Super Mario Maker 2 is all about the communal experience of making and sharing levels. As a multiplayer experience, Mario Maker 2 is mostly centered on online play. You can still play local co-op with family and friends on one Switch console, though. It’s not made readily apparent in the menus, but we’ve got you covered. Here’s how to play Super Mario Maker 2 with two or more players.
How to play local co-op
Sadly, you cannot play local co-op directly through Course World, which makes the process somewhat confusing. Courses must be downloaded first and then viewed in the Coursebot menu to play local co-op.
Step 1: In Course World, find a course you want to play cooperatively, select Download, and choose an open slot to save the course. You can have up to 60 courses downloaded at one time. That figure doesn’t include the 32 slots for courses you create.
Step 2: Head over to Coursebot and choose the course.
Step 3: See the four little alien-esque heads on the right side of the screen? If you move the analog stick to the right, you’ll find the option Play Together. Select it.
Step 4: Activate your Joy-Con/Pro Controllers to join. You can play local co-op with up to four players (Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Toadette). Single Joy-Con controllers are all you need, but you can also use the dual Joy-Con setup. Player one will always be Mario, while players two to four will be Luigi, Toad, and Toadette, respectively.
It’s unfortunate that you are restrained to co-op, since versus mode is an option in both online and local wireless play via Course World. For now, at least, that’s all you get for local co-op play.
How to make levels with a friend
In addition to playing courses with up to four players on one Switch console, you can also make courses with a friend. Creating levels is confined to two players, which is good because it can get chaotic.
To make courses with friends, navigate to the alien heads on the lower left side of the design screen. Making courses with friends requires you to each use a single Joy-Con, with player one being Mario and player two set as Luigi. Mario can use the multigrab copy function, access the menu, and erase parts. Luigi, however, can only select parts using a confined menu and erase.
How to play online multiplayer
As mentioned above, you can also play online or via local wireless with multiple Switch consoles. There are a few different options for playing multiplayer online. When you select Network Play within the Course World menu, you’ll see the option for Multiplayer co-op and Versus, as well as the options to play with friends via the internet or locally with separate systems. Playing with friends allows you to create your own private room to ensure unwanted visitors can’t join.
Alternatively, you can play with strangers online. From here, you’ll get paired with up to four random players, with the option to select between four difficulties: Easy, Normal, Expert, and Super Expert. Players must vote to select the difficulty for the whole party.
Does Story Mode have co-op?
Unfortunately, you cannot play Story Mode with a friend in Super Mario Maker 2. Co-op is limited to creating levels and playing downloaded courses from Course World in the Coursebot menu.
World Maker
With Super Mario Maker 2’s latest update, you’re able to expand upon your creations with the new World Maker feature. The update allows you make overworlds that tie to stages you’ve created, giving you a more complete package. You are able to play through the worlds you’ve made in co-op, but, unlike the regular level creator, only one player can make a world at a time.