Course Maker

Course Maker (labelled as Create a Course in Super Mario Maker) is the main mode in the Super Mario Maker series, where players can create courses to save in Coursebot and upload to Course World. It was first shown off when Super Mario Maker was revealed at E3 2014 and has appeared in every game in the series taking a different look in each instalment.

Super Mario Maker
Since this is the first game in the series, Super Mario Maker is the Course Maker's introduction in the series. After starting the game for the first time, pressing and playing an unfinished course until the game notifies them to edit the course, the player will be sent to a tutorial in the Course Maker where they will be taught how to use features and techniques such as placing, adjusting and transforming course elements, dragging Super Mushrooms and Wings onto enemies to super-size and wing them respectively, stacking enemies, filling ? Blocks and Pipes, saving courses, etc. After all instructions have been finished and the course has finished construction, the player can play the course before saving it to the Coursebot. When making a course normally, the player will often be notified when new course elements will arrive. When the Soundfrog button is tapped, the course screen darkens, the music goes silent, and the course element palette is replaced by a single row for sound effects. The Course Maker can also transform into the Gnat Attack minigame, originating from Mario Paint, when a Muncher is shaken repeatedly. When the player touches the screen with the stylus or their finger, a hand will appear on the TV touching/dragging whatever the player is. The hand that can appear can be changed by pressing down the left or right.

Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS
The Course Maker returns in the Nintendo 3DS port of the Wii U game, with the same overall use and behaviour except for the main screen being on the Touch Screen, which is 5:3 instead of 16:9. The Top Screen displays a preview of the course for when it will be played. When the course is being played, the Course Maker slides upwards revealing the bottom screen shown during normal gameplay but with the clapperboard remaining on the bottom left corner. Like the original game, the game tells the player to press upon starting the game for the first time (while the Touch Screen tells them to "TAP HERE"), bringing the player to a tutorial in the Course Maker, except this time Yamamura and Mary O. guide the player through the tutorial and Yamamura asks if they want to do the tutorial later. If the player chooses "Go to Lessons", they will go to the first lesson. The hand on the TV screen does not appear in this game, only the glove cursor appears. The Gnat Attack minigame is also absent for unknown reasons. Course elements that were added to the Wii U game via a post-launch update, such as Checkpoint Flags or Skewers are now in their own separate slots.

Super Mario Maker 2
The Course Maker returns in the Nintendo Switch sequel with a complete overhaul. In the February 2019 Nintendo Direct, when Super Mario Maker 2 was first revealed, the new and improved Course Maker was first shown off (with some pre-release differences to the final release) alongside the addition of slopes. The biggest change in the new Course Maker is the addition of course elements being selected from several scroll wheels organized into categories instead of rows. Touch controls can still be used, but button controls can also be used to place course elements and navigate the UI. Course elements can now be pinned by holding down or by holding down on the touch screen, so that they won't be removed from the row when pushed off the left side by a newly selected element.

Co-op Making
An additional button on the bottom left side for Co-op Making has been added in Super Mario Maker 2, allowing for 2 players to use a single Joy-Con to make courses together. Player 1 still uses the row on the top and the scroll wheels, while Player 2 can press to bring up a small bar with every course element. However, Player 2 cannot use Erase Mode, press / to pause the game or scroll the screen and Player 1 interrupts Player 2 placing/finding a course element when bringing up the scroll wheels. When playing a course, Player 1 controls Mario and Player 2 controls Luigi. It is impossible to change characters during Co-op Making. Pressing the button again switches back to Solo Making.

Trivia

 * The hand seen on the TV screen in Super Mario Maker's Course Maker reappears in the Super Mario Maker stage in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate when the fight starts.