If you’ve always wanted to know what it’s like to go through a bend tube or travel through an underground Super Mario video game, you’ve come to the right place. Nintendo has revealed a whole new look at the expansion of the Super Nintendo World theme park at Universal Studios Japan, including a tour of a large part of the area.
In the video, Shigeru Miyamoto, who created the Super Mario franchise, walks the terrain, pointing out the many things that visitors will have to do. It all starts with a fold tube, through which you walk to enter the Peach Castle, as seen in Mario 64. As Miyamoto explained, the music of Mario 64 castle will also greet you, and the land is full of variety different songs than in the entire Super Mario franchise.
From there, you will be essentially immersed in the world of Mario, which is incredibly animated with spinning coins, wandering monsters and even snoring piranhas. There will also be a lot of interactivity, thanks to a bracelet that guests can wear, which synchronizes with their smartphones. With this band, you can collect coins by hitting certain blocks, unlocking hidden images and games, and even activating a Pow block to defeat a Koopa Troopa.
Next, Miyamoto showed a maze made to look like an underground level in one of the games, which included a section with much larger blocks to make you feel like you were shrinking and needing a mushroom to get back to normal size. As it is a theme park, there are also gift shops and food options. The restaurant, Kinopio’s Cafe, is run by Chef Toad and offers a variety of unique and mushroom-centered dishes.
Then there are the tours. Miyamoto didn’t ride at any of the attractions, but walked through the queue area for the Mario Kart themed ride, displaying the various iconic trophies from the Mario Kart games, as well as the one specifically designed for the course the ride takes. The story is simple: Bowser created a track simply to beat Mario. As friends of the plumber, it’s up to the visitors to run on the track and make sure Bowser doesn’t win. You will be given an AR headset to use while traveling, probably to simulate the dangers. Throwing real bombs and blue projectiles at your opponents is probably not the best idea.
At first glance, the Super Nintendo World is incredibly impressive, and that’s before anyone sets foot in the car. The Mario Kart attraction is one of the two that will be available when the terrain is opened, the other is an adventure for the whole family in which visitors will ride on Yoshi’s back. You can take a look at everything that Miyamoto explored in the lands above.
The Super Nintendo World will open at Universal Studios Japan on February 4, 2021. The park will also arrive at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Orlando in the future.