Random: Super Mario Maker Creator Proposes Marriage Through a Special Level

Cool. I remember that other doomed Miiverse romance story. Watched a little bit of it again. It was hilarious.

Where's the question mark and did she finish the level?

D'aww...and now it's time to go back to being lonely!

@Daemonite IF she said no, I don't think we would know about it lol

Man, it's a Game Over.

That's precious!

Good going. Happy gaming.

So the guy gets the girl and enough stars to upload whatever level he wants to upload.
Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for 60 more stars in order to upload my next ten levels. Sigh.

Would have been more poetic if it was "Will You MARIO Me?".

Although... more ambiguous and potentially confusing.

"Yes! ...I think so! It depends, what exactly does that involve?"

The super secret bonus level says, How Do You Feel About A Prenup

Very nice. I had that idea years ago and was working on a 1 level romhack of SMB2 to propose to my then girlfriend. Broke up and never finished it. Haha

That is nice. I'll admit I did laugh to myself when I saw the end part to the stage, she got no choice but to say yes in game.

I figured a yes/no door/pipe to the flag or pit (with sound & visual effects) would add some spice to the stage.

I get that this was supposed to be sweet but there are million of better ways to propose.
Pretty cringey imo but to each their own.

This is going to get super awkward for some other guy with a girlfriend named Pam when the level comes up for her. lol

Neat! Now this is a proposal method I'd be fine with.

Been thinking of trolling my girlfriend of 15 years by making a level that would make her think it was a proposal, but would actually just be something along the lines of 'Will you make me a sandwich?'

That's cute and all, but that level is really unimaginative and boring. It's unfair to all those ingenious MM creators out there that this guy gets so much attention just because he proposed with an awful level that any beginner could do better. Besides, it's nothing special anymore, people propose digitally all the time nowadays.

@AlexSora89: No offense, but then you're doing something wrong. I'm not saying I'm doing something right, it took a long time until I got 50 and then 100 stars. Other makers were a lot faster and got more stars per level than me.
But now I'm at 102 stars (for a while now) and only created 10 levels so far. I barely ever scratched the level creation limit. I think when I got 50 stars, I had 6 levels created.
Now as I wrote before, that's not much at all, it's not a big achievement or anything, others were a lot faster and more successful.

But my point is: Maybe you should put more creative energy into a single level instead of spreading your creativity too thin? You don't need to make so many levels, rather focus on making one really awesome level and then the next one.
Again, no offense, as I don't even know your levels. It's just based on assumption and meant as good advice.

If you like, you can send me a few bookmark links of your levels (or just send a link to your bookmark profile). I'll happily play and (maybe) star them and can make a few suggestions (if I see anything that could be improved, that is) if you like.
And/Or you can post them in the Mario Maker thread, spreading the word can help too.

@shani
No offense taken! I love to experiment, so criticism is just as welcome as any feedback. Cue the shameless plug:
https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/profile/AlexSora89
Thirty levels waiting for you, enjoy!

@AlexSora89 Lol I got your first post wrong, I thought you made only 10 levels in total and were waiting to get 6050 stars. ^^
Now it makes way more sense.

Anyway, just bookmarked all of them at once, looking forward to play your levels, haven't played much MM recently anyway.
And now that I can see your stats, I don't think there's too much wrong with what you did.

@shani Care to try my level? Here it is if you're interested. This also goes to everyone reading this. https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/CABF-0000-01E7-6BB6
I accept criticism, makes me better. I expect feedback. Thanks!

This is unusual...

@shani
Thanks ^^ the thing I wanted to share the most is my Bandicoot Lands series, keeping the Crash Bandicoot flame alive by Mario-fying some of that series' levels - and I have, like, four more levels to upload, with some original stuff thrown in for good measure - like Bowser Jr.'s Spike Pillar Castle, a level entirely based on that mechanic. Thank you for bookmarking my levels, however, it means a lot to me - even though my earlier stuff isn't that much noticeable (Warfare Lagoon isn't particularly special, just Cheep Cheep spawned from Bullet Bill blasters). Hopefully you'll find something enjoyable in there!

@AlexSora89: Np mate. The Crash Bandicoot themed levels were the first that I noticed in the list. I'm curious how you implemented it, since the CB games were 2D but with a 90° rotated view.
@TodBehalter Sure, just bookmarked it.

I sometimes forget MM for some time and then go to the bookmark page to play some of the suggestions. And most of the time, they are really great levels.

But from time to time I like to try people's levels (on NL in the MM thread or sometimes at reddit), because it gives you an insight to how other people tackle level creation and what ideas they come up with. Sometimes I'm just astonished and enjoy playing their levels and sometimes I even draw inspiration from them for my own levels.

By the way - and I don't mean that as a deal like "I play/star your levels and you play/star mine" - if you like to try [my levels, I'd appreciate it and look forward to any feedback or criticism.

@shani
It wasn't that hard, actually - I was simply pragmatic when converting the non-sidescrolling parts. For example, there was a part in the original Cold Hard Crash (from Crash Bandicoot 2) where Crash found himself in front of two rows of crates:

The Bandicoot Lands counterpart of the stage solves the problem by using a single row.
The sidescrolling parts, however, have been kept more or less intact, with ceiling Spinies acting as stalactites.

And yes, the bonus area is still there, as is the skull route.

Needless to say, side-scrolling levels are the priority; but despite the fact I won't convert ALL levels, giving a sample of all settings by creating at least one level per type is still my plan (I converted Crash 3's Under Pressure, but its companion stage, Deep Trouble, won't make the cut). And of course, entirely 3D stages aren't out of the equation, either - one of the levels ready to be uploaded is Crash Bandicoot 3's Gee Wiz, with, of course, giant Kameks acting as the replacement for the tall wizards seen in the medieval Crash levels.

The best compliment I've been heard is on a Miiverse comment for my version of Crash 1's infamously hardest stage, Slippery Climb: going through the trouble of using a single map in order to justify the original level's only checkpoint really paid off, as one player commented "it's just like the original", which is the best thing I could ever want to hear about it.

@shani
Forgot to mention, bookmarking your stages as well right now.

@shani Actually for your "don't touch your gamepad" level add in a little more spice to it, such as: getting close calls/near deaths, chain reactions, and a fast rhythm. Meaning try not to make parts where you wait. Avoid conveyer belts or try not making them longer as well as the moving platforms. But other than that I really enjoyed the role play level you had for your Up/Down level. Nice job! What do you think about mine?

@TodBehalter: To be honest, it was my first and only auto-level (I don't like auto levels) and the main reason I did it was to get more stars. I needed 50 stars and was of the opinion that the auto levels get way too many stars (that was before the bookmark portal). So, to prove my theory right, I did an auto-level and sadly, it got more stars than my other levels although I didn't put as much effort and passion into it than into the other levels. But of course it did still take a lot of time to make it work. I even left some unnecessary elements in there just as a distraction and, regarding near deaths, tried to create passages where you barely make it out alive. But I guess that could've been done better.

Long story short: I don't think I'll make another auto level and I'm doubtful that I'll ever do an update of "Don't touch your gamepad". But if I do, I'll surely come back to your advice here and work on it.

Sahara's sacred shrine was intriguiging, but a bit confusing. I didn't find the way and gave up after a lot of plays. But I left a Miiverse comment about where I got stuck.

@AlexSora89: Ah interesting, looks like a sophisticated approach then.
So far I played BL: Under Pressure and Bye Bye Blimps (and a few non-BL-levels) because as I just realized, I only bookmarked the first page of your levels, so I have to bookmark the other 20 levels too. ^^
As I wrote in Miiverse (I think), Under Pressure was really relaxing (in a good way!), while Bye Bye Blimps was sometimes a bit too unforgiving, but generally neatly designed. I have to watch playthroughs of the original levels to make a comparison. I also have to go back to Bye Bye Blimps because I want to find the p-block.

@shani Ooo you should've seen the creative boss I made at the end. The pow blocks make a pathway on top of the spikes, you carefully hold them and place them without POW-ing anything. That should give you the full experience.

@TodBehalter Oh so that's what they were meant for! Honestly, and I mean this as feedback/criticism, it's totally not evident for the player that they're meant to be used that way. Some kind of visual hint would be helpful.

@shani
Actually, Bye Bye Blimps was perhaps my most ambitious BL level, if only for how non-linear the original stage was.

The player was supposed to take down seven blimps for the level goal to appear; I sort of tried to give the same feeling, but it could never be exactly the same. Still, I rushed to my console to make the level as soon as that one software update threw Fire Clown Cars into the mix.

Under Pressure being relaxing is kind of the point - after all, it was the second level in Crash Bandicoot 3, which is why I chose it over the way less forgiving Deep Trouble as the underwater level representative.

Also, the Fire Flower and the Buzzy Beetle Empty Shell were meant to represent the Submergible (called just like that according to Bandipedia) appearing in both underwater levels. You could wear the latter Mario item as a helmet, I suppose, but within the BL context it would kind of defeat its purpose. It would make the "you're supposed to light the big Bob-Omb's fuse" puzzle that comes shortly afterwards a bit less confusing, though.

Once I figure out how to do so, I will also upload "Bandicoot Land Bosses", but don't hold your breath for those. I would love to be able to convert living Scarface homage Pinstripe Potoroo (pictured above; the name is "munched" because the CB series wrote its bosses' names over their own lifebars) and other similarly creative bosses, but time will tell if I will, eventually, manage to do so.

@gcunit You sir are a genius.

@shani Oh! You know what that is true! I'm definitely doing that. It is essentially suppose to be a puzzle level but I think I failed trying to state that on my title. But thanks for the heads up, I will add a riddle as the visual element for my audience. Thanks

@TodBehalter I give up, at least for now.
I was about to say that it's probably because of the missing hint (which you already added, nice) that the clear rate is only 0,99%.
But then I defeated the mid-boss after a lot of tries and the end boss took me even more tries and is really a hard nut to crack. But not because of the challenge itself but because of the design.
Now before I go deeper into that, I hope this doesn't come off as overly critical, but I see similar mistakes/design choices that I did in several of my levels too which makes it too unforgiving. Sometimes knowledge and muscle memory give the maker an advantage that the player doesn't have. It's not about plain difficulty, I like difficult levels and have beaten some of the hardest out there.

Minor improvement: At the part where it says "I feel presence of a mortal... this shrine is far beyond your fleshy hands, leave!", it's impossible to wait for the first platform to move away and get on the second moving platform in time (I really tried that a lot) before it's out of reach. Meaning that you have to wait, you can't do it in one swoop. I always find it more elegant if the player gets rewarded for taking a risk to get past obstacles in one run, it's something the Mario games always managed to offer. But as I said, this is only minor and on its own not enough to reupload a whole level.
Just as a comparison: With the third platform (the one with the wings, that falls from above onto the tracks) you got the timing just right, it's a close call, but I can always jump into nothing and the platform reaches Mario's feet just in time. Now that's elegant.

So, now about the mid-boss: I like the underlying idea! It took me a moment to get what I had to do, but then it was manageable. The only thing that caused a lot of retries was actually not the mid boss, but the part before that, where you have the first checkpoint. It takes a loooong time to wait until the bomb hits the bricks by itself, while doing it yourself can become tricky. Sometimes the bomb just destroyed the p-block and sometimes I activated the p-block but didn't make it to the door in time. But usually I got through. Still, every time I died at the mid boss, it could happen that I got stuck for a while at the part with the p-block. But I found an easier way: If you go through the doors twice, the blocks change their position and you can get the p-block more easily.

Now to my main criticism, the end boss: After beating the mid-boss, I knew the basic concept (although a few times I threw bombs at the munchers instead of POWs ^^) and I generally like how you expanded on that with the end boss.
However, most of the time you get squished between two blocks, between a block and a cannon or you get shoved off the platform. When you get to the left to spawn the bombs and to get them safely to the other side (otherwise they often get shoved off), you have only one moment to get back otherwise you're dead. Because there is no place to stand on, maybe that whole there is just too much.

There are too many objects in a relatively tight area, and even if you act really skill- and carefully, you still likely get killed before you can POW the third muncher.

My suggestion would be: Take the lowest row of the flying blocks away, take the cannons (not the bill blasters) away - they don't really serve a purpose anyway and they always stand in your way when you want to deliver the bomb - and maybe make the whole section a bit wider.
Also, there need to be more POWs (and maybe they shouldn't be so far up high). Not up to the point where it gets easy, but the problem is:
Those three POWs are way up there, where you can't possibly get a bomb to because of the tight space and the height and all the objects/enemies. That means you always have to wait/survive until the bombs accidentially hit the right bricks to reveal the POWs. That doesn't feel like an achievement at all, just feels like pure random luck, because you as a player haven't contributed anything to it (in contrast to the mid-boss, where you had to do all the work youself to get the POWs).
Another way to resolve this without adding more POWs would be to have the bill blasters shoot bombs - but then you would still need more room to get Mario to safety.
And when I had finally managed to survive long enough so that two POWs were released and I killed two munchers with them, I was really careful, up to the point that I hid for a long time right next to the munchers because I didn't want to get squished by the blocks or killed by the bullet bills (and still, I nearly died).
And when I finally managed to get through to get a mushroom (by the way, and this goes for the mid-boss too: make the conveyor belts shorter so that the mushroom gets up there faster), so that I was safe, I went for the third POW - which by then was also revealed - only to get double-squished when I landed on the ground, with the POW in my hand and not as a small Mario, but as Super Mario, while I was ducking.
The whole end boss fight just feels punishing no matter what you do, it doesn't reward you for getting things done. In the end, it wasn't fun anymore, it was just frustrating and I gave up.

And I don't easily give up! ^^

Sorry for the wall of text, I really tried it a lot and the solution was evident this time, but the level makes it almost impossible for the player and - more importantly - at some point takes the fun out of it. A reupload with those slight changes that I suggested - feel free to come up with other solutions though - could lead to more clears and stars, I assume.
I had to do the same with "Find the way to heaven", for example, which in its first edition also had a clear rate of under 1%, and I was reluctant to change some of the things I eventually changed, but it seems that level is still hard enough with a clear rate of 3,86%.
Of course, one can also aim for the utmost difficulty (as I said I like difficult levels and that's the main reason I bought MM in the first place), like Kaizo-levels from Panga and others. But those are difficult because of the challenge, not because of a few elements that are too much.

Cool, maybe I'll use Mario Maker to ask my boss for a raise.

@shani Yeah I get how it take up many tries, but I purposely put it on expert for a reason. The concept of my boss itself at the end is that its hands and head (In the middle) block everything it is what you're doing such as traveling the bomb you hold to the top of the head of the boss (which is the trickiest of them all.) To me, it is one of those bosses where it takes up your time to build up a strategy. Those mini cannons are placed believe-it-or-not in the hands of the boss statue, I don't know if you can see it but can you tell my boss is designed to be a huge floating head statue along with its floating statue hands at the end? Yeah those hands serve again to block or tap out your bomb-omb with the mini cannons. As for the floating blocks that kill you in one go, was meant to show that the hands mean business. I don't know if you know this but if the "screen" doesn't expose the full body of the boss, there is a possible chance you might lose its shape and have it weirdly behaving afterwards. In this case, I put doors to reset the whole thing(which stinks honestly)-there wasn't anything I could've done to prevent this, sadly. This level takes skill, that's why in the beginning, in which you enter the "shrine of the godly statue" threatens you to not come any further because it sees you as a mortal lol. Heck, you can think about the boss at the end as a strategy-based puzzle, and may I add there's a pattern to beat this. To be honest, it took me many tries to beat it, that's why I placed a checkpoint, because I knew there was no way I could beat all of this in one-go lol. Thanks for this feedback, I don't think I can upload it again mainly because I don't want to write the dialogue from scratch again, but this feedback will help me for my future level-designs, Thanks!

@shani Hey and trust me just a little bit more time beating the final phase of the god statue boss-and soon you will know the pattern to this and before you know it you'll be beating this boss faster than you can say my name x5 Good luck!

@TodBehalter : I totally get that. And I think after a while I got the pattern, I just put so much effort and care into it that at some point I didn't want to continue. But that doesn't mean I won't try it again! Because I like the general design of the level. And my criticism mainly stemmed from the thought that you wanted more clears/stars for this level. But if you were heading for expert than I guess it's fine, the end boss part just felt a bit cramped.

And the sad thing about it is: No, I didn't recognize the shape, I didn't see any arms or heads.
That's because on the one hand you just don't have the opportunity to take a look at it, because that would mean instant death. ^^ On the other hand it's also because the bombs change the shape of it, meaning the he cannons quickly fall down and don't stay in the hands.
I actually wondered several times why you chose thast shape, because it looked pretty random to me. But I'll surely take a closer look at it next time.

Regarding the weird behaviour: Yeah, that's what I meant before with the p-block before the nmid-boss. If you go through the door twice, the p-block is free and you don't need the bombs.
I assume the same behaviour occurs with the end boss.
But I think you were right to put the doors in there, because the player needs a fail-safe in case one of the POWs misses its target.

@shani Well thanks again for the feedback I will surely improve next time. Oh and uh-idk if you want to play any of my levels but can I ask for your feedback on my Coral Reach Dash level under my profile page. It shouldn't be hard to find, Thank you. If there's any level of yours you want me to review I'm all up for it!

@TodBehalter I was going to take a look at your other levels and bookmark some of them anyway. Just did that. I'll write you when I have played it. Although it would probably be best if we continued this conversation here. This also goes to @AlexSora89, since I haven't tried your other Bandicoot levels yet (and maybe others in the thread might want to too ).

Well of my own levels, it would probably interest me most what you think of "Find the Way to Heaven" and "Attack the Blocks", since they are my hardest levels so far. But if you like, you can also take a look at "Up/Down" and "Alien vs. Mario". All totally optional, of course.
I got a few other courses in the making (or more like early concept stage), haven't spent much time with the MM level creator lately though. Thanks in advance!

@shani
Will drop in the conversation, although I fear I've self-promoted my own levels in the forum section of NL a bit too much in the past. I'd hate to cause other NLers to roll their eyes.

@TodBehalter @AlexSora89: Last night I created a new level, care to try it?

https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/C4BE-0000-024E-86F0

@AlexSora89: Well you've got a lot of levels. ^^

@shani
I'll try your stage and drop in the conversation once again, then! ^^