Ready yourself for peak nostalgia—and the age-old debate of who is better… Mario or Luigi?—because the world is about to score a Nintendo theme park and it includes a life-size Mario Kart track!
Super Nintendo World is set to open in July (just in time for the Tokyo Olympics) at Japan’s Universal Studios in Osaka and will feature a bunch of your childhood faves like Peach, Yoshi and Bowser. And we’re crossing our fingers for a possible run in with the likes of Pikachu, Link and Zelda.
More than 60 Billion Yen (a cool $794 million Aussie dollars) has been poured into the project and we’re thinking a large chunk of that will be dedicated to their immersive experiences, where guests will feel as if they are playing inside their favourite Nintendo games. And they don’t come much greater than Mario Kart.
The course will feature karts on rails, with player one driving the kart while player two uses power-ups and weapons. There’s no word on exactly which weapons will feature, but we’re hoping for some classic banana skins and mushrooms. And because we’re just a little competitive, the inclusion of the blue shell is non-negotiable. For those that need a little reminder, this baby will seek out the person in first place and wipe them out.
Guests can use a wrist band called a Power Up Band (each themed on a different character) that lets you have interactive experiences, using your arms, hands and entire bodies to explore rides—making you feel like you're part of the video game world. Even better, when wearing the band, you can collect digital coins just like Mario and even challenge your mates to see who can nab the most.
While details on the rest of the park are thin on the ground, we can confirm further Super Nintendo Worlds are in the works in cities like Los Angeles, Orlando and Singapore.
In the words of Mario, “Way to go!”.
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Image Credit: Nintendo