No one invite Dennis Hopper please
The Wizarding World of Mario finally has a name and due date, Nintendo and Universal Studios have announced. The Nintensula, if you will, will be called Super Nintendo World and will boot up in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. Orlando and Hollywood locations will have to wait a bit longer, which is not an unfamiliar feeling for anyone who plays video games.
The first official image shows a Mario-inspired park layout including Peach’s Castle, a Toad House, Peach and Toad mascots, thwomps, goombas, and an entrance to Bower’s Castle. Not only does the image and font style of the park title suggest a Mario-focus, but so do their words: “Super Nintendo World will feature characters and themes from the ‘Super Mario’ series…The attraction area will also feature a variety of other globally popular Nintendo characters.” I
It’s early and still entirely possible we see other franchises represented on a large scale. Mario is far and away their most successful and recognizable-by-grandma IP, so it makes sense to show that first. Still, don’t be surprised if other series are limited to mascots, gift shops, and smaller attractions within the real-life Mushroom Kingdom. Yoshi and Donkey Kong are technically their own series, but we all know it’s really still in the Mario lore.
Speaking of Donkey Kong, there appeared to be a design for a Donkey Kong themed ride based on mine-carts among various ride blueprints Universal Studios filed patents for recently. Scuttlebutt seems to think another design could potentially be Mario Kart inspired ride, which is frankly a lot more likely than an F-Zero or Star Fox attraction.
Typical parkgoers including soccer moms, grandmas, and younger children are not likely to be familiar with less popular games like F-Zero, Pikmin or even Metroid. I’ll be curious to see how these are represented if at all.
Super Nintendo Land coming to Universal Studios Japan in Time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics [Universal Studios Japan]
