No Waluigi?
One of the absolute best parts of the original Super Mario Maker was going through your amiibo collection and seeing which new characters you unlock. Sure you could earn them normally through gameplay, but I loved the idea of slapping my Waluigi figure against the controller and playing as him right away.
Much to the chagrin of amiibo owners and to the joy of everyone else, Super Mario Maker 2 will lack these features: at least according to a rep’s statement to GameXplain. The reasoning behind the omission is so Nintendo can focus on the four main characters, which doesn’t really explain the fact that Mario Maker already kind of did that by limited costume changes to the Mystery Mushroom pickup. Plus, all four main roster members will play identically anyway.
In all seriousness, Nintendo has really winded amiibo support down over the past year or so, so this all makes sense. Right now only six characters in 2019 have been released in half a year’s time, all six of whom are part of the Smash Ultimate line (which Nintendo probably sees as an obligation at this point). The only interesting figures on the way are from a third party developer (the Shovel Knight 3-pack).
There’s probably going to be token E3 amiibo announcements coming, but for now they’re treading water.
Super Mario Maker 2 [GameXplain]
