It’s impossible to play a lag-free online multiplayer match of Super Mario Maker 2. For a game that’s designed to run 20-year-old graphics, it’s pretty impressive that far bigger games ran great on last-gen consoles.
So, I fell over in my seat when one of Nintendo’s most prolific producers, Shigeru Miyamoto, recently defended Nintendo against critics who say that Nintendo has fallen behind other consoles with current-gen features like VR or last-gen features like online play.
“We have not fallen behind with either VR or network services,” Miyamoto said. “We worked on them from the very beginning, and have been experimenting with them in a variety of ways. In that time, we have objectively evaluated whether they actually allow our consumers to have an enjoyable play experience, and whether we can operate them at an appropriate cost.”
As of July 14, the online in Super Mario Maker 2 hasn’t improved. I couldn’t even get into a match when I tried today. Not only that but somebody really needs to tell Miyamoto that this is not Nintendo’s first online blunder. This isn’t even Nintendo’s only online disaster in the past year. Let’s take a look at the current state of Nintendo Switch Online.
Nintendo Switch Online: Virtual Console
Nintendo is bombarded with YouTube dislikes every time they upload a Virtual Console-related video. The last video, uploaded on July 9, has 3.5k likes and 9.4k dislikes. The one before that from June 4 has 4.5k likes and 9.6k dislikes.
The comments have people begging for Nintendo to bring back their Virtual Console from the 3DS, Wii U and Wii. Nintendo had hundreds of their classic games available to purchase on those systems. That service is gone on Switch and in its place is a $20-a-year feature where fans have access to just 46 NES games. Two or three games join the service a month, but it’s not enough to satisfy fans over the service Nintendo provided before.
Nintendo Switch Online: Voice Chat
You have to download a smartphone app for voice chat to work in Nintendo Switch games. This is more unheard of than outdated. Sony and Microsoft made voice chat through the console a standard long before the Switch’s release.
It’s better than Wii Speak, which was a microphone placed in front of the TV that can be used for online chat. Personal conversations were great with Wii Speak, because users had to scream across the room to talk in the microphone, and, of course, have their friends’ voice come through the main TV speaker for all to hear. The smartphone app is a revolution compared to that.
Super Mario Party: Limited Online
Online multiplayer for Mario Party is a dream. Wouldn’t it be great if a Mario Party game had online?
No, Super Mario Party does not count. The board game mode can’t be played online. Instead, the online multiplayer feature is a random selection of minigames. Even worse, Super Mario Party doesn’t allow users to select the specific minigames they want. The only option is to choose a playlist of minigames that collects only 10 out of the 80+ minigames that the game offers.
There is probably an alternate universe where Mario Party has been fully online since Mario Party 8’s release in 2007. I wonder if it even has in-game voice chat!
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Online Lag
Nintendo began charging $20-a-year for its online service about a year and a half after the Switch’s launch when Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was coming out. It’s the cheapest premium service between Xbox and PlayStation, but that’s also because Nintendo has far less third-party games.
Since Super Smash Bros. games are among the best-selling games for each of Nintendo’s recent systems, the release of a new entry should be a priority. Especially something as vital to a multiplayer game as the online functionality.
Smash Bros. Ultimate was horribly laggy at launch and is still hit or miss to this day. The game stops itself for seconds at a time in the middle of a match to load. This happens at least once or twice every few matches no matter how great the internet connection is. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Splatoon 2 run fine online and those games were released when the online service on Switch was free. Smash Bros. on the Wii and Wii U didn’t run like that.
It’s like Nintendo’s online performed worse after they started charging for it.
Super Mario Maker 2: No Friend Matchmaking
Mr. Tezuka has confirmed that the ability to play online multiplayer with friends is coming to #SuperMarioMaker2 in a future update. Stay tuned for more information to come. https://t.co/oxGuEcJ8Om pic.twitter.com/1AfK1vEGIe
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) June 11, 2019
Playing multiplayer with friends isn’t a launch feature… That one speaks for itself.
Super Mario Maker 2: Online Lag
Polygon added an update to their Super Mario Maker 2 review.
“My initial review of Super Mario Maker 2 did not contain impressions on the game’s multiplayer, as I was initially playing off of sparsely populated pre-release servers,” the Polygon critic wrote. “After spending the weekend on live servers with final retail code, I can safely say that online multiplayer is…well, it’s straight busted.”
But, it’s too late. Super Mario Maker 2 is one of the highest-rated games of the year on Metacritic. Most of the reviews on there were published before the game came out, and critics weren’t given a taste of some of the worst-performing online from any recent AAA game. A good roast from critics is the wake-up call that Nintendo needs.
Peter Oneto 