In context: After several setbacks, the Super Nintendo World theme park is opening this month. It all seems a bit over-the-top to me, but hardcore Mario fans and the kids should love it. However, Kinopio’s Cafe, with its mushroom-enhanced dishes, does sound interesting to me. [Editor’s note: It’s not those kinds of mushrooms, Cal.]
On Monday, Nintendo announced Super Nintendo World finally opens on March 18. The park is located inside Universal Studios Japan in Osaka and was initially scheduled to open last summer but got waylaid by the pandemic. Nintendo had rescheduled the debut for February 4, 2021, but that got pushed back too.
Although covid mandates are beginning to relax, Nintendo is still taking some precautions during the opening. It requires all guests wear masks, and although specific numbers were not listed, Nintendo says Universal Studios is limiting ticket sales for now.
Inside the park looks just like a living Mario game, with animated spinning coins, Goombas, and Koopa Troopas. Even Yoshi makes an appearance (see video tour above). There are at least three themed areas, including the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach’s Castle, and Bowser’s Fortress.
Nintendo mentioned a vague Mario Kart attraction back in 2017. The most recent update announced “Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge” and “Yoshi’s Adventure” attractions. It also said that guests could purchase “power-up bands” that add to the fun. The bands come in six character themes (above).
“If you have a power-up band, you can search for hidden secrets in the area and challenge the attraction ‘Power-up Band Key Challenge’ to get the key from the enemy character,” said Nintendo [translation via Google].
Guests can even download an app to their phone to track their activities and score.