In 2008, the game's publisher D3Publisher and game news outlet IGN held an invitation-only competition to find who could create the best level. The competition was held in conjunction with SMU Guildhall, a game development graduate program at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. The prize was a $10,000 scholarship awarded on behalf of the winner to a graduate student in the program for tuition assistance. Designers from developers like Naughty Dog, Infinity Ward, and Arkane Studios among six other entrants participated in the competition and created custom levels that fans could download, play and vote for. The winner was Shane Hensley, the studio head of Superstition Studios, for his level "Pinball Wizard".

According to Treasure founder Masato Maegawa, the DS was chosen as the console for the game because of how the stylus could be used for the stage editor, and that the DS seemed naturally suited for 2D games.