If you’ve ever played a Mario Kart game, you’ll immediately recognize some of your surroundings. And then finally you board your kart vehicle and strap on your AR visor before the race starts. A short walk through the Team Mario locker room offers a glimpse of the racing suits for Mario, Peach and the gang, and also raises some frightening thoughts about what those characters would look like in the real world.
A short video presentation gives you the basics of how to aim your shells and “steer” your vehicle, and explains how you’re racing for Team Mario against the nefarious Team Koopa. It looks like Universal did a good job of that here.Įventually you’ll make it to a short preshow hosted by Lakitu, the cloud-riding camera operator from the games. It’s become standard in theme park design to go all out with the queue spaces, and pack them with detail and even interactive gimmicks in order to keep people entertained during the wait. You’ll see various little gag references to the games, along with small showpieces, like a Boo that comes to life out of a small painting and seems to float around on a shelf, and an assembly line for Bob-ombs. This quotidian environment eventually gives way to more elaborately themed rooms, including Bowser’s library and throne room.
After the grand entrance into Koopa’s Castle (they call Bowser “Koopa” in Japan, y’know) you’ll enter into a series of garages covered with ads for car-related products from the Mushroom Kingdom. Throughout the lengthy queue you’ll see all manner of Mario business. Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge seems to do a really good job of that. What matters today is the world-building-the transportive nature of the whole show, and how thoroughly it places you within the world of the ride. The days of lengthy epics like Pirates of the Caribbean or the original EPCOT rides are long gone, and even something as amazing as Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, an experience that’s almost 18 minutes long, only has about five minutes aboard the primary ride vehicle. No complaints about that, or anything-that’s just what the theme park industry is. This is a 20 minute video that’s about 13 minutes of walking through the empty queue, two minutes of preshow, and then about five minutes for the actual ride.
One thing full ride-through videos like this reinforce is the fundamental nature of theme parks: you wait a good while for something that’s really short but hopefully very sweet. I’m one of those weirdoes who usually avoids video of rides I haven’t ridden yet-I like surprises-but due to this pandemic it’ll probably be years before I ever get a chance to ride this thing. Full ride-through videos have made their way onto YouTube, giving the rest of the world a chance to see what this long-anticipated attraction looks like. This kart racing ride combines practical effects and animatronics with an augmented reality visor to recreate a Mario Kart race in the real world. It might not be officially open yet, but some lucky fans have gotten a sneak preview of the land’s major ride, Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge. So maybe everybody in Japan will be able to finally visit the Mushroom Kingdom later this week. It won’t open until that order has expired, which, according to Japanese theme park expert TDR Explorer, is currently scheduled for Feb. 4-yep, tomorrow-but last month it was delayed again due to a State of Emergency order in Osaka Prefecture. In November Universal announced an opening date of Feb. Originally scheduled to open last summer, in time for an Olympics that still haven’t happened, the opening was delayed due to Covid-19. The height restriction will be 42 inches if accompanied by an adult and 48 inches if riding by yourself.After years of development, Universal’s Super Nintendo World is finally set to open at Universal Studios Japan… soon? MarioKart Koopa's Challenge is said to have a 5 minute ride time with 4 riders per car and each person will have their own steering wheel. It is promised to feature a new "realistic" Mario Kart ride, a Yoshi omnimover dark ride attraction that will be a hybrid indoor/outdoor attraction, and loads of interactive experiences that make guests feel like they are inside their favorite Nintendo games.Įarlier in August, a massive Super Nintendo World Leak showed off rides, theming and more. We learned that the official name of the MarioKart ride will be to MarioKart Koopa’s Challenge which is described as “Featuring multiple tracks as well as your favorite levels and characters from Mario Kart, you’ve never experienced fun like this before!”. Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan, has got to be one of the most anticipated lands to be built anywhere in recent years.