A Mario Kart on-rails ride is coming to the US' Super Nintendo World early next year.
Universal Studios Hollywood has recently announced that its Super Nintendo World theme park, along with its new Mario Kart AR ride, will be opening in early 2023.
The amusement park previously announced that the theme park would open sometime next year.
Super Nintendo World Opening Details
Universal Studios Hollywood mentioned that Nintendo fans could look forward to being in the Mushroom Kingdom, the world of Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach in the Super Nintendo World theme park. During their visit, park goers can get to see an "immersive land of visual spectacle, vibrant colors, and architectural ingenuity featuring rides and interactive areas the whole family can enjoy."
The attractions inside the US' Super Nintendo World are similar to the ones found in Universal Studios Japan, where the attractions are inspired by Mario Kart and Mario's dinosaur partner, Yoshi.
One of these similarities is a Mario Kart-inspired AR ride called Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge. As the name suggests, park goers on this ride will be going up against Team Bowser in an interactive game of Mario Kart.
The attraction's riders will wear special AR goggles shaped to look like Mario's hat while aboard a four-set Mario Kart-style vehicle programmed to take riders along a track filled with characters and enemies commonly found in a Mario game, per the ride's teaser video on YouTube.
The Verge mentioned that the riders could steer the vehicle to collect coins and throw shells to defeat Team Bowser, which allows for different outcomes to the ride based on how well the riders did. As such, the ride encourages riders to go through the course multiple times to get a higher score, much like a normal game of Mario Kart.
The ride is similar to the one found in Universal Studios Japan, with the only difference being that the one in Japan puts people up against Koopa instead of Bowser.
Sam Byford, The Verge's senior editor who is based on Tokyo, experienced the ride in Universal Studios Japan and described the experience as "overwhelming but a whole lot of fun."
It is unclear if the Super Nintendo Worlds in the US (another one will be opened in Universal Studios Orlando in 2024) will be inspired by the one in Japan or if they will be a carbon copy. If Universal Studios went with the latter, US fans of Donkey Kong can look forward to a Donkey Kong-themed area that includes a roller coaster and branded merchandise and food, per Video Games Chronicle.
Super Nitnendo World Hollywood Opening Day
Since Universal Studios narrowed down the theme park's opening day to early 2023, there is a strong probability that the amusement park will open Super Nintendo World on March 10, more popularly known in the Nintendo fan community as "Mario Day."
March 10 was named Mario day due to the abbreviated month and the day forming the word "Mario," or "MAR10" in this case.
Related Article : Super Mario World to Open in Universal Studios Hollywood in 2023
