Mario and Zelda, two of Nintendo’s biggest franchises, have crossed paths numerous times before, most recently with the Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening remake, which features enemies from the Mario universe.
With an upcoming free update to Super Mario Maker 2, it’s time for the Hyrule warrior to visit Mario’s universe. The 2.0 update, arriving Dec. 5, adds Link as a playable character via the new Master Sword powerup item.
This new form isn’t just a costume swap either, as Link comes equipped with his sword, bombs, and arrows, opening up entirely new gameplay designs. Link can shoot arrows to activate switches, stab down with his sword to defeat spiky enemies, and blow up walls with bombs.
The only catch: the Master Sword is available exclusively on the original NES 8-bit Mario theme, recreating the pixelated look of the original The Legend of Zelda from 1986.
In addition to Link, the 2.0 update also adds several new parts, and a new speedrun mode. The new parts include Frozen Coins that need to be melted and Dash Blocks from Super Mario 3D World. Pokey, the stacking cactus enemy, also makes its debut on Super Mario Maker 2. And yes, you can directly edit its height.
Ninja Speedrun is the new gameplay mode, where players can take on timed challenges created by Nintendo specifically for this mode. Ninja Speedrun challenges will last for a week, with new courses rotating in periodically. Players will be ranked by their play time, and can see other ninja ghosts from a similar performance level running the course, as a way to improve. Players can collect stamps and earn Mii costumes by completing courses.
Super Mario Maker is available on Nintendo Switch. The 2.0 update arrives December 5.
