‘Super Mario’ theme park opens in Japan after months of delays

OSAKA: After months of pandemic delays, Nintendo’s first-ever theme park, featuring a “Mario Kart” ride in a real-life Bowser’s Castle, opened in Japan yesterday to delighted fans.

The attraction, whose bright, block-like surroundings are straight out of the classic “Super Mario” games, is part of the existing Universal Studios Japan (USJ) amusement park here.

“We perfectly recreated the world of the game. You’ll find lifesized piranha plants and Bowser, and you’ll see what it is like to be Mario,” said Ayumu Yamamoto, USJ’s marketing communication manager.

“It took almost a year longer than we had expected to open this place, and we are really glad,” he said on Wednesday.

The new zone called “Super Nintendo World” had originally been expected to draw big crowds last year ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which was also postponed by Covid-19.

But its launch was pushed back to February, and then delayed again as Japan’s government declared a state of emergency in early 2021 to curb spiking cases.

Fans said they were thrilled about the opening of the park, which cost more than US$550, according to USJ.

“I’ve been playing Mario since I was a boy. I didn’t expect that I could enter the world of Mario, so I’m very excited,” said Hiroki Kono, 19..

Office worker Rei Higashimoto, 25, was also delighted about the launch. “I have an annual pass, so I knew this Mario world was being created, and I have waited from one year ago for this day to come,” she said.