Super Nintendo World is like stepping into a video game for real
The new themed land at Universal Studios Hollywood has everything a Mario fan could ask for—just be prepared to shell out lots of cash
Aux Features Nintendo
Universal Studios Hollywood is finally opening its Super Nintendo World warp pipe to the public, and this week The A.V. Club got a chance to preview its new offerings, including a Mario Kart ride, themed food at the Toadstool Cafe, and an interactive experience that makes use of a Power-Up band (which guests will have to purchase for an additional fee). Although the land itself is rather small—the accessible areas are about the size of a football field—it’s packed with references from every corner of the Mushroom Kingdom.
After entering through a familiar green warp pipe, you find yourself smack dab in the middle of a Mario video game (Which one? Take your pick). You’re surrounded by tall green hills decorated with three-dimensional characters and objects that pop up, spin, and glide, blocking your view of anything that doesn’t fit into this world. There’s plenty of seating in the form of short toadstool mushrooms, and shade provided by taller ones. You’re immediately bombarded with electronic music and authentic sound effects as other guests participate in interactive games along the perimeter. It’s like kiddie Las Vegas, where everyone wins.
Test your Mario Kart skills
The main attraction for most visitors is going to be the land’s only ride (at least so far), Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge. Located inside Bowser’s Castle, this attraction lets you get behind the wheel of a Kart (as long as you’re not too big to fit into the seat) and race through some of the most iconic tracks in the game (yes, even Rainbow Road). Before getting on the ride you have to pick up a visor, which attaches to a headset connected to the steering wheel. As you go through the different themed areas you can shoot turtle shells at the other racers who pop up on your display. The virtual game aspect is a bit complicated at first, which could be frustrating for competitive types who really want to get a high score. Once you settle into it, though, there’s fun to be had. You can also just enjoy the scenery if you don’t care about racking up coins.
Exit through the gift shop (and more ways to spend your money)
Every ride these days seems to dump you out into some kind of retail establishment, and Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge is no different. The store here, called 1-UP Factory, isn’t very big, but it’s got the expected assortment of character apparel, toys, plushies, and other knick-knacks featuring Mario and friends. Oh, and you can buy a Mario Kart popcorn bucket for $42.99 if you’re so inclined, minus the popcorn (though you can get it filled at kiosks throughout Universal Studios on the day of purchase).
The land also has its own restaurant, Toadstool Cafe, where Chef Toad has created a variety of clever meal options. If you’re a fan of The Last Of Us you may want to steer clear of the menu items featuring mushrooms, including the Mario Burger—which features bacon, mushroom, and cheese—and Super Mushroom Soup. The desserts are especially attractive, like Mt. Beanpole Cake (which comes with a little Mario flag on top) and ? Block Tiramisu. We tried the tiramisu and found it to be tasty, though lacking most of the elements of a traditional tiramisu. There are fancy beverages too, like Super Star Lemon Squash, a sparkling lemon soda with mango stars and popping boba.
Full interactivity is gonna to cost you
Getting the most out of the land will require you to, ahem, shell out more money for special Power-Up bands, available in a variety of character motifs. The bands are available at kiosks inside the land and other locations around the park for $40 each. That adds up if you have a big party.
For those who decide to invest in a Power-Up band, a series of interactive challenges await. There are four mini games to play, which will reward you with a key when you complete them. If you finish at least three it opens a new, exclusive experience called Bowser Jr.’s Shadow Showdown, probably the most videogame-y experience in the entire land. The bands do other things too, like linking to the official park app to keep track of points as you earn them. The characters will also say different things to you if you’re wearing the bands while taking pics at the two meet-and-greet locations.
If you don’t want to buy a band, there are still some objects you can activate without them, like question blocks that light up when you punch them. You’ll miss out on some of the cooler aspects of Super Nintendo World, though. Universal really makes that extra expense hard to pass up, especially if you have kids.
Does it all add up to a win?
Should you bother making the trip out to Hollywood and paying admission just to experience this immersive world first hand? That depends on several factors, including how much you love the games; your comfort level with crowds; and the entertainment value you’re likely to get out of the rest of the park. On a less busy day you could probably get through everything in Super Nintendo World in an hour or two—maybe more if you stop for a meal. But let’s be real, the novelty of the new land isn’t going to wear off anytime soon, and with spring break and summer vacation on the horizon, it’s only going to get more crowded. For the truly devoted Mario fan, though, the chance to step into the classic video-game world in real life might indeed be worth it.
Super Nintendo World is now officially open at Universal Studios Hollywood, just in time to tie into next month’s release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
58 Comments
Universal Studios also has Harry Potter stuff, so the progressives here should avoid it all together out of respect for their trans allies.
bait
I am using the same logic trans people and their allies use.
PWN3D! That was awesome.
Why do you hate trans people though? That’s crappy of you.
where is that block button.
You punch it. Didn’t you read the article?
I’m starting to wonder if Chest Rockwell is just another alt of the “so brave” guy or just another idiot troll. At least “So brave” resorts to childish insults quickly. Chesty just seems to says “Well but the left does this too and it’s bad “. It’s like Fucker Carlson lite
He seems to be a regular MAGA/Faux News troll. It’s different than the “I’m a Bernie bro/ hooray for Putin” troll who’s been making violent outbursts against The Root writers.
People need to stop feeding the trolls. They get off on reactions because they are incapable of genuine interaction in real life. He lays the dumbest bait constantly and people entertain it like he’s speaking in good faith.
His posts are so ridiculous that there’s only one conclusion to be drawn here. People may read the post before noting the handle, but otherwise there’s no excuse for engaging.
It’s just a shame that this ends up being the top comment on a fun topic like experiencing a video game come to life.
It’s like for people who complain about “politics ruining everything”, they sure like to bring up politics in everything.
On the one hand, you’re not wrong, but on the other, holy shit this is all exhausting.
I agree their lack of consistency can be quite exhausting.
Why does it bother you? Why can’t you just live your life and let others live theres?
Shut the fuck up, chud
This isn’t as clever as you’d like to believe it is. Based on analysis of public filings, WB/Rowling (WB/R for the rest of the post), don’t seem to receive a cut from standard park ticket sells to Universal. Based on analysis of public fillings, the licensing contract has two different pieces that pay out to WB/R, a flat fee that isn’t dependent on any particular metric and a cut of profits for anything Harry Potter related.This means that if you visit the park and don’t spend money on HP-related services or merchandise, you have made a net-0 change to Rowling’s pocketbook, and this distinction is very important from an ethical standpoint. She’s not getting a percentage of the gate, and your personal attendance does not affect her flat fee.And where it gets interesting is how that could affect her when it’s time to renew the contract. You know that Universal is paying close attention to which attractions park-goers spend their time and money at. If there was a significant decrease in the percentage of park-goers visiting Wizarding World because of objections to Rowling’s stance on trans issues, that would likely negatively impact Rowling’s pocketbook down the line (mind you, based on how people operate, I doubt we’d actually see that type of decrease happen).I personally don’t care a bit about Harry Potter or theme parks, so it doesn’t really matter to me on that level. But if a person’s goal is to make sure their actions don’t increase Rowling’s bank account, it seems like they can still visit the rest of the park and achieve that goal.
You are a fucking idiot and a liar if you think increasing attendance at a theme park with Harry Potter shit doesn’t increase J.K. Rowling’s bottom line.
She still benefits, it is still support. I will give you a star tho for your Olympic level mental gymnastics to justify it, top notch work kiddo!
Like I said, I don’t have to justify anything because I hate theme parks and have zero plans to go to Universal Studios.It’s impossible to completely boycott everything that has ties to positions or people you disagree with, and most people understand this. So you have to look at individual situations to determine what contribution you may be making.I use streaming services that have Harry Potter content, although I don’t watch HP (again, don’t care about it). If I were to totally divest myself of services that have creators with anti-trans views on them, I wouldn’t be able to use any streaming services. Instead, I try not to watch anything from anti-trans creators on those platforms so as not to contribute royalties to those creators.Most people know that’s it’s impossible to be 100% “pure” about spending their money without benefiting those they find morally objectionable, so instead you have to figure out what your metric is. For me, if someone would get more more money because I personally bought a good or service than if I didn’t make that transaction, that’s the cut-off I try to live by. Did signing up for HBO Max itself directly enrich JK Rowling? No, she doesn’t get a cut of every individual subscriber, although she probably did get a flat license fee for having HP content on there. Whether I’m a subscriber or not that doesn’t change said license fee. But i’m not going to watch her movies (even if I did care about HP), knowing that would probably give her royalties she wouldn’t otherwise have.
You’re not even good at being a troll.
25 different responses this morning, but go off son!
lmao I like how angry everyone is getting at you because you’re technically correct. JKR gets a cut of every Universal ticket.
Compromising my values or ride the Harry Potter ride? Gee you made it so hard to say no to the Harry Potter Ride. Obviously I can’t imagine my life without riding that ride someday so I guess I hate trans people now. Good ultimatum.
Trans Lives do not Matter until Black Lives Matter.
So does Universal and Disney both have a Mario land?
Why is Disney part of this equation at all?
I thought I heard that Disney was doing something Mario. Apparently they are not.
Ah. Understandable since they’ve absorbed pretty much every other family IP.
Disney would spend more money on acquiring Nintendo then they spent on getting Star Wars in a heartbeat. Not so much for the games as the IP.
The difference is Nintendo doesn’t want to sell. Microsoft tried, it’s rumored that Sony tried ages and ages ago. And Disney does not really want to do video games which they would need to do if they bought Nintendo as the IP’s would rapidly lose value without new games and new fans to fall in love with them.
No. There is a larger, better Nintendo World at the Universal in Japan (largely because Hollywood has so little room for expansion, but also the Japanese theme parks seem to spare no expense and do these things better…)
And there is one(possibly the largest) going into the new Universal Park being built in Florida, whenever that happens.
Disney has no involvement at all.
“Full interactivity is going to cost you.” Well, then it really is like stepping into a video game. Can’t wait to experience micro-transaction video game hell without looking at a screen.
Harry Potter world is no different. If you want to fully experience what it has to offer, you have to go through Olivander’s and obtain a wand that creates all sorts of responses in shop windows and other parts of the area. Is it a way to extract more money from patrons? Of course. But I think most would tell you it’s worth it.
“I like this.” –
I admit, I grant my fave theme parks a lot of good will, but I really hate these expensive add ons to “improve your experience.” Luckily, they also don’t really appeal to me, so I guess it’s moot.
“Every ride these days seems to dump you out into some kind of retail establishment“Did I time travel? Am I not reading this internet thing and instead watching a comedian tell jokes in front of a red brick wall? Seriously the whole “exit through the gift shop” is a concept older than most people that read this site. The documentary that uses that term as its name is 14 years old and it was an old concept when that came out.
Yes, but the trope was about *museums*. Yes, it’s a cliche that museums push their gift shops and often made it impossible to exit without going through them. Rides didn’t do that until fairly recently. Yes, amusement parks had gift shops but they weren’t integrated into the rides themselves.
“Rides didn’t do that until fairly recently”I’m a huge theme park nerd. It’s honestly where I choose vacation 99% of the time. Rides that exit through a gift shop have been a thing for 30 years at least. It was the normal way of doing things by the time Universal Florida was built.
At least as early as Star Tours in 1987.
Yeah. My memories of riding Star Tours is hazy but I definitely remember one after you the T2 3D show at Universal in the mid 90s
This isn’t new. There was one when we came off the Tomb Raider ride at Universal over a decade ago.
Disney World has created an entire village of shops at the base of Magic Kingdom. You quite literally need to exit though a commercial district to get out
Or enter. Main Street USA was basically taken directly from the original Disneyland, which Magic Kingdom was (and still is to some extent) a copy of. These ride-based stores is newer (although whether it is “recent” depends on your age, I guess. It’s all well after my theme park experiences in the early 1980s and my recollection of Universal was just the tram ride in Hollywood where we gawked at Norman Bates’ house and Jaws attacked the tram).
you find yourself smack dab in the middle of a Mario video game (Which one? Take your pick).Do you mean the Mushroom Kingdom?
Does this place give you the opportunity to live out Super Mario World by punching Yoshi in the back of the head?
One ride?
The Nintendo world at universal studios Florida is going to have 2 or 3 rides. From what I understand the Hollywood one just doesn’t have enough real estate to expand too much or accommodate that many rides
I’d love to buy some valium from a park employee in a Dr. Mario costume.
Oh, and you can buy a Mario Kart popcorn bucket for $42.99 if you’re so inclined, minus the popcorn (though you can get it filled at kiosks throughout Universal Studios on the day of purchase).So the $42.99 gets you a plastic container? Is the popcorn free after that? Or is that another charge?
That’s the one that caught my eye. I can’t imagine they sell too many of those. “Sir! How would you like to demonstrate what a sucker you are? Your kids will love it!”
“Would you like to buy some Itchy and Scratchy money? It’s money that’s made just for the park. It works just like regular money, but it’s, um, fun.”
If you’re a fan of The Last Of Us you may want to steer clear of the menu items featuring mushrooms, including the Mario BurgerThis seems to be a common joke these days — that The Last Of Us causes fear of eating mushrooms, but I don’t get it. Yes, mushrooms and cordyceps are both fungi, but being scared of mushrooms because of cordyceps would be like being scared of tuna because of Jaws.
What if I’m afraid Jaws will be right behind the tuna?
So that’s why Mario is always grabbing those coins
Podcast the Ride just did a great review of the park.
Only one ride though?