20 Super Mario Maker levels you NEED to try

Super Mario Maker was released just a little less than two weeks ago. Over a million custom created levels have been uploaded in its first week. This means, of course, that most of those levels are still pretty average and their creators need a lot to improve, but what about the rest and the best? Well, here they are.

This is the selection of some of the most creative and challenging levels found in Super Mario Maker thus far. Most of them are at least at a normal difficulty level, and they are anything but boring.

If you need some help in understanding what Super Mario Maker is all about, here’s a comprehensive guide on the game.

Course ID: 8420-0000-0039-F90C
Title: Coinzilla
Maker: Ethan

The vast labyrinth full of enemies floating above the pool of lava – not bad, huh? Well, this is only the beginning. You need to not just carefully choose your path and make it through, but also avoid the rain of spinies falling on your head. More than that, there’s that P-switch you need to find and activate at a proper time. This level was made with the intention to make your brain spin. Good luck!

Course ID: CCD0-0000-003A-D75A
Title: Bowser's Mega Castle
Maker: Clayton

At first you don’t realize how difficult this course actually is, you just sort of follow the path until you reach a few points that make you wonder: “What the..?” Then, there’s a secret party room, which doesn’t serve the course any meaningful purpose, but is just there to cheer you up before you enter another torturous section.

Course ID: 10A4-0000-0039-AC76
Title: Beat it! 1.1
Maker: Kney

This course uses an interesting game mechanic, let’s call it a reversed mechanic. It means that you have to avoid power-ups and instead find enemies to shrink you into mini form in order to progress further. This is needed because of the extremely narrow paths everywhere, while mushrooms are being forced at you. It’s a really smart course, definitely check it out.

Course ID: 2986-0000-0037-CB7E
Title: Bowser's Bowels:Mega Man Homage!
Maker: Cody

This is one of the most elaborate airship courses out there. Each section is better than the previous one, and the further you move the more intricate puzzles await you. Don’t be too surprised when you stumble at some really counter-intuitive sections. This course requires a non-linear way of thinking, if you actually want to beat it.

Course ID: F925-0000-0042-2016
Title: Pac-Mans Fever Dream
Maker: Bazzickles

Here’s a perfect homage to Pacman and its incredibly catchy soundtrack. You’re getting Pacman costumes often, so it makes the walkthrough of the course a bit easier. However, don’t relax just yet, as there’s more to it than you would think at first. The trademark Pacman level theme in combination with the Mario’s world create a uniquely twisted level worth playing.

Course ID: 0421-0000-0054-B47B
Title: Practice
Maker: DaBoss

Just as the title suggests this course requires a lot of practicing before you can beat it. It’s not a long level, but requires a certain amount of precision and attention. If you can beat this one – you can beat anything. And, just like the extremely popular Super Meat Bros. course with sawblades, this one has spikes everywhere, giving you no less trouble.

Course ID: 74ED-0000-005A-3EC3
Title: Medium-Hard ! Multi Path ! Coins
Maker: Serotripto

Choose your path carefully or die – would be the alternative title to this course. No really, it’s amazing how far human imagination can go. Just take a few tries and see for yourselves – this course requires some serious brain work.

Course ID: 80DA-0000-005D-5FA4
Title: hard'n'short TWSS (thinker)
Maker: SLEDGE

We need more levels like this – it’s really short, but needs all your attention and wit in order to beat it. Not to mention an absolutely incredible room with chain chomps, which are there mostly for decorative purposes. It’s the mind of the genius that spawned that room. You can’t miss it – it’s like Mona Lisa of Super Mario Maker.

Course ID: 1915-0000-003B-7C4D
Title: On Rails
Maker: koolboyman

Another extremely creative and well-thought out course. This one takes you on a ride inside a cabin on the rails through the Mario Underground, but not for free – you got to do some work first before you arrive at the destination station. The job requires you to kill enemies, avoid deadly fireballs, catch yummy mushrooms and other power-ups, and try not to lose your little train.

Course ID: 8DEF-0000-004C-CE52
Title: Goomba Disposal Facility
Maker: Lux

This is just incredible! On your way to the end of the course you get to experience some interesting events. They include scenes from the life of little poor goombas who have been imprisoned in the Bowser’s castle. They suffer, they cry and they want to go home, but they just die in the lava. Too sad and too funny!

Course ID: 67E0-0000-0049-E173
Title: Bowncer
Maker: BenJen

The level starts off with an introduction of a really cool mechanic – bouncing Bowser on top of your head. This approach follows throughout the course and makes up for some exciting challenges. And, in addition to this you have rows of bullets to avoid and sometimes even use for transportation purposes.

Course ID: 5A7C-0000-004E-20DA
Title: Bullet Haven 2: Vicious Refuge
Maker: TwitcheryW

Here’s some more bullet jumping and evading. With each new section bullets get bigger and more frequent. This one will surely take you more than a few tries, as you need to learn the trajectories of the bullets and simultaneously keep track of the rest of the enemies on your screen.

Course ID: AB65-0000-005C-EC86
Title: MOLES SwiftRage
Maker: Barbarian

Welcome to the mole kingdom! This is a really unique underground level. You will immediately notice how much effort went into the making of this course. Moles aren’t as annoying as hammer brothers, but no less dangerous, especially when they appear out of nowhere. It’s also a long but extremely rewarding course, so be patient.

Course ID: DEB2-0000-0053-2DB6
Title: Beetle Caves
Maker: Barbarian

Another one from Barbarian, and if you’ve tried his mole course you would know what to expect. This time it’s all about beetles and spinies that occupy too much space. This and the mole level could take over an hour to beat, as both are extremely long and dangerous.

Course ID: EB3D-0000-005F-7EB4
Title: The Ultimate Mushroom Race #6
Maker: Dazzler

If you’ve played Super Mario Maker enough you should have noticed levels where you have to chase the mushroom if you wanted to make it to the end. This level uses exactly the same sort of mechanic, but is much, much more challenging than any of the similar ones.

Course ID: 149A-0000-005F-7095
Title: MagiK
Maker: Junior

This is a really short arcade-like level, which is actually very demanding. It seems easy at first, as all you need to do is climb up and get over the wall, but the presence of magikoopas shooting from all directions turns this task into a real problem.

Course ID: B531-0000-0054-E1CB
Title: Mario Kart: Koopa Keep v2.1
Maker: Sean

Finally a decent homage to Mario Kart in Super Mario Maker. The course starts in the true fashion of racing games and then keeps you rushing to the very end through multitudes of obstacles. If you stop – you die. You’ll have a few opportunities to recharge your car, aka get a new Mario Kart costume at the pit stops, but other than that - there’s no mercy.

Course ID: 57B8-0000-005E-50DA
Title: The Palace Beneath The Sea
Maker: Aidan

There are so many underwater levels In Super Mario Maker and so few that are really good. This is a good one and the only underwater level in this whole selection. It represents the best qualities of underwater levels and takes you on a truly engaging journey combined with excellent design choices.

Course ID: A752-0000-0049-3457
Title: Heist! Version 1.3
Maker: Henko

When you see that a level name has numbered versions in its title it means that the creator has put a lot of work into it. Heist! Version 1.3 is the course of cinematic proportions taking you through a complicated sequence of events. These sort of thematic levels are the best!

Course ID: 6059-0000-005E-4FB5
Title: Pit of Panga: P-Break
Maker: Panga

All you need to know about this level is that it has over 50,000 tries and zero clears. Even if you have no hopes of beating a level like this, you still need to try it at the very least. The reasons are simple – firstly, you get to see some amazing level design, and secondly, you get to learn a lot.

The true value of Super Mario Maker is not in the software itself but in the makers – people who create, share and play these incredible levels. The mastery of some of those levels cannot but amaze. And, now imagine what could happen in a year – how far can we go?

Share your favorite Super Mario Maker levels and your thoughts in the comments section below!