I went for the “use many different power-ups” approach in this course I’m submitting - and I didn’t just stop at Mario’s power-ups, as you’ll find a few recognizable ones from the Metroid series, too. I’ve made a bunch of Metroid courses before, but this one is brand new for this contest.

When I saw the theme for this contest, I was worried I used up my good water-based ideas on my last two submissions (Ocarina of Time Water Temple plus Sink and Swim), but I think I came up with something original for this course. Enjoy!

I’m glad to see these contests are still going strong and that people are showing their support with plenty of submissions. Here’s a course I made just for this contest.

I’m sad to see both there was a dearth of courses submitted this time and that it could signal the end of these contests. Personally, I’d chalk the lack of submissions this time up to the fact the submission period fell such that people would have had to create their course after Christmas but before New Year’s Day,…

For my course, I built in many of the suggested elements, such as fireworks and cheering, though the course is a bit more geared toward having a fun day off from saving the Mushroom Kingdom than strictly celebrating New Years. Hope that's alright, and have a happy 2020, everyone!

Thanks for including the graphic showing all the new elements - I toyed around with a few of them before ultimately settling on a Zelda course, and one based on perhaps the most notorious level in all of gaming - the water temple in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. But don’t fear, my course is much clearer on how to…

Terrific idea for a contest theme. I came up with two concepts I liked (both based on Captain Toad), so I made both of them into courses. For anyone playing either, I definitely recommend going into Settings and selecting to play as Toad or Toadette for the full effect. Here is the course I am submitting, followed by…

I’m glad you enjoyed the Mount Everest course and picked up on how the “penalty” for failing in many places is just an opportunity to re-try the jump again and learn to do better. I think all too often, Mario makers feel the need to equate failure with death when there are other, less severe “punishments” that can be…

Here’s my course for the Spooky and Scary contest. No tricks, no sound effects, nothing like that - you just need to navigate all the way to the bottom while avoiding the enemies. Easier said than done, though.

Thanks for the high praise! I know you once wrote a whole article on the importance of placing checkpoints, so I’m doubly appreciative you specifically recognized that aspect of my course :)

Glad to see another contest; I’ve been patiently awaiting the next one. Wish I could have thrown some Ice Climbers music behind this particular course (wouldn’t it be cool to use music from other Nintendo games like Gerudo Valley for a desert level or Rainbow Road for a course with a Koopa car), but the music on it…

Thanks, Zack. Glad you enjoyed my course “Pipes Aplenty, Perhaps Too Many” (and thank you to everyone who has given it a try as well, of course). I had another pipe-related idea that I felt the need to act on, so I created and uploaded another course this weekend that uses pipes in a different and much more sparingly…

Thanks for doing these. I missed the previous contests, but this was just the motivation I needed to create my first course in Super Mario Maker 2 this weekend (I uploaded 23 courses in the first game, but hadn’t gotten around to making any in this game yet). Anyway, here’s the course info. Enjoy!