A major Super Mario Maker 2 update will be released later this week worldwide, bringing new course elements, a new play mode and more.

　　The biggest addition of the 2.0 update launching on December 5th is the Master Sword power-up for the Super Mario Bros. style. The power-up turns Mario into Link, opening up a lot of interesting possibilities.

　　Transforming into Link using the Master Sword opens up a whole new world of design possibilities for creators. Using his arrows, Link can shoot far off switches that Mario would normally not be able to hit. His new down thrust move with the sword will defeat usually protected enemies like spike-covered Spinies. And with bombs, some walls that would normally be impassable by Mario and friends can easily be blown up.

　　The new Super Mario Maker 2 update also introduces new course elements and enemies, including Pokey, the iconic cactus enemy from Super Mario World.

　　Dash Block: Available in the Super Mario 3D World style, the Dash Block course part gives Mario a major speed burst when stepped on.

　　Frozen Coin: These coins are surrounded by a block of ice and can only be released if melted by fireballs or other fire elements, including a certain angry sun.

　　P Block: When a P Switch is hit in the course, invisible P Blocks temporarily turn into hard platforms, or vice-versa.

　　Spike: This classic enemy coughs up massive spike balls and launches them at Mario. If used in the snow environment, Spike will toss snowballs instead!

　　Pokey: The iconic stacked cactus from multiple Super Mario games joins Super Mario Maker 2 for the first time. Players can even edit the height of each Pokey.

　　The new update also adds Ninji Speedruns mode to Super Mario Maker 2, challenging players to complete courses in the fastest time possible.

　　In the new Ninji Speedruns mode, players can take on a timed challenge in courses created by Nintendo exclusively for this mode. Other players’ Ninji Ghosts will run alongside players as they compete against rivals from around the world. The Ninji Ghosts that appear are selected from player data at a similar performance level, so players can gradually improve their performance by running the course alongside other players’ Ninji Ghosts. Players can also collect stamps by clearing courses and redeem them in-game to get special Mii costumes.

　　Super Mario Maker 2 is now available on Nintendo Switch worldwide.