USA TODAY International Edition
Universal powers up Super Nintendo World
What Japan opening foreshadows for US
Super Mario Bros. and its many spinoffs have kept generations of fans enthralled. The classic video game and its characters, along with other titles in the Nintendo catalog, are firmly entrenched in popular culture.
On Thursday, the brand leapt off the screen and into theme parkdom when Universal Studios Japan officially debuted Super Nintendo World.
Universal also has plans to openNintendo lands at its parks in California, Florida and Singapore. Construction is underway at Universal Studios Hollywood, though no opening date has been announced. Mario and the gang will reportedly also be part of Epic Universe, the fourth gate planned for Universal Orlando. Construction on that project shut down last summer amid the pandemic but recently restarted. It’s likely that many of the attractions and features in Japan will find their way to the other Nintendo lands.
The conceit at Super Nintendo World in Japan is that visitors enter the digital realm and become video game characters. They are encouraged to interact with the dimensional, life- sized environment, which is filled with spinning gold coins, question- mark blocks, polka- dot mushrooms and other quirky elements known to gamers everywhere. After purchasing and donning a Power
Up Band, guests can punch blocks ( which sometimes are located just out of reach and require them to jump up) to trigger effects. By pairing the bracelet with Universal’s phone app, users can track the coins and items they collect.
“It’s really the first experience that marries gaming with a theme park,” Thierry Coup, senior vice president at Universal Creative, told USA TODAY. “You’re not just passively observing. You’re deeply engaged.”
Over 100 animated elements, including piranha plants and mushroom- like Goomba, s, are located outdoors and give the land a sense of urgent, kinetic energy. More animatronics can be found inside the show buildings of the land’s two rides. Combined with blips, dings and other synthesized electronic sounds along with blocky architecture lifted from video game environments, Super Nintendo World appears to have an offbeat, hyper- realistic, yet exhilarating vibe. “It doesn’t feel real. But it is real, and you’re inside it,” is how Coup explained the land’s ambiance. “It looks like the ultimate 3D illustration.”
Looming over the pixelated, brightly colored land is Bowser’s Castle. Inside the villain’s lair, guests can board the ultra- sophisticated dark ride, Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge. Using tricked- out vehicles, passengers get to race alongside Mario and Peach and against an opposing team on the dual- track course.
Each rider in the four- person vehicles has a steering wheel and controller buttons to throw virtual shells. The attraction features physical sets that also use projection mapping to bring the video game world to life. But what truly distinguishes the Mario Kart ride is its use of augmented reality.
One of the first major park rides to incorporate AR, the technology is ideally suited for its video game theme. Passengers wear Mario caps that have seethrough visors onto which computergenerated imagery is projected. Users see the media and experience it as if it exists in the scenic environment. “There was a technology curve that we had to bend,” added Tom Geraghty, senior director, technology & innovation at Universal Creative.
For the land’s second attraction, Yoshi’s Adventure, passengers board ride vehicles fashioned after the egglaying dinosaur.
Tamer and more of an old- school dark ride, younger children are able to experience it. Much of the action takes place outdoors in the Mushroom Kingdom.
Super Nintendo World features meet and greets with Mario, Luigi, Peach and the diminutive Toad.
Their eyes blink, their mouths move, and they can talk.
The tech- enhanced characters have a pretty cool way to start a conversation; according to Geraghty, because they are able to access the data in guests’ PowerUp Bands, the actors inside the costumes know what visitors have accomplished in the land.