Product Info

Platform

Switch, PC

Publisher

Rokaplay

Developer

FIRECHICK

Genre

Action, Adventure, Education, Puzzle

Players

1

File Size (Minimum)

357 MB

Release Date (NA)

May 3, 2023

Purchase From

eShop

Steam

Super Dungeon Maker is a level-design creator that’s like a mix between Super Mario Maker and top-down The Legend of Zelda games. It’s a very clever idea that’s untapped but it feels like it’s not ready to hatch quite yet.

Build as You Please

Super Dungeon Maker has a solid amount of tools to work with when making your own 2D dungeon. From the floor to enemies, you can make a pretty solid dungeon level if you know what you are doing. If you played Super Mario Maker, it’s comparable to how Super Dungeon Maker works. Players can switch between playing and building when creating their dungeon. When building, you can build multiple levels, create pitfalls, traps, and more. The game also gives players a set of tools to use. For example, you can add power-up items in chests and pots. The building tool also offers a set of boss-design monsters to add to give it a Zelda-like boss fight.

While the amount of items you can use to build is a solid start, it feels like the building game could use more items. With the amount of updates the developers have made in the last few months, it’s possible to make this dungeon builder quite beefy. Adding improved equipment, potion-filled bottles to rejuvenate your hearts or upgrade items would be great. The developers can add a vast amount of things to this game if they so choose to.

Outside World

Outside the dungeon, there’s a small village where you can explore between exploring pre-built dungeons, creating various dungeon projects, or testing out dungeons uploaded by other players. While it’s great to explore outside the dungeon, this area feels empty.

If you’re only looking to play pre-built dungeons and fanmade ones, you may not last too long as the game is created more for building than adventuring. An idea for the game: Having a merchant house where you can purchase building tools by completing dungeons would help not only the value of the non-dungeon areas but the replay value too. It would be almost like a mini Zelda game.

Also, the special items you pick up when exploring the village disappear when you enter a dungeon. It feels like a glitch. Why couldn’t these items stay in your inventory when exploring outside dungeons? Visiting dungeons makes sense as it’s intended for you to explore with no equipment, besides your sword—to enjoy the experience of how it was built. Still, at least let the player keep their inventory when exiting dungeons. It becomes a chore to collect items again, even if they aren’t hard to get.

Players can upload their dungeons or play others with the help of online connectivity. You can view fanmade dungeons that are popular, new, or by keyword. You can also give lives to dungeons you enjoyed, which helps the builder’s dungeon become more popular.

While playing, there have been some signs of framerate drops. Months ago, this issue was clearly visible, but currently it’s much less pronounced. Seeing developers staying on top of updating technical performance and content is a great thing to see as a player. That said, it would be nice to see a notification of these updates when you boot up the game rather than searching online.

Building on the Go

At the time of this review, the game retails at $19.99 USD on the Nintendo Switch and Steam. Currently, the game is not optimized for the Steam Deck, and it should be since the game can be played on the Nintendo Switch. Having no touch-screen capabilities when playing on the Nintendo Switch’s screen is a missed opportunity. That would have made dungeon building simpler and more fun than moving a hand cursor to pick tools. Hopefully, this becomes a new feature down the road.

Pixel Goodness

The game’s pixel designs are spectacularly done and feel like a Zelda spin-off title. The animations have some smoothness as you watch your character cut the tall grass. There could be more, though. Moving between dungeon floors feels flat and adding animation of the character going down the stairs would make it look more natural.

On the same note, the game’s soundtrack feels lacking and needs more variety. A dungeon’s background music only changes depending on the dungeon design. For example, if you choose a winter-themed dungeon, you’ll have a whimsical theme versus an upbeat score for a grass-style dungeon. Having more music options would only benefit the player.

The sound clip used when you find the “golden egg” that lets players leave the dungeon starts to become annoying. There are some dungeons that players will explore and they will hear this tune, but the golden egg is not in the room. This may be because it’s tucked away in a hidden area, but having to hear it constantly while traveling back and forth through that room becomes overkill. It also overshadows the dungeon music for how loud it is. There has to be another way to handle this.

Educational for the Win

The dungeon maker is free for academic purposes but only for PC users. This is a great opportunity not only for children but also for anyone wanting to start designing a game level and go into it as a career. Hopefully, some schools will take advantage of this opportunity to use this for class projects and introduce game development to a new audience.

The Final Tweak

Super Dungeon Maker is a game that many fans of Zelda are looking for until Nintendo releases an official standalone 2D builder. With refinements on building and adding replay value to explorers, this can be an addictive game for many. Plan out your dungeon and start digging.