With the release of "Super Mario Maker", many who may have only consumed video games now had the opportunity to take a small, but direct, part in the development of them. For those unaware, "Super Mario Maker" is a game that functions as a level editor, allowing anyone to make their own custom level from a variety of materials from Mario's side-scrolling escapades. Want to place the Bowser from "New Super Mario Brothers" at the very start of a level? You can do it. Want to make a level of nothing but flames and Bowsers? Go for it, you sadist.
It's that more sadistic aspect that I find most intriguing, though. Many of the levels created are seemingly designed to infuriate the player from the very outset. The levels are packed with gaps that require hyper-precise jumping, completely unforeseen enemies that fly into view at the most inconvenient times, a number of obstacles stacked onto each other in order to create utter chaos, hidden blocks that cause your jumps to be shorter than you intended, and many others. On the one hand, I can understand the appeal of this sort of level design. It can be a fun challenge for groups of friends for each other, or even just perfect fodder for Let's Play's by YouTubers. Hours of video have been spent on trying to complete these levels and certainly millions of views have been accrued, so we can certainly say that there is a demand for the design style.
That being said, I don't think I would necessarily consider them examples of "good" game design. They tend to be immensely convoluted with no real sense of coherency, a hodgepodge of bits and pieces that are in no way intuitive. That's not to say that I think they should all be easy, but I think there should be a level of communication between the player and the level besides "OH YES LOOK HERE YOU INFANT ALL OF THESE MOVING PARTS WILL CRUSH YOUR HOPES AND DREAMS LOL REKT." Even infamously "difficult" games like "Dark Souls" had some form of communication with the player, most often in the form of being consistent in its actions and increasing the difficulty in a way that called upon all the player had learned previously. The very first level of "Super Mario Bros." does this in a perfect way. Every single thing you do in the first level, whether it involves jumping a gap or busting a brick, you do for the rest of the game. Just by simple exploration of the controller, one can quickly learn the mechanics of the entire game, all within the span of about two minutes. Now, in no way does that mean that the game is "easy", for I'd say that it's difficulty holds up due to how coherent the levels are.
So, what we have are many people who have consumed a number of video games, and are very familiar with the language, and they are now in the driver's seat as level designer. Unfortunately, the actual complexity of designing levels that both communicate themselves well to the player and possess a real internal coherency is something that seems to be difficult for many to achieve. What could be a possible solution for this? For one, I would advise people with "Super Mario Maker" to actually go back and play the first few "Super Mario Bros." games. A great deal of attention should be paid to how each level is constructed, and even more so, how the nature of each level is communicated to the player. Care should be given to possible themes within each level. Perhaps, the levels work on a surface and subconscious level? For even more help, one should check out Polygon's YouTube playlist for "Super Mario Maker", where actual video game developers design a level, explain some of their thoughts on its design, and play it.. It's here where one can get some first-hand advice on level design from people who have actually created works.
I think that, given some time, there will be a larger number of more competent levels made. The clickbait-like levels will fall to the wayside, as truly thoughtful levels will remain standing. These will be levels that are truly compelling and challenging, while also instructing and empowering the player towards its completion. I even think it's fair to say that, due to the amount of presence the game has, many more future developers of legendary status are getting a start on their craft while creating some of the more ingenious levels. That certainly makes "Super Mario Maker" one of the more important console games to come out in a very long time.
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