GoNintendo 'EoD' thought - Hands-on Super Mario Maker makes it hard to take your hands off

Thanks to those of you that tweeted/emailed/Facebook/Instagram messaged me for my birthday! You all are truly wonderful people. Made a special day just that much more special! Now after a hard day of partying (working, napping, eating pizza), it's time for bed! See you in a few, short hours.

Well...time for me to eat my words. I mean, it's not because I lied or anything. It's because I thought I knew myself, but I don't. All it took was some time with Super Mario Maker for me to realize it. I'm quite happy to have things turn out the opposite of what I predicted!

We all know that Mario games are fun to play. I mean, that's what we've been doing for a million years now. The real question is, would it be easy and fun to create those stages? When it comes to me and user generated content, I really do love playing it. I like to see what people do and how they can twist tried and true ideas into something new. As for myself, I've never been a creative one. I like to play content, not make it.

Obviously a HUGE part of Super Mario Maker is actually making the levels. I had plans to check out that content extensively, but it was the playing of levels that I had my heart set on. That's how I felt when I fired up the game to give it a go. I should have known Nintendo better, damnit. They always have a knack of getting me to enjoy genres that I don't usually get a kick out of. The Nintendo touch is in full effect in Super Mario Maker, and it's very easy for me to say that I'm super addicted to creating levels.

Want a good example of how much fun I'm having making levels? I sat down last night to give some levels a go and see what I could come up with. I just kept going and going...and going. When I finally put down the controller to head to bed, I realized the sun was out. It was 6:30 in the morning...I kid you not. I made levels ALL night long! I only did a little playing to test what I made, but most of the time I was creating. It was such a fun experience...way more engaging than I ever expected it to be.

I think that has something to do with how easy it is to create content. The control setup is about as simple as it gets. You really couldn't make it any easier. It's intuitive, responsive and ridiculously user-friendly. I never felt hindered while making levels. I didn't even have to learn a single thing about how stuff works. All the pieces just come together in ways that make sense. I guess this is even easier if you're familiar with Mario games, but even a newcomer should be able to pick this up no problem.

I cannot wait to share my full review of the game with you guys, but that's not coming for a couple weeks. There's so, SO much more to talk about. I want to go really into detail about all sorts of stuff...but that time hasn't arrived yet. Please look forward to that review, because I'm REALLY looking forward to talking about this more with you.

...and yes, we'll be sharing some official GoNintendo levels with the entire world.

...and yes, my parents will be playing the game for their video feature tomorrow!