With the release of Mario Maker, everyone has the opportunity to create levels for one of the greatest series in the history of video games. This presentation will give you a brief history of the genre, an understanding of what makes 2D Mario levels so good.
This talk includes links to additional content that can really help you understand some of the design choices of Mario.
The following link is for a PDF of the slide deck I covered:
download the presentation: How to Make Mario Levels that Don’t Suck