Team 0% Completes Every Super Mario Maker Level: A Tale of Perseverance and Triumph

Hyperbole and the gaming community are inseparable, evident in exaggerated game advertisements and hyperbolic exclamations about game difficulty. Super Mario Maker's release in 2015 allowed players to create and share their own 2D Mario levels, fostering a community of passionate enthusiasts. Team 0%, a group dedicated to clearing every uncleared level in the game, faced the challenge of hyperbolically difficult levels, requiring a massive community effort. Bolstered by a call to action and sophisticated data management, Team 0% achieved their goal in 2024, seven years after their founding. Their completion of every legitimate Super Mario Maker level serves as a fitting tribute to a beloved game and a testament to the power of community and determination.

In the realm of gaming, hyperbole and exaggeration have become inseparable partners. From the over-the-top advertisements of the past that promised mind-boggling experiences to the tongue-in-cheek caricatures of gamers as basement-dwelling, soda-sipping critics, the gaming community has embraced the art of amplifying the truth. However, when it comes to games themselves, the tales we spin about them often reach skyscraper heights compared to the mere tales they tell us.

In the case of Super Mario Maker, a game that allows players to create, share, and play their own Mario levels, the tendency for hyperbolic narratives soared to unprecedented levels. The game's release on the Wii U in 2015 ignited a storm of enthusiasm, empowering every player with the tools to become a virtual Mario game developer.

Amidst the countless levels that flooded the game's servers, a peculiar subculture emerged. YouTube channels and Twitch streams proliferated, featuring videos with clickbait titles that screamed of impossibility, accompanied by exaggerated facial expressions of pain, shock, or disbelief. These videos showcased gamers struggling tirelessly against seemingly insurmountable challenges, throwing hundreds or thousands of attempts at clearing a single level.

The line between genuine frustration and theatrical performance blurred, and viewers flocked to these channels, eager to witness skilled players conquer the most daunting levels. Competitions and world records emerged, creating an entire ecosystem of content creation and dedicated players.

However, like all trends, the Super Mario Maker craze eventually subsided, leaving behind a dedicated core of players. Among them was Team 0%, a group founded in 2017 with a mission to complete every single uncleared level in the game's vast catalog.

Despite the dwindling number of active players and the release of Super Mario Maker 2 on the Nintendo Switch, Team 0% remained steadfast in their pursuit. At its inception, the team faced a daunting task with over 80,000 uncleared levels. But as the rate of level uploads slowed, Team 0% gained ground, clearing hundreds and even thousands of levels, one by one.

On March 31, 2021, Nintendo announced the discontinuation of online play and upload capabilities for the Wii U, effectively setting a deadline for Team 0%. With the finish line in sight, they doubled down on their efforts.

Then came a turning point in October 2023. YouTuber TheRileyC released a video that called attention to the impending server shutdown and rallied the community to help Team 0% clear the remaining levels. This call to action sparked a surge of support, increasing the team's membership from around 3,000 to 11,000.

Team 0%'s progress accelerated dramatically, with a dedicated army of players throwing themselves at the remaining levels. It was a testament to their collective determination and the power of teamwork.

Not every level in Super Mario Maker is created equal. The game's diverse creator tools have given rise to countless level archetypes, each requiring its own unique set of skills to navigate. Players communicated regularly, sharing strategies and recommending levels that suited their particular strengths.

Behind the scenes, a dedicated support team of data scientists and analysts provided invaluable assistance. They collected data, set daily completion targets, and developed tools that streamlined the process of marking levels as cleared.

The collective effort of Team 0% was a masterpiece of data science and collaboration. The team's dedicated website served as a hub for progress updates, data visualization, and level filtering, enabling players to maximize their impact.

With the support of their extended community and armed with sophisticated tools, Team 0% made rapid progress. The week of TheRileyC's call to action saw the highest number of level clears, with an impressive 2,547 completed. From that point forward, Team 0% consistently surpassed their weekly quotas.

The top 5 most accomplished players in terms of level clears were Team0PercentSMM1, l.oufnhu32, gravityrad, LeLe521, and SchwozW6803. SchwozW6803 alone cleared over 4,700 of the remaining levels.

The community's dedication to the task was evident in their countless stories of perseverance and ingenuity. Paradise Plaza, a level requiring precise timing and flawless movement, was conquered by KingBoo97. The Most Hardest Vine Mash level tested the limits of human button-mashing capabilities, requiring GravityRad to use a power tool to perform the required inputs.

SweatyPiranha purchased Super Mario Maker and a Wii U solely to play a single level, The Hardest Muncher Stairs, which became his only clear in the entire game. Not all levels demanded extraordinary skill. Some, like Lucky Draw, relied on chance, requiring players to hope for a rare outcome that granted them victory.

As the team neared the end of their quest, only one level remained uncleared: "Trimming the Herbs." This notoriously difficult level stumped the entire community for a full week. However, the level's creator revealed that they had used third-party tools to automate their playthrough, violating Team 0%'s standards of fair play. The level was deemed hacked and removed from their workload.

On March 15, 2024, the final legitimate level, The Last Dance, was cleared by Yamada_SMM2. Team 0% had achieved their once-in-a-lifetime goal of completing every clearable level in Super Mario Maker.

Even so, some members of the community remained determined to conquer "Trimming the Herbs" before the shutdown of the Wii U servers. On April 5th, 2024, the impossible was made possible when Sanyx91SMM2 legitimately cleared the level.

Team 0%'s unwavering pursuit of Super Mario Maker's completion was more than just a race against time. It was a symbolic act of paying homage to a game that had brought so much joy to its players.

Super Mario Maker was not just a game; it was a platform for creativity and community. It allowed players to step into the shoes of both creators and players, fostering a symbiotic relationship between the two.

By daring to dig deep into the game's catalog, Team 0% ensured that every level, no matter how obscure or challenging, had its moment in the spotlight. Like a street artist's creation that might never find its way into a museum, each level was a work of love and ingenuity. Team 0% gave these levels the recognition they deserved before their digital canvases were erased forever.

Congratulations to Team 0% on their extraordinary achievement. Their dedication and teamwork have left an indelible mark on the history of Super Mario Maker and the gaming community. And as they embark on their next quest to conquer the catalog of Super Mario Maker 2, their spirit of perseverance and collaboration will undoubtedly guide them to success once again.