Super Nintendo World (Osaka)

[TheCodeMan95]

I expect none of the food to come here lol

I can just see it now, all the people saying "what kinda weird food is this?? I want a hot dog"

As long as Toad's café looks the same though, I'll be happy. Looks absolutely gorgeous

 

[shiekra38]

Gah, I love when Universal does practical stuff, they just knock it out of the park

AR MIB in Mario's World is fine and dandy with me

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

The land just has something to look at in essentially every inch of the place, and often times there’s something to do there as well. The detail in this thing is insane

 

[JungleSkip]

In rewatching UPNT's AR video, I truly believe this is the successor to Spider-Man. When everything lines up correctly (IE when you're actually wearing the AR not seeing it through the lens of a camera misaligned), it looks like the interplay between the media and the physical space is unparalleled, something that Spider-Man does in just a few sections is now an entire 5-ish minute dark ride. Just awesome

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

In rewatching UPNT's AR video, I truly believe this is the successor to Spider-Man. When everything lines up correctly (IE when you're actually wearing the AR not seeing it through the lens of a camera misaligned), it looks like the interplay between the media and the physical space is unparalleled, something that Spider-Man does in just a few sections is now an entire 5-ish minute dark ride. Just awesome

Yeah that’s exactly what I thought too, Spider-Man without screens but, with screens hahaha. The sets are just outstanding. Feels like a similiar type of groundbreaking ride like Spidey/FJ

 

[TheCodeMan95]

With them perfecting the AR tech like this, I have to imagine we'll find it in some other attractions at some point.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I’m really impressed with the interactive areas. I was under the impression they’d mostly be hitting the blocks but all the mini games then the boss battle is really great. Also the ending of the Bowser Jr challenge is just delightful.

 

[JT308]

MK feels like a combo of Cat In The Hat, MIB, and Spiderman.

Also I guess they didn't use any of the patents we thought they would... all the transitions are through the AR visor.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

Luigi’s Mansion works perfect for this tech too, but double downing on it in one land is maybe too much? Who knows how far this tech can go really.

They so nailed this though, crazy.

 

[Aardvark787]

so no theater under peach’s castle??? i know that was brought up a while back but haven’t seen anything that proves it exists

I would love to hear about it. No one has mentioned it so I presume it hasn’t happened.

 

[belloq87]

I'm not fully sure that I "get" the AR hype, because there are so many other aspects that strike me as more impressive, both in the ride itself and the wider land.

I guess I'm just missing something.

 

[shiekra38]

I'm surprised they didn't put the cars on some kind of motion base so they could tilt a little bit adding some movement

Perhaps it wouldn't have added much, idk, I haven't ridden it lol

The mansion part is just so neat looking

 

[JungleSkip]

Some musings on the "not fast enough" stuff:

I get it. We all want the perfect representation of the Mario Kart series, but realistically I don't think fast would have been possible, or at the very least preferable.

1) Space: Yes, Mario Kart is a large ride building, but big, fast rides take a lot of space, especially if you want to have some dark ride sections. And this ride has to fit in a lot of places where that space just is not available. Radiator Springs racers is gargantuan, and its "race" only takes like 30-40 seconds of ride time. For a full on Mario Kart race, you'd need even more space. Sure, they could have built a Gringotts-like ride, but that in itself already gets dinged for not being thrilling enough, so I think the same complaint would have happened in that situation.
2) Interactivity: I just don't see a way to meld a fast ride with the level of interactivity we see in this ride. Maybe you could have had a stationary or slowly moving shooting section, but IMO that would have led to a disjointed experience.
3) Character/Location representation: Say what you will, but this ride does a superb job taking you into and showcasing classic Mario kart locations and characters. You would have had a fraction of them in a dark ride coaster setup.
4) Family friendly experience: Nintendo is a family company, and probably wanted to flagship ride to appeal to the greatest number of people possible.

Overall, I can understand being disappointed in the lack of speed. But I think when it's laid out, they made the right decision that checks more boxes than a more thrilling ride would have been able to do.

I'm not fully sure that I "get" the AR hype, because there are so many other aspects that strike me as more impressive, both in the ride itself and the wider land.

I guess I'm just missing something.

Completely being enveloped in a MK race alongside MK characters, adding depth and effects, interplaying with the physical environments and screen media, with very good (if not perfect) head tracking, all while on a moving vehicle that spins is incredible. I just don't see how it's not possible to be impressed.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I understand the reasoning for it not being fast - I think I mostly find it odd that there are NO fast portions. I wasn't expecting a fast ride throughout, but at least one or two areas of the ride where you'd get a bit of a "speed boost." It just really threw me off seeing Lakitu do the "3....2...1... GO" and then it leaves the station at MIB speed, lol

 

[david10225]

I was impressed they explained how to wear the goggle, ride the ride, control/turn the vehicle, and shoot all without language.....truly making it a "Universal" experience. My 30 yo son who plays Xbox every Friday night after the kids go to bed was also impressed with the ride so it must be good

 

[Alicia]

Anyone else get the feeling that the little screen based tease at the very very start of the ride was kind of a cute little fake-out? Like, oh look just a screen simulator ride, and then the gate closes in front of us and we turn, entering a fully fleshed out dark ride setting instead lol.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Anyone else get the feeling that the little screen based tease at the very very start of the ride was kind of a cute little fake-out? Like, oh look just a screen simulator ride, and then the gate closes in front of us and we turn, entering a fully fleshed out dark ride setting instead lol.

I'm not going to lie to you, when I saw that I thought "oh... oh no" lol

 

[belloq87]

Completely being enveloped in a MK race alongside MK characters, adding depth and effects, interplaying with the physical environments and screen media, with very good (if not perfect) head tracking, all while on a moving vehicle that spins is incredible. I just don't see how it's not possible to be impressed.

Intellectually, I certainly understand and appreciate the complexity of the technical design of the attraction. In terms of engineering, of course it's impressive.

In terms of an actual ride experience, for me the physical environment is WAY more of a personal selling point at this stage. I'm sure it's a whole different thing to actually experience the ride in person, obviously, so I'm not rendering any definitive judgments in any way. It looks like a very fun ride... but probably not one that would threaten any of my current top Universal faves.

 

[devinp267]

I'm now more exited to tour the land than ride Mario Kart.. and that's no knock to Mario kart, but the land characters and interactivity look Absolutely insane. I can feel the atmosphere through the phone no joke.

 

[badlactose]

Wow, the AR mixed with those sets is spectacular. I made me think how perfect tech like this would be for a Who Framed Roger Rabbit Ride filled with actual animated characters