The Koopalings Are In Super Mario Maker 2

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - But... Uh... It's kinda awkward, you know?

The last time Super Mario Maker 2 got a big update, Nintendo added the Master Sword power-up to have a crossover with The Legend of Zelda. I thought that we'd be seeing more of those kinds of crossovers for Super Mario Maker 2's future.

Not only am I wrong about that, but this “final major update” (Super Mario Maker 2 version 3.0.0) puts ME into the game. That's being wrong in the most personal way possible. Oh, and all of my siblings, too. And the Mechakoopa. And many other course elements, as well as an overworld map feature where you can put many (up to forty) courses in one to eight maps, with warp pipes and diverging paths and everything. Pretty cool. But let's focus on the Koopalings, and specifically, me.

I forgot Super Mario Maker 2 had a Super Mario 3D World style.
In return, it forgot about me, so I'm not accessible in it.
(Mechakoopa has the same deal.)

The Koopalings are based around our Super Mario Bros. 3 appearance. All of us have wands and we shoot stuff from them, though the patterns are a bit more interesting between Koopalings than they were in the original Super Mario Bros. 3. We have slightly different movement patterns between one another (we didn't differ much in Super Mario Bros. 3 in terms of our fighting technique, but Super Mario Maker 2 adds things like my flutter-jumping and... Roy apparently is a digger now), which differ some more if we have wings attached. We also change a bit the more damage we take, such as shooting more magic blasts at a time.

This is a screenshot from Super Mario Bros. 3 mode. Well, I look the same here as the real Super Mario Bros. 3.

You can have seven Koopalings in one level area. You could have seven Roys, or one of each Koopaling, or any combination in-between.

You may remember our fighting patterns got a lot more unique with Super Mario World, which didn't feature any wands. As a result, we don't have our Super Mario World sprites directly ported in this—we have customised sprites! And, of course, we weren't in Super Mario Bros., so we have custom sprites for that as well. We're the same as we were in the original Super Mario Bros. 3 and New Super Mario Bros. U.

Here is my brand-new Super Mario Bros. 8-bit sprite...

I have many questions, but here's one. You may remember that I'm training to be in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, though that's delayed and the future is highly suspect. You may also remember that, because of that training and participation, I'm in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. That game has Classic 2D Events featured in it, showcasing select ugly 8-bit Super Mario Bros. sprites and 16-bit Sonic the Hedgehog sprites. I'm not accessible in the Classic 2D Events due to not having a Super Mario Bros. sprite.

But look at the screenshot above! I got a Super Mario Bros. sprite! All new for a free update. They couldn't come up with something like that for the base game with an expensive licence attached to it? ...Alternatively, are they gonna provide a free update to Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 with my Super Mario Bros. sprite in the Classic 2D Events? Or are they going to make a 2021 version of the game since the Olympics got delayed?

This sprite is clearly different than the one actually in Super Mario World. It's customised for wand-holding.
I'm a lot less orange, and yet my hair is still wrong. On purpose. What the hell? What kind of asshole does that? I miss AlphaDream already.

Of course, it's not like I'm dying for these sprites. When we were doing the live reaction log for Super Mario Maker 2's dedicated Direct last year, my preamble included:

“I'm on the look-out for any Koopalings making an appearance in Super Mario Maker 2, but I also figure that if I get in, I'm going to be miscoloured in the Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World level flavours. I don't like that.”

In conclusion, every Koopaling got two custom sprites, as well as some customised fight patterns, among the many other additions to Super Mario Maker 2. All without delving further into crossover hell. That makes it a great update, and a very unexpected and unpredictable one too.


Ludwig asked a lad who has Super Mario Maker 2 to actually take the screenshots in this article on his behalf, so thanks to p0wer. After all of this, there's no escaping the fact that Ludwig dislikes both 2D Mario platforming physics AND 3D Mario platforming physics, so his whole existence is confusing. ...Either way, he's not actually going to buy Super Mario Maker 2, but he'd like for people to make KoopaTV-themed levels on it or something. You won't be able to share them, however, because you won't be able to beat them yourself. After all, Ludwig has to win in the end! By the way, the news release refers to the Koopalings as Lord Bowser's elite Koopa army members, which is true. The Koopalings are also Lord Bowser's children.


Ludwig still wishes him and most of the Koopalings at least had green shells.