Super Nintendo World Reveals New Details Ahead of Opening

Super Nintendo World has revealed new details (and first looks) for the world to see, as part of an in-depth first-look feature about the new Universal Studios theme park. The US locations for Super Nintendo World will be opening on February 17, 2023, offering parkgoers a new-age style of interactive theme park entertainment; Super Nintendo World opened a theme park in Japan last year. In the article, Jon Corfino, vice president at Universal Creative, which handles theme parks, broke down what the new Super Nintendo World is all about. 

The first thing that Corfino explains is the storyline of Super Nintendo World which will take people inside Princess Peaches's castle via a signature Mario Bros. sewer pipe, only to find that Bowser has come through and stolen Peach's beloved gold mushroom. 

"There is a storyline behind this whole experience," Corfino told  LA Times. "Part of our mission is to help her [Peach] get it [Golden Mushroom] back. That's the rationale and the purpose behind a lot of the interactive games."

Jesse Schell, game designer and interactive theme park maverick, adds that indeed, Nintendo and Universal are pushing toward the future of theme park entertainment with Super Nintendo World: 

"They could have made Super Nintendo World a big arcade," Schell explained. "But it's clear the mandate was that this is not going to be a place where you go to play video games. This is a place where you're going to go to be in a video game."

Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge

The solitary ride attraction of Super Nintendo World will be "Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge. It will be the first attraction in a US theme park to merge physical sets players walk through with "movement-tracking augmented reality" that interacts with the guests as they move through the space, riding in cars down a track. Guests will be able to "steer" the car through the environment, aim and  throw projectiles to combat enemies, with Mario, Luigi, Peach and other Nintendo characters all joining in the race/battle. In essence, park guests will get to put themselves inside a real-life version of the iconic Mario Kart game. 

"There is a learning curve..." Corfino says of the ride. "So now we're putting you inside one of the most popular games of all time and putting you inside that environment. How deep can you go in terms of immersion and, in this case, gamification?"

The line for the ride will also lead park guests through different scenes and locales of Super Nintendo World, including a Yoshi's Island forest, a Bob-omb factory, and Bowser's Castle, where interactive screens made to look like windows will offer surprises like ghosts popping out.

Interactive World

The augmented reality and visual effects of Super Nintendo World will allow players to move through the area seeing things like gold coins hanging in the air, mushrooms covering the ground, with iconic Mario decorative details like stacked platforms, and Goombas and Koopas all marching around. In the midst of that high-tech decoration and set design, guest will also be tasked with discovering different "mini-games" that can lead to a big group battle against Bowser Jr. – games embedded into park area's world and environment, rather than being stationed in booths or traditional spaces.  The most interesting part of it all is that the interactive elements of the park (including the ride) will differ depending on guests' level of completion of the overall "game" of competing in Super Nintendo World's attractions.

"It's going to be interesting, as time moves on, to see which IPs end up being really meaningful," Schell added. "We see our theme parks moving into a more interactive zone. That implies that video games and video game brands are going to be bigger and bigger. It's easy to imagine a 'Fortnite' theme park."

As Margaret Kerrison, author and a former theme park designer with Walt Disney Imagineering, explains: "I think that this idea of being able to manifest the digital to the physical in a highly interactive, reactive social environment, which embraces a sense of agency, as well as a sense of urgency, is something where I'm seeing the future of theme parks and gaming colliding."

Power-Up Bands

Super Nintendo World will offer guests Power-Up Bands, much like the interactive wands offered by the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park. The bands will reportedly cost $40 each, and will sync with an app to allow guests to log and track their progress through the "game" of exploring the theme park area, ride the ride and complete the other mini-games and interactive features that are offered, in pursuit of helping Princess Peach ultimately reclaim the Golden Mushroom. The level of progression will unlock different kinds of interactive messages from various Nintendo characters around the park. 

The games that will be mapped out by the Power-Up Bands are fairly extensive and could indeed keep a family of guests busy: "Most of the games require participation among multiple parties of guests. Some are timed challenges, others are crank-led puzzles, and one is a chaotic, touch-fueled game that has players turning over digital blocks."

"My definition of games is maybe a little bit different," Corfino explained. "I know that some folks like to say if somehow the experience is keeping score, it's a game. There are other attractions that have, on a one-dimensional level, kept score. But from a complete immersive aspect, everything that you're doing here is being tied into your Power-Up Band. Then, delving into the reality of the Mario Kart ride experience, where you have AR goggles, physical sets, video mapping, LED projection — you are in a full-blown game that is unique every time based on what you're doing. It's pretty next level."

Super Nintendo World will open in Universal Theme Park locations in the US starting on February 17, 2023. .