptor The Wii (and DS) were a different situation. The online servers used for games were owned by another company that was shutting down. Nintendo had no choice because they didn't own the servers themselves.
One last hurrah on Super Mario Maker? Why the devil not. A Mario game i enjoyed (reminded me of Mario paint a little), so will have a go again. It had a good run.
@blindsquarel I really cant see how they could make a mario maker 3 without literally just being the same game
Only thing I could see them doing at this point is a mario maker "3D"
honestly at least for me the idea of creating my own levels has gotten stale. most levels i find are just either unfairly hard or just very simple. and a 3d maker i think is good idea but hard to execute. i think that most worlds would be pretty bad. i hope nintendo makes a new 2d mario.( not in the new series but one that is creative and has a unique art style and this is comin from someone who likes those games)
@blindsquarel Bottled water has an expiration date because of the plastic in the bottle. After a certain amount of time, the plastic alters how the water is and it isn't a good idea to drink anymore.
@acNewUpdates That got me confused as well.
I played these courses. While they are rather challenging (some even outright trollish), I didnt find them remarkable, or at least remarkable enough to go through the hassle of searching for them.
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