This ‘Super Mario Maker 2’ Level Is Being Hailed As ‘Genius’ For Good Reason

Super Mario Maker 2 is a game full of nearly-infinite potential, if you know how to use it. It’s what makes exploring the player-made levels so fun: all it takes is a bit of imagination to build basically anything you want. And if you can’t figure out what you want to make, you can just play all the stuff everyone else comes up with.

Some of the most fun levels out there simply don’t play like traditional Mario levels at all. Puzzle solving levels in particular have proven to be lots of fun in the early weeks since the game’s release, with some eschewing the concept of a side-scrolling level altogether to make puzzle boxes or other concepts.

But one of the most unique Super Mario Maker 2 levels we’ve seen so far somehow gives players something they’d never get in a regular Mario game: a mini map. The level, made by a Japanese player, is simply called 3D Maze House, and it’s a 3D maze you have to solve using an on-screen map to navigate the house.

The concept is simple: collect a few keys to get to the end. But the level you can play through only takes up a small portion of the screen at times, as it has a mini map that directs you through a series of pipes to collect up the keys. Real life game designers have praised the level as well. Tom Hall, who created Doom among other things in his storied career, called it “so brilliant” and alerted thousands of followers to the level’s existence.

The videos of people playing the level are just as impressive. It’s challenging while also using the Maker software in a completely different way than it was originally intended, but it works out brilliantly.

It must have taken some time to concept this all out and make the map work, let alone add the visuals at the top left of the screen that fleshes the imagery out here. It’s all very impressive, and a fun level to solve to boot. If you’d like to try it for yourself, the Maker code is: P59-698-55G.