‘Super Mario Maker’ Is Coming to the Nintendo 3DS This Year

Nintendo says it’ll bring its acclaimed Super Mario Maker level-concocting toolbox to its Nintendo 3DS handheld on December 2. Nintendo made the surprise announcement during a rare 3DS-focused Nintendo Direct on September 1.

Out of the box, Nintendo says we’ll get 100 Nintendo-designed courses and the same Super Mario Maker toolset Wii U currently enjoy, save for Mystery Mushrooms (a special transformative power-up). Head online and you can play select Wii U-designed courses, though Nintendo notes not all Wii U courses will be compatible. Nintendo adds that “in the spirit of spontaneity,” you won’t be able to search for these by course ID, though you’ll be able to play the “100 Mario Challenge” (a game mode in the Wii U version that gives you 100 lives to beat 100 sundry user-created levels). You’ll also be able to sort by “recommended” courses.

But in keeping with the company’s local, peer-to-peer interaction credo, Nintendo’s pushing the 3DS version of Super Mario Maker‘s option to share levels by downloading direct from a friend (via local wireless) or through StreetPass, the handheld’s passive data-share feature. That’s a critical distinction, because 3DS Super Mario Maker players won’t be able to share levels online.

But they will be able to trade work-in-progress levels with other players, bouncing ideas back and forth via local wireless, which sounds like the new IP’s smartest move yet.