When Mario Maker was first shown at E3 2014 I was excited, but the concept needed work. The demo was early and, as some of you may remember, we walked away with a ton of questions about where the formula was going. Then, a more complete Super Mario Maker trailer was shown at The Game Awards in late 2014 that left me drooling.

At its core Super Mario Maker is an intuitive level design application. The concept is easy to grasp and it uses elements that are extremely familiar to Mario fans, of which there are millions, so the barrier to entry is somewhat low. What makes designing levels even easier is its simple and effective use of the Wii U GamePad. Super Mario Maker will surely go down in history as one of the best uses of the unique Wii U controller.

Even if designing levels isn't your thing, Super Mario Maker has an ever-growing supply of community created stages throughout all four supported Mario game types. Basically, you can get this title and have new Mario stages to play for the rest of your life. These stages range from easy, crazy, moderately hard, gimmicky, difficult, to almost impossible. There is something for everyone and it's possible to see and create things that you have never experienced in a Mario game before. Multiple Bowsers on screen, insane enemy combinations, crazy enemy stacks, and weird uses of power ups are only the tip of the iceberg.

Super Mario Maker also uses Amiibo in a fun way by allowing users to turn Mario into the scanned character. This allows for even more crazy "themed" stages. All of these things, coupled with Nintendo's continued support of the game through DLC, Event Stages, and new ways to find levels, earns Super Mario Maker a spot on our list. Not bad for the plumber's 30th anniversary.