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If you’ve ever dreamed of visiting the Mushroom Kingdom in real life, a trip abroad could be in your cards.
Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka will open in February, according to The Verge. Features faithful recreations of Princess Peach’s castle, Mario Karts, and more. Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario, took viewers on a trip through the park in a new Nintendo Direct. We’ve seen photos and short videos of the park before, but this is the most detailed look yet.
The theme park is packed with Mario-centric decor straight out of the games. In true Mario fashion, you even walk in by walking through a huge warp pipe.
Miyamoto showed some of the ways that visitors can interact with the park’s decorations. Using a smart bracelet called the “Power-Up Band,” he demonstrated how punching through blocks of question marks could result in earning coins in a companion app. He took a short detour to reveal a huge piranha plant, hinting that it was also concealing future activity.
From Miyamoto’s tour, it is clear that the park will be big on interactivity. It showed various points where fans will be able to pretend they are Mario, from drilling POW blocks to using Koopa shells to solve puzzles. Mario’s self-proclaimed “dad” also visited a Toad-themed cafe, a gift shop full of goodies, and Bowser’s Castle, which houses an AR-themed version of Mario Kart. At one point, Miyamoto paraded through the park chewing themed popcorn out of a star-shaped bowl.
Super Nintendo World will open to visitors on February 4, 2021. The park was scheduled to open during the summer before the Tokyo Olympics, but suffered delays related to COVID-19.
It may be a while before much of the world can visit the theme park. Japan still has entry restrictions for anyone arriving from more than 150 countries or regions. That includes visitors from the US and UK. Fortunately, there are also Super Nintendo World locations planned for Hollywood and Orlando in the US, as well as Singapore. Nintendo fans may want to add this tour stop to their “must see” list when travel restrictions are lifted.
