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Nintendo"s Super Mario Maker 2 already offers plenty of creation tools and options to help players create different kinds of levels, but a forthcoming update is set to expand that further. Nintendo has announced that a new update is arriving later this week, bringing along some new items and a new game mode.
As far as new items go, there"s a couple of new enemies: Spike, who throws spiky metal balls at the player, and Pokey, an enemy made of spiky spheres which can come in different sizes. There are also new blocks, like frozen coins; the indestructible, but temporary, P Block; and the Dash Block to speed up the player"s character.
The most notable addition in terms of items, though, is the Master Sword, which is being borrowed from The Legend of Zelda. This item, only available in the original Super Mario Bros. theme, will turn Mario into Link, complete with a sword, shield, and bow and arrow. Players can then use all these items to traverse the levels, attacking enemies, shielding from attacks, and collecting items.
Finally, there"s a brand new game mode called Ninji Speedruns. Rather than focusing on level creation, this new game mode includes levels created by Nintendo, and players need to get through them as fast as possible. While running through the levels, players will see Ninji ghosts of 100 other players, pitting them in a race against each other. Nintendo says new levels will be added to this game mode on a regular basis.
As mentioned above, this free content update will be arriving on December 5. Super Mario Maker 2 is one of the company"s biggest Switch games for the year, and this could make it an even better option for a gift during this season. If that"s not up your alley, maybe our guide for Nintendo-related gifts can help.