Super Mario Maker 2 creator releases ‘Super Mario Bros. 5’ after 7 years of work

The project is being marketed as "a vintage Mario game that plays as if Nintendo made it themselves."

“Super Mario Bros. 5” has officially arrived! And by “here,” we mean “completely realized and produced inside Super Mario Maker 2 by a fan, not Nintendo.”

Super Mario World, the final genuinely vintage Mario Bros. platformer before the contemporary era, was released in Japan 32 years ago. Since then, we’ve seen a slew of 3D Mario games, current 2D “New” Super Mario Bros. games, and even Mario games where you can create your own.

But, throughout the years, many fans have wondered: Will Nintendo ever return to the classic era and offer us another excellent platformer in the style of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World? The answer is obviously “no,” but Super Mario Maker 2 level developer and Twitter user Metroid Mike 64 has given us the next best thing.

After seven years of development, Metroid Mike 64 (aka Mikey Mike on Switch Online) has created a spiritual sequel to the original Mario tetralogy, dubbed Super Mario Bros. 5.

Metroid Mike’s Super Mario Bros. 5 includes 40 courses as well as eight complete worlds. They also employ a range of game genres throughout the levels, with Super Mario World accounting for 24 courses, Super Mario Bros. 3 accounting for 14, and the last two courses created in the original Super Mario Bros. style. (According to Metroid Mike 64, the Super Mario Bros. 2 mushroom also appears in the game.)

Metroid Mike 64 asserts that his Super Mario Bros. 5 is free of the typical Super Mario Maker trolls and goofs that plague so many other Super Mario Maker 2 projects. In other words, it’s not a labyrinthine nightmare meant to enrage you; instead, it’s calculated and defeatable. “I’m attempting to give you with something Nintendo should have already done: create a full Mario game within Super Mario Maker 2,” Metroid Mike 64 tweeted.

Metroid Mike 64 showcased multiple planets and pictures on their Twitter account, including boss encounters with different Koopalings. There are even puzzle stages reminiscent of the classic Mario games’ Boo Houses.

If you want to try it out for yourself, look for Metroid Mike 64’s Maker ID number on Super Mario Maker 2: OG9-XN4-FNF.

If you don’t have a copy of Super Mario Maker 2, you may see a full Super Mario Bros. 5 gameplay in this GameXplain video (that runs nearly four hours).