While the grand opening of Super Nintendo World might have been delayed, it would seem that a limited number of folks have been able to ride the new attractions at Universal Studios Japan and generally experience all the park has to offer prior to the opening. As such, there is now plenty of photos and videos floating around of the various odds and ends. And, as it turns out, it would appear that at least one of the props in Super Nintendo World might have been built using a fan mod of New Super Mario Bros. Wii as reference. Oops.
More specifically, it would seem that there are cactus models in Super Nintendo World based on designs created specifically for Newer Super Mario Bros. Wii, a fan-created mod for the 2009 video game. As spotted by Twitter user Meatball132, these cacti have fairly distinct shapes when compared to anything official, so it’s hard to imagine anything other than someone plugging the video game’s name into Google and coming away with an unofficial piece of reference art to then base the physical versions on. It remains to be seen what sort of response, if any, Nintendo or Universal Studios Japan will have to this revelation.
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Wow. I actually think Super Nintendo World’s designers used art from Newer Super Mario Bros. Wii (a NSMBW mod) as a reference for their cacti. They have a somewhat distinct shape, were made specifically for Newer, and show up when you Google “New Super Mario Bros. Wii cactus”. pic.twitter.com/CWrHiXCsj3
— Meatball132 (@meatball_132) February 6, 2021
“After careful consideration of all aspects of the current situation, Universal Studios Japan is postponing the grand opening of its new ‘SUPER NINTENDO WORLD’ until after the state of emergency for Osaka prefecture, issued yesterday, is lifted,” the company announced back in January. “Also during the state of emergency, we will set additional capacity limitations in accordance with the government and the local authorities’ guidelines.”
As noted above, Super Nintendo World had previously been set to having its grand opening in Universal Studios Japan this past week on February 4th. At this point, there is no definitive date for it to open. While this is the first of these, Super Nintendo World is eventually expected to expand across the majority of the Universal Studios parks, including in the United States. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the upcoming theme park right here.
What do you think about what we have seen of Super Nintendo World so far? What do you make of the strange case of the suspicious cactus models? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk about all things gaming!
[H/T Kotaku]
