After four months with no news on the game, fans finally got a look at Super Mario Maker 2 Version 3.0. However, though the trailer was packed with exciting new features including various power-ups and a World Maker mode that'll allow players to create their own multi-level Mario games, Nintendo started off with some disappointing news: Version 3.0 will be the final major update to the game.
This comes as a surprise for some fans. After all, this is only the second major update to a game that came out not even a full year ago. Fans hoped that Nintendo would support Super Mario Maker 2 with consistent updates, but there was little news on the game for six months after its release. Then, the massive 2.0 update revitalized hopes that Nintendo would finally pay attention to this game, making today's news a slap in the face for fans who had, again, gotten their hopes up. But while the fact that there won't be any more updates is disappointing to hear, the game is already massive. Perhaps Nintendo is stopping major updates because the game doesn't need them.
From the beginning, Super Mario Maker 2 took the massive amount of options from the first game and added on to create a feature-rich sequel that quelled the fears of those who worried that Mario Maker would be impossible without the Wii U's gamepad. The game added a Story Mode that helped teach players how to create and design levels, a Night Mode that added different challenges and essentially doubled the number of Course Themes, the option to make levels based on Super Mario 3D World's art style and many other features.
While the game was already packed, some fans noticed that the 3D World style was listed under "Extra Game Styles," meant to indicate that it was incompatible with other features. However, seeing "Styles" was plural, some fans hoped that meant other game styles would be coming as free or paid DLC.
Unfortunately, following the game's launch in June 2019, there was little news on the game. An October fixed some of the game's online play issues, but there was nothing major until December, when Version 2.0 was announced. Most notably, this update added the Master Sword power-up, which transformed Mario into Link from The Legend of Zelda and giving him unique abilities that allowed him to take on courses like never before.
The addition of Link seemed to open the door for even more content. While Super Mario Maker 2 lacked the amiibo costumes of the first game, the Master Sword did more than just change Mario's appearance. Fans quickly began to wonder who else could get this treatment and what kind of levels could result. But, like the "Extra Game Styles," this didn't end up happening.
While fan expectations may have been a bit too high, they didn't come out of nowhere. Nintendo has supported other games with consistent content updates. Splatoon 2 released in July 2017 and received updates until July 2019 including new weapons, events and even a paid-DLC expansion. Even ARMS, which didn't receive a whole lot of attention, received new characters, arms and features every month or so for the first six months of its life. Between "Extra Game Styles" and the Master Sword, fans saw the foundation for more updates that never came.
Still, Super Mario Maker 2 is a massive game with infinite replay value. Whether you make your own content or only play fan-created levels, there's no shortage of things to do. All of this is on top of Story Mode, which is basically a Nintendo-made Mario game that comes packaged with all of the creation features. The extra content is exciting and good from bringing lapsed players back into the game, but it is ultimately just icing on top of an ever-growing layer cake.
And, if fans should take anything from this, it's that Nintendo is unpredictable. The trailer says that Version 3.0 will be the final major update, but that doesn't mean it's the last update. While bug fixes are likely, this is the same company that added the motorbike from Breath of the Wild's DLC to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, a 2017 port of a 2014 game, in July 2018. Anything can happen.