Is Super Mario Maker 2 Worth It in 2026?

The short answer is – yes, absolutely! Despite Nintendo ending official support in 2021, Super Mario Maker 2 still has an active and passionate fanbase playing, creating and sharing levels in 2024.

As a fellow gaming enthusiast, I think you‘ll be amazed at the sheer creativity and challenge of levels being produced even now, over 3 years after its release. Read on for a deep dive into the continued popularity and value of this excellent game!

Overview of Super Mario Maker 2

Let me start with a quick refresher. Super Mario Maker 2 is a 2D platformer released on the Nintendo Switch in 2019. It gave players simple but powerful tools to create their own Mario levels and play levels made by others online.

The game features iconic enemies, themes and mechanics from over 30 years of Mario games. This provides near limitless combinations for imaginative level designs!

Despite Nintendo ending online support in March 2021, the game remains popular thanks to the vast backlog of levels and a devoted fan community still engaged in creating.

Millions Still Playing and Creating

So do people still play? Absolutely! Here are some key stats:

• 10 million copies sold – Outselling many other big Switch games proves its popularity
• 100 million courses uploaded – This staggering volume provides endless gameplay
• 1.1 million follow the subreddit – The r/MarioMaker community shares levels weekly
• 12,000 active on SMM2 Discord – Big community uses Discord to share new courses
• Top streamers play daily – Popular streamers like GrandPooBear play it fulltime

The many millions of existing courses alone offer limitless gameplay for players. But the community keeps creating fresh levels too! Dedicated fans have ensured SMM2 stays relevant.

Active Online Multiplayer

Another sign of an engaged playerbase is that online multiplayer is still thriving. Playing cooperatively or competitively is a blast in Mario Maker 2.

Playing with others brings out the best level design too. For example, versus multiplayer sees ingenious courses focused on impeding opponents‘ progress or racing to the finish.

The Switch‘s portability and Mario‘s universal appeal has allowed multiplayer to persist years later through online play or couch coop.

Why Is the Community Still So Active?

Good question! There are a few key reasons Super Mario Maker 2‘s community has remained passionate:

• Endless content: Millions of levels across every genre and difficulty
• Self-sustaining: Players can create enough new content on their own
• Customization: Designing levels and playing them is highly rewarding
• Mastery: Dedicated players motivated by achieving precision skills
• Competition: Trying to complete absurdly hard levels drives engagement
• Streamability: Fun to watch skilled streamers take on challenges

User generated content and customization are key for any game‘s longevity these days. Combine that with Mario‘s timeless appeal and still-unique level maker, and it‘s no wonder SMM2 stays popular.

Sales and Engagement Metrics

Let‘s look at some key figures that prove Super Mario Maker 2‘s success and continued engagement:

These statistics show an active community of millions still engaged with Super Mario Maker 2 every day in 2024, whether playing, watching or creating.

Features That Facilitate Endless Replayability

You may be wondering – how does a Mario game from 2019 have such longevity? Aside from the user generated content, Super Mario Maker 2 smartly included many features that facilitate endless replayability:

• Multiplayer – Coop and versus with friends online or locally
• Leaderboards – Gives motivation to rank highly by completing tough levels
• Tools – Intuitive creation tools for constructing your own levels
• Themes – Assets spanning Mario classics provide visual variety
• Play Variety – Challenge modes and mutate options change up gameplay
• Search – Tags and filters to find levels catered to your mood

Being able to create your own levels or play through millions of stages across visual themes and genres gives you endless ways to enjoy and refresh the experience over years of play.

Is Super Mario Maker 2 Worth Playing in 2024?

If you‘ve read this far, I likely don‘t need to convince you further that Super Mario Maker 2 remains an excellent and engaging game in 2024!

Given the absurd volume of content, active playerbase, and deep creation tools, it‘s absolutely still worth picking up and playing today either solo, online, or in groups.

For creative gamers, putting together your own levels using so many nostalgic parts is itself endlessly fun. Then being able to share online and have millions play your creations is hugely rewarding.

Even with official online support terminated, the passionate community has ensured you‘ll never run out of fresh and exciting levels to play or people to play with. It‘s a game that should stay installed on your Switch for years thanks to the neverending content.

The value is that much greater with it frequently on sale these days at a discounted price. As a fellow gaming fan, I highly recommend you add Super Mario Maker 2 to your collection if you haven‘t already!