Years Before ‘Fortnite’ And ‘Roblox’, Nintendo’s Daring Experiment Broke Its Own Rules

One of the benefits to consistency is how much easier it makes innovation. A perfect formula or flawless design can become timeless. Look at the , Roblox, and Fortnite Creative are indebted to it. Nintendo made it OK for the industry at large to let fans create things. And, ultimately, fans want to show off those creations to as many people as possible. Nintendo found a winning formula in a game that wasn’t just fun to play, it was fun to watch.

Super Mario Maker turned fans into designers, transformed Twitch and YouTube streams into must-see TV, and made the Wii U feel, briefly, like the future. Sure, the sequel on Switch refined things and added more bells and whistles, but the original took the leap. It was Nintendo breaking its own rules, letting the community run wild, and somehow trusting that Mario could survive whatever nonsense we threw at him. It also served as reminder that, despite the wobbly run of the Wii U, Nintendo was still Nintendo. It was still capable of big ideas that broke outside the box.

And it was also capable of knowing a good franchise opportunity when it saw one. Super Mario Maker 2 was a no-brainer for the Switch, refining the experience and introducing a much larger audience to the joys of level design. It more than doubled its predecessor in sales and once again spawned wave after wave of viral content. Super Mario Maker did a lot more than let fans make their own levels, it made Nintendo relevant when it needed it most.