News
Fan Spends 7 Years To Create Super Mario Bros 5
Nintendo won’t be making a Super Mario Bros 5, so a dedicated fan took matters into his own hands — and the results are epic.
A Mario Bros fan known as “Metroid Mike 64” has finished a massive project over 7 years in the making. Mike used Mario Maker 2 to build the new game and has unofficially given the 2D platform game the Super Mario Bros 5 moniker.
Metroid Mike heavily utilized the World Maker update for Mario Maker 2, which allows users to stitch together multiple levels into full games, including world maps. The dedicated fan brought together 40 courses spread over 8 worlds, with, according to Mike himself, “24 courses from Super Mario World, 14 from SMB3, and 2 courses from SMB.”
This Super World features 40 full courses spread across 8 worlds. 24 courses from Super Mario World, 14 from SMB3 and 2 courses from SMB. There are no courses from NSMBU or SM3DW, only the classics. So if NES/SNES 2D Mario is your jam, this game is for you. pic.twitter.com/y1hFPXhRW5
— Metroid Mike 64 (@MetroidMike64) September 25, 2022
The unofficial game comes from a fondness of the NES and SNES era of games, with obvious nods to some of their hallmark bosses, world maps, and puzzles.
“[I’ve been trying to] provide players with something Nintendo should’ve done already, and a full Mario game within Super Mario Maker 2, that’s fun as heck,” says Metroid Mike 64.
The response to the epic project has been overwhelmingly positive, with Mike’s announcement generating 4,000 retweets and 25,000 likes at the time of publishing this article, with users highly praising the attention to detail and satisfying gameplay.
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Many people on Twitter have pointed out the oddity of a fan having to take matters into their own hands since Nintendo hasn’t released a 2D Mario game since 2012. Although the console giant has made games in that timeframe, none have been in the classic 2D format that fans seem to love so much.
If you’re a fan of the classic 2D SNES and NES games yourself, you can take Mike’s Super Mario Bros 5 for a spin by typing in the Mario Maker 2 ID, 0G9-XN4-FNF.
News
Nano Banana 2 Arrives In MENA For Google Gemini Users
Google brings its latest image model to Gemini and Search, adding 4K output and tighter text control for regional users.
Google has opened access to Nano Banana 2 across the Middle East and North Africa, pushing its newest image model into everyday tools rather than keeping it inside the exclusive (and expensive) Pro tier.
The rollout spans the Google Gemini desktop and mobile apps, and extends to Google Search through Lens and AI Mode. Developers can also test it in preview via AI Studio and the Gemini API.
Nano Banana 2 runs on Gemini Flash, Google’s fast inference layer. The focus is speed, but also control. Users can export visuals from 512px up to 4K, adjusting aspect ratios for everything from vertical social posts to widescreen displays.
The model maintains character likeness across up to five figures and preserves fidelity for as many as 14 objects within a single workflow. This enables visual continuity across scenes, iterations, or edits — supporting projects like short films, storyboards, and multi-scene narratives. Text rendering has also been improved, delivering legible typography in mockups and greeting cards, with built-in translation and localization directly within images.
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Under the hood, the system taps Gemini’s broader knowledge base and pulls in real-time information and imagery from web search to render specific subjects more accurately. Lighting and fine detail have been upgraded, without slowing output.
By embedding the model inside Gemini and Search, Google is normalizing advanced image generation for a mass audience. In MENA, where startups and marketing teams are leaning heavily on AI to scale content across languages and borders, that shift lands at a practical moment.
The move also folds creative tooling deeper into search itself, so that image generation is no longer a separate workflow. It now sits right next to the query box.
