The level starts as a slow-paced climb up a mine shaft, as Mario has to deal with the Galoombas, Koopa Troopas, and Piranha Plants that get in his way. After hitting a checkpoint, Mario steps onto a moving platform that takes him to the top of the shaft, but as he rides the lift, an onslaught of Bob-Ombs and Bullet Bills begins to attack our hero, as he must narrowly dodge being blown to pieces if he’s to get to the top of the mines.

As a lifelong Mario fan, I decided to try my hand at crafting a 2D Mario level as a portfolio piece when I was transferring from a programming degree to a design degree back in 2022. The original version of this level was made using the New Super Mario Bros. U engine in Super Mario Maker 2, but recently, I decided to switch to the Super Mario World engine, as I am a big fan of that game.

When designing the level, I looked back at the levels throughout all of the 2D Mario games and decided on a vertically based level since those are fairly infrequent throughout the series, and because I liked the idea of having the first half be a slow climb up the shaft only to turn into an automated elevator ride in the second half where you focus on avoiding enemies.

In the end, I am pretty happy with how the level turned out, especially since it was the first time I was serious about making a good level and it is what drove me to pursue level design as a potential design track.