Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood brings many firsts to the theme park industry. It is the first major land in North America to be fully themed to a video game property and includes the first full-fledged implementation of augmented reality at the attraction. It’s also a visually stunning, colorful world full of movement, games, character interactions, animations, and lots of silly things.
Expect the most interactive theme park land ever created. We have a mission that the future of entertainment requires a lot of play. The goal is to put guests inside the Mushroom Kingdom of Super Mario Bros. and make them feel like tourists inside the game instead of visiting a giant game-filled place. The land looks like an obstacle course, mashed up with different Nintendo landscapes. There’s a desert on the right, a bluish snow cap in front, and an eerie villain’s castle in the center of it.
At the tech rehearsal for Super Famicom World, people are playing on big mushrooms. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
(Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
This land is a triumph for Universal Studios Hollywood, and it did for Nintendo what The Wizarding World of Harry Potter did for the fantasy franchise.
Super Nintendo World doesn’t officially open until February 17, but Lando is currently in technical rehearsals and plans to welcome annual passholders ahead of the grand opening gala next month. Until February 17th, there is no guarantee that this land is up and running or will always be fully functional. However, The Times visited Super Nintendo World on the first day of his technical rehearsal. Walk in the trademark warp pipe of “Super Mario Bros.” and land.
People enter Super Nintendo World on Thursday for a tech rehearsal. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
(Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
land play seriously
As Super Nintendo World understands, play is not frivolous. At its core, play is a communication tool and a way to connect with family, friends, partners and even strangers. When we engage in games, especially those in real physical space, we step into a place with invisible boundaries and rules. They aren’t gatekeepers and help you to act outside of your normal, everyday self. A room full of rooms, always inviting you to let your guard down and be blissfully stupid.
This land has four important games and one large so-called “boss” battle. This is a group game that requires light body movement and asks you to imagine yourself in “Super Mario Bros.” Some games are simple. Spin the big wheel to trip Goomba, one of his mushroom-like enemies in the “Mario” games. Another is a group activity where you work together to flip a brick to a specific color. Elsewhere, you punch blocks to try and knock down a turtle-like Bowser. Nothing is particularly difficult, but they all actively invite us.
Guests who choose this land’s power-up band (a $40 wristband that interacts with a universal app and allows guests to collect virtual coins and track their progress) will face the final boss fight, Bowser Jr. You can participate in a match with , his one of Mario and Luigi’s main nemesis. Here, expect to get a little exercise as your own shadow is superimposed on the wall as the game tracks your full-body movements like the next-gen Microsoft Kinect. You can hit it, swing your arms around to throw bombs, and if you’re lucky you can occasionally launch virtual fireballs. It’s a bit quirky, lovingly messy, and lasts a solid few minutes, giving large groups time to play together, gossip, and interact with each other via larger-than-life games. .
People experience one of the attractions in Super Famicom World. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
(Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
Mario Kart Bowser Challenge Ride is Fun
After spending three times in Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge, the Land Showcase attraction and the only ride, I’m still discovering its intricacies. First off, don’t expect thrill rides . This is a relatively modestly paced racing ride with a focus on gameplay, set pieces, animation and pure theme park weirdness. Sometimes the vehicle would shake and tremble when hit by cartoonish lightning, and sometimes Bowser, the dragon-and-turtle villain from Mario’s world, would make us stagger, so I rode. Each ride was very different.
This land is part of an old-school theme park dark ride (we’re in cave-like rooms and following tracks) and part of a showcase for the latest augmented reality tech. Before riding, I was given a headband and attached it to the visor permanently attached to the vehicle. Seeing the world through a visor leads you into a world of imaginative chaos. His four guests are placed in the cart to team him up with Mario. The steering wheel has a button that allows you to throw cannonballs that occur while you ride. Aim the cannonballs at Bowser and his minions, but here’s an ingenious twist. Aim with your head and throw where you’re looking.
Yes, there’s a bit of a learning curve, but think of it as a ride that fans will want to visit again and again to top their previous scores. shoot And after a while caress and spins the dazzling Rainbow Road, his one of the more famous “Mario Kart” courses. Bowser’s pirate-like airship, glimpses of skeletal creatures brought to life, and attempts to take it all in while being taunted by Bowser and his gang.
Video game-inspired rides are all the rage in theme park spaces these days — see Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and Web Slingers: Spider-Man’s Adventures at Disneyland Resort — and Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge A “Mario Kart” game that works because you understand the appeal. Winning or losing a round of “Mario Kart” doesn’t always matter, because the draw in a game is often about what can happen. This gives us the illusion of living it.
People experiencing a technical rehearsal at Super Famicom World. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times).
(Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
The world is fully animated
One of my favorite moments in Super Nintendo World today was when I walked up to the second floor of the land and looked out through a telescope that was also equipped with augmented reality technology. This allows you to see the land as a sort of living video game, as cannon-fired Bullet Bills can be seen soaring around guests’ heads. , I just wanted to stop and take it all in. Gold coins spun, turtle-like Bowser strutted, and Porky, a cactus-inspired centipede-like creature, swayed. Southern California sun.
But more than that, there are many original animations all over the country.His Italian Toadstool Cafe is worth a visit — clever concoctions like Mount Beanpole cakes are designed like Mario levels. Not only can you eat, but you can also look out through digital windows. Here you can see how the toad species lives. It’s the methodical way they manage the kitchen, or they panic when Bowser’s airship comes into view. Original animation created for The latter gives us the underlying story of the land, where a golden mushroom has been stolen by Bowser Jr. and is responsible for retrieving it.
And while there are plenty of blocks across the country that earn virtual gold coins for those with power-up bands, there are also tappable hidden panels that come to life with video game-inspired hieroglyphs. Some of my favorite animations were seen before the fight with Bowser Jr. All in all, the relatively compact version of Super Famicom World that opens in Japan in 2021 is packed full of things to see, whether you want to sit down and watch, or take land invitations to play.
