How to play Super Mario Maker on Mac

Game summary

Super Mario Maker lets people’s imaginations run wild. For the first time ever, friends can have fun playing through levels they create for one another. The Wii U GamePad controller makes it so easy for anyone to create levels; it may feel like simply sketching out ideas on paper. Players can enjoy a seemingly endless supply of inventive Mario levels from players around the world. The game includes a book totaling about 100 pages that illustrates the boundless possibilities in Super Mario Maker. Nintendo will also release two special Mario amiibo figures to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original Super Mario Bros. game. Tapping these amiibo in Super Mario Maker adds a Big Mushroom power-up to your course, allowing Mario to grow big and bust blocks from any direction, as well as adding a retro visual filter to the game, reminiscent of older cathode ray tube televisions. In addition, many other amiibo will also be compatible with Super Mario Maker through the use of a new item called the Mystery Mushroom. This item allows Mario to take the appearance of many other characters, such as Link, Kirby or Wii Fit Trainer, complete with character-specific animations and sound effects. These character costumes can be unlocked by completing the 100 Mario Challenge mode and many can also be unlocked if the player taps the amiibo of the character to the Wii U GamePad.
First released: Sep 2015

Play Super Mario Maker on Mac with Parallels (virtualized)

The easiest way to play Super Mario Maker on a Mac is through Parallels, which allows you to virtualize a Windows machine on Macs. The setup is very easy and it works for Apple Silicon Macs as well as for older Intel-based Macs.

Parallels supports the latest version of DirectX and OpenGL, allowing you to play the latest PC games on any Mac. The latest version of DirectX is up to 20% faster.

Our favorite feature of Parallels Desktop is that when you turn off your virtual machine, all the unused disk space gets returned to your main OS, thus minimizing resource waste (which used to be a problem with virtualization).

Super Mario Maker installation steps for Mac

Step 1
Go to Parallels.com and download the latest version of the software.
Step 2
Follow the installation process and make sure you allow Parallels in your Mac’s security preferences (it will prompt you to do so).
Step 3
When prompted, download and install Windows 10. The download is around 5.7GB. Make sure you give it all the permissions that it asks for.
Step 4
Once Windows is done installing, you are ready to go. All that’s left to do is install Super Mario Maker like you would on any PC.
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