Super Mario Maker supports more than 50 amiibo, lets you make music and more

Nintendo released new details about its upcoming Wii U game, Super Mario Maker, in a new overview video today, revealing that a long list of amiibo will be supported in the game and that players will be able to make musical levels using special blocks.

More than 50 amiibo figures will be supported in Super Mario Maker. Players will be able to tap a compatible amiibo to the Wii U GamePad, then use that character in the game's 8-bit Super Mario Bros.-themed levels. The video shows Link, Wii Fit Trainer, Bowser, Luigi and Kirby in action, but characters like Samus from Metroid, Pit from Kid Icarus and Little Mac from Punch-Out!! will also be supported. Even third-party characters like Pac-Man and Mega Man will apparently work with Super Mario Maker.

The video shows off one of the new amiibo coming around the launch of Super Mario Maker: the Super Mario Bros. 30th anniversary Mario amiibo. That figure will unlock mustachioed enemies and seems to give Mario the ability to smash through otherwise unbreakable blocks.

Interestingly, the video also shows what Nintendo considers an unbeatable level, one in which the end-of-level flagpole is surrounded by blocks, the type that only giant Mario would be able to smash through. Could some levels only be beaten by players who have that Super Mario Bros. 30th anniversary Mario amiibo? We're checking in with Nintendo.

Update: Nintendo clarified that a player does not need a Super Mario Bros. 30th anniversary Mario amiibo to defeat any course. Instead, that amiibo will let course designer add a Big Mushroom to their course and anyone who plays that course will have access to it.

Players will also be able to turn their custom designed Super Mario Maker levels into musical creations. As the video above demonstrates, note blocks can be turned into music blocks that play different notes when touched. There's also a sound effect feature that will let players add aural flair to the game, including custom-recorded sound effects using the GamePad's microphone.

If that all sounds like a lot to contend with as you make your first Super Mario Maker levels, note that the game will dole out new editing features over time. As the video above reveals, players will get access to a small amount of level-design tools on day one. Spend at least five minutes with those tools, and they'll get more the following day. It sounds like everything will unlock over the course of nine days.

Super Mario Maker comes to Wii U on Sept. 11.