One of the most fun aspects of Super Mario Maker is seeing how the game reimagines certain enemies and items in styles they never originally appeared in, such as seeing airship levels in Super Mario Bros. or Hammer Bros. in Super Mario World. That holds just as true for Super Mario Maker 2, which introduces a new assortment of items to the toolset, including Super Mario 3's angry sun. Naturally, we had to see how the iconic enemy looked in other Mario styles, and we were a little horrified by the result.
We recently had a chance to go hands-on with Super Mario Maker 2 at a demo event in New York, where we got to tinker around with the game's course builder. We chose Super Mario World as the style for our level, and of course, the first enemy we placed in it was the angry sun, which behaves just as you remember, swooping down to singe you every few seconds. You can take a look at our creation in the video above.
While the angry sun looks as you'd expect it to in the Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World styles, the enemy takes on a different appearance in the New Super Mario Bros. U style. As you can see in the screenshot below, the sun's angry grimace becomes a dead-eyed stare, which somehow makes it even more unsettling as it torments you throughout the stage.
The angry sun is only one of a myriad of new customization options available in Super Mario Maker 2. Nintendo gave us a closer look at a handful of other new enemies and items during this month's Mario Maker 2 Direct. And unlike the original Super Mario Maker, you won't need to wait to unlock them; almost all of the game's tools will be available from the start, so you'll be able to jump in and play around with them right away. The game also features a story mode and online multiplayer, the latter of which is a first for a Super Mario platformer.
Super Mario Maker 2 launches for Switch on June 28. The game requires a Nintendo Switch Online subscription in order to play and share levels online. An individual 12-month membership typically costs $20, but Nintendo is bundling a year's subscription with a copy of Super Mario Maker 2 for $70, which amounts to a $10 savings. You can read more details about the bundle in our Super Mario Maker 2 pre-order guide.