Super Mario Maker’s hardcore players have just one fiendish level to beat before server shutdown. Can they do it?  

An international community of Super Mario players has been racing against time to beat some of the world’s most devious Mario levels before the April 9 server shutdown. Since starting the challenge in February 2023, Team 0% has beaten over 41,000 user-created stages. They now only have one level left to beat- but why is this one causing so much trouble? Read on to find out. 

Super Mario Maker was originally released for the Wii U in 2015, coming to the 3DS the following year. Its approachable interface allowed players to easily create their own Mario levels and share them with the world. However, the user-created stages uploaded to Nintendo servers will become permanently unavailable on April 9 when the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U online service shuts down. 

We previously reported on Team 0%’s challenge back on March 7. At that time, the community still had 124 levels left to clear. In the 12 days since then, they have managed to beat an impressive 123 levels, leaving just one stubborn stage left. 

In order to be uploaded to the server, user-created levels of Super Mario Maker had to be cleared at least once by their creator. Therefore, the members of Team 0% know that this challenge is possible (fraudulently uploaded levels have already been weeded out). 

The stage that continues to outwit the team is called “Trimming the Herbs.” The level was originally created in 2017 by Canada-based player Ahoyoo, who has cleared it in the YouTube video below. The extremely difficult stage was made with the Ghost house theme in the Super Mario World style. As shown in the video, it contains numerous deadly hazards, like hungry Pirahna plants and multiple spinning blades that can easily deadhead Mario. It requires accurate use of power-ups and very precise, fast movements to beat.  

After all the hard work Team 0% has put in to completing Super Mario Maker stages, it would be a shame if they fell at the final hurdle. Keep up with their progress here.