One of the more advanced techniques causing you problems? Here’s a short offering on how to improve!
One of the more advanced techniques in the Mario games and something that you will find more often in the Extreme Expert Difficulty courses on Super Mario Maker 2 is Shell Jumping. It’s something that was made famous by Kaizo during his infamous ROMHacks of the original Super Mario World and is also possible in using the Super Mario World theme in Super Mario Maker 2.
The object of Shell Jumping is to propel yourself forward and then, using a Koopa shell, bounce off the shell in mid-air to effectively get a second jump, gaining access to platform ledges that are otherwise too high to reach. Throw the shell too early and it’s just going to slam into the wall and roll back in the opposite reaction. Throw the shell too late and it will either come back and hit you in the face, or you’ll go under it before inevitably hitting you anyway.
Shell Jumping is a difficult skill to learn, and they are often on the most advanced courses for the simple reason that they can make even the best players sweat, especially when you are under a time limit. But there is help at hand.
It’s usually fairly easier to spot when someone has set up a Shell Jumping opportunity. A stray Koopa Tropper is waiting before a chasm or you see a high ledge that you clearly are not going to regular jump up to with a Koopa nearby.
The trick with it is to get some distance for a run, make sure there is some daylight between you and the obstruction in the way, and throw the Koopa shell at the peak of your jump. If you time it right, you naturally fall into it at the right moment for the shell to hit the obstruction, come back and connect with you as you reach the top of the shell. Make sure you are holding the jump button to get maximum height off of the shell, and you’re there!
It’s something that takes a good amount of practice to get right consistently, and the long-range ones will take some time to pull off, but the principle of releasing the shell at the peak of your jump while moving forward is the key to making it work.
To assist with basic Shell Jumping, we at Gamepur have created a short track that includes three large walls, all that use shell jumping to varying degrees of difficulty. You can find it on Course ID: 7JT-D6R-S3G. It won’t get you over the long-range shell jumps immediately, but it will assist with the easy stuff which you can then take into the rest of the more difficult courses.
We hope that this helps and you are able Shell Jump like the pros!
