After several years of teases and leaked images, Universal Studios Japan has announced that ‘Super Nintendo World,’ a Nintendo-themed area of its Osaka, Japan theme park, will open on February 4th, 2021.
After revealing that the park is opening slightly earlier than expected — it was originally slated to launch in the spring — Nintendo showed off one of its main attractions: a Mario Kart AR rollercoaster.
The rollercoaster runs through a recreation of Bowser’s castle and features AR and projection mapping technology. In order to see the augmented reality part of the experience, riders wear an AR headset shaped like Mario’s iconic hat.
Along with the trailer (seen above), Bloomberg also got an early look at the park. According to Bloomberg, the park is set to soon get a new Donkey Kong-themed area. Additional tweets show off how riders race against a competing Mario Kart train. That said, the ride is still on rails, so it won’t be possible to actually have full control over the kart.
Japan’s #SuperNintendoWorld will open on Feb. 4, 2021 in Osaka.@rumireports gets a world’s first look at @USJ_Official‘s real-life #Mario Kart. More: https://t.co/T9nUMnB1UB #任天堂 pic.twitter.com/oZku1gwQTj
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) November 30, 2020
According to Bloomberg, the park itself is operating at a 50 percent capacity amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It’s also important to note that Osaka is currently experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases, which could result in Super Nintendo World’s opening being pushed back.
Source: Bloomberg
