This nearly impossible Super Mario Maker stage is my white whale

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A lot of people think that the Mario 2D platforming games are easy. They probably believe this because they’ve never played the Super Mario World special stages or got all the big coins in New Super Mario Bros. U. But the thing about Super Mario Maker is that you can stumble across a nearly impossible Mario course at any moment.

I’ve spent a lot of time with Super Mario Maker over the last few days, and most of those hours have gone into building levels that I thought were hard. But now … I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe! I started up a livestream of Super Mario Maker today with a plan to play through the 100 Mario Challenge on Expert. That did not go well. This fool’s errand almost immediately brought me to a stage that I could not beat after spending more than 80 lives on it. Who knows if I’ll ever beat it.

Check it out for yourself, and see what you can expect from the cruelest of Mario makers when the game launches September 11: