News: Someone Built a Working Calculator in Mario Maker & It's Awesome

Since it was released last fall, Super Mario Maker has offered us a glimpse into the minds of some of the most evil people on the planet. The game, for Nintendo Wii U, lets players create their own Super Mario levels using a deep list of objects, enemies, and green pipes, which can then be uploaded for anyone to play.

Many people have taken this as a challenge to pit Mario in the most compromising situations imaginable, forcing the player to navigate through a barrage of Red Shells and Bob-ombs while executing an endless series of perfectly-timed jumps just to get to the level and earn nothing more than self-satisfaction and bragging rights.

But some saintly soul decided instead to use Mario Maker for good. Rather than test the upper limits of player sanity, Mario Maker user Helgefan used the surprisingly deep level editor to create a calculator that can add together two numbers from zero to six. Doesn't sound that impressive? Have a look at the calculator at work:

Okay, so maybe the result itself isn't that impressive, but it looks cool on the way there. You make your way through the first half of the level by twice jumping up a column with a number assigned 0-6. These are your terms in the equation.

You just have to sit back and relax for the second half, as the level is programmed to take you to the end, where you will see the result.

I'm not entirely sure what the hell I just witnessed, but it was nice. Maybe Helgefan's work will inspire other level creators to use Mario Maker for virtuous reasons, rather than trapping Mario players in an endless cycle of misery and torment.

Yeah, probably not.