Tis the season and my son really wants Mario Maker and Pokemon Sun/Moon. I don't have a WiiU or a 3DS so obviously (because of Pokemon and because I'm not going to buy both) the 3DS is my only option.

For those of you who have played Mario Maker, how much fun do you think my son and I will get out of the offline, 3DS version of Mario maker via Nintendo's levels and making levels for each other to try?

Also, if you want to give a shout out to some of yer favourite 3DS games that'd be cool too.

Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy, Box Boy, and if you can find it, the Tetris that came out for the original DS are all good to go.

I haven't played mario maker so I can't comment on that, but here is some good 3ds games: Animal Crossing New Leaf, Fire Emblem Awakening/Fates, MonsterHunter, Mario 3D World, Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds

I think it depends on how much fun you think he'd have playing levels you made or he made himself. The design tools are neat, and I'm sure certain people can get a lot of fun out of just designing levels, but the only thing about the Wii U version that appealed to me at all was playing levels other people made. If you just want to play some Mario, then 3D Land or even New Super Mario Brothers 2 is probably a better choice.

@cameron: Thanks for the insight. I'm still concerned but I'll probably go ahead with the purchase with the assumption that despite not getting the WiiU's incalculable value, we can still have more than enough fun playing Nintendo's levels and then trying to kill each other with our own creations.

He has some cash in the bank so I'm gonna make him buy his own Pokemon game (so he can choose Sun or Moon himself, or who knows maybe even X, Y, R or B?) and then I will no doubt buy either Animal Crossing or some form of Harvest Moon.

Personally, I'm enjoying it so far. I definitely can see where a lot of negativity about this release comes from with regards to the lack of online sharing and searching (it's warranted), but I am finding great enjoyment just "pulling the lever" and seeing what kind of recommended courses come out. It's a decent way to spend time actually playing a huge variety of levels rather than spending time combing through rankings, searching twitter/forums for level codes, etc.. I hit a button and get a menu of levels. Some are good, some...not so good. But it's great for just punching in, punching out, and getting some unique Mario experiences on-the-go in a no-frills way. Not a big sharer with my own creations, so I'm having fun messing around and having my wife and friend try out my terrible ideas.

Nintendo should rightfully be taken to task for gimping the social element of this game -- and hopefully this is something that could be addressed in a later title update -- but there is still a great single player experience to be had here. I think there's still fun to be had sharing your creations with your family and any friends with 3DS's. If the WiiU version is off the table I think this is just fine.

I will say that I do feel like $40 is a bit too high for Nintendo to be asking for this.

Throwing in with above posters for Link Between Worlds, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and Mario 3D Land.

Wii U and potential 3DS owner chiming in:

The tools are incredible, and the level building is truly really fun on its own basis. It is Minecraft-levels of ingenious, and if you're going to be playing each other's wild and varied creations, the two of you will experience wonderful value. I'm actually pretty jealous of the fact that you and your son will be able to bond over level design in a super cool way.

If it were just one of you playing this, I'd probably be more tepid. Online level sharing essentially elevated the Wii U version into near-classic status.

While you might not be getting the user-driven content, Nintendo has handcrafted 100 levels unique to the 3DS version. 100 levels from the best Mario creator in the world. That's more content than in Super Mario World. So there is still a game's worth of singleplayer content to enjoy before you ever touch the creation suite.

I'd say go for it. Unequivocally so if, like you, you're not already an owner of the Wii U version.

PS -- Mario Maker 3DS is currently selling at a discounted price on Amazon, at least here in the States. Moreso if you have Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Super-Mario-Maker-Nintendo-3DS/dp/B01LDUYU60?th=1

$40 to play your own custom levels with little more to do than that seems like a rip-off

I haven't started playing it yet (currently going through the fifth Ace Attorney), but I'll say that I bought it because I don't have a Wii U and I really enjoyed watching Dan and Jeff play through and talk about the game. I know that it's going to be a much lesser experience, but until the Switch comes out and we get a version or sequel to the game, I'll at least have this.

I was super interested in Mario Maker, however, when I watched the quick look the other day, I saw just how bare bones that thing really is. I am sure your son will enjoy it but for a 24 year old like me I wanted to play the wii u version when I am flying all over the country setting up server racks. The 3ds however is an awesome system, just make sure you are buying him the *NEW* 3ds xl. The new one is a little bit faster and will future proof your son for any releases to come on the platform.

Some games I recommend checking out would be Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Donkey Kong Country Returns - Super good game, Lego City for 3ds is a nice kids game that I still enjoy, and Ocarina of Time because everyone needs to play that before they die.

Get the 3ds xl, when I bought it for travel I didn't know that the 3ds xl was this cool otherwise I would have bought one years ago. Also, get yourself Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow and give that a go when your son is at school.

I dunno, my nephews (age 9 and 6) played the Wii U version and didn't care at all about sharing their levels.

They would make their own, usually consisting of walls of coins, then play some random challenges and have fun. Every time they come by, they'll spend at least a half hour doing just that with absolutely no interest in linking their level on Twitter. It was enough to have someone in the room try it before they deleted it to start from scratch. Kind of like an Etch A Sketch.

As for awesome games, Theatrhyhm: Curtain Call kicks ass.