Super Nintendo World (Osaka)

[Brer Oswald]

I think those guests in line with you were far from the norm. Gringotts is an exceptionally well loved ride for the GP.

I don't see MK being any different.

I think there’s a point to raise that, with Gringotts, there is a universally praised Harry Potter ride to compare it to.

With Mario Kart, you’re only comparing it to Yoshi, and DK in the future. Even if Minecart Madness (or whatever it’s called) ends up being a better ride, DKC still isn’t Mario Kart. I think Bowser’s Challenege has a long “popular” life ahead of it, as far as the general public goes.

 

[illumination]

I wonder how the DK ride will be received when it eventually opens. Will it be a short and tame "Hippogriff" type ride? Or will it seem fast and fun and adventurous compared to MK?

 

[Brer Oswald]

I wonder how the DK ride will be received when it eventually opens. Will it be a short and tame "Hippogriff" type ride? Or will it seem fast and fun and adventurous compared to MK?

Isn’t it focussed on practical effects with the track jumping, and some animatronics as well? I don’t imagine it’s going to be much of a physical thrill, more of a visual thrill.

 

[Jerroddragon]

I wonder how the DK ride will be received when it eventually opens. Will it be a short and tame "Hippogriff" type ride? Or will it seem fast and fun and adventurous compared to MK?

That coaster is....fine like but this seems much more much themed from the concept art

 

[NocturneFexy]

Ok,

My verdict on SNW after experiencing it in person is that it’s “kind of cool.” Parts of it are awesome. Finally seeing Nintendo translated to the physical world is fantastic and long overdue because Nintendo is a perfect theme park property. However, it feels like they could’ve done more with it and there’s some missed opportunities. Both rides are also generally disappointing.

Some bulletpoints:

• Mario Kart: It pains me to say, but it is fairly disappointing. It’s super crazy and chaotic but I’m not really sure if it’s in a good way. Almost the entire ride is AR and the physical stuff that’s there is just a backdrop for what’s happening on the AR. There’s so many physical props/AAs in the land outside but I don’t recall seeing any in the ride except for the one chain comp. I also didn’t understand how the “game” works at all, I didn’t understand if you acquire items somehow or if you always have them. Also if anything you can do on the AR has any effect on anything. The queue is really awesome though.
• Yoshi: This just needed one or two more scenes to actually be worth doing more than once. But sadly it doesn’t. Of course I would have preferred that this be a proper traditional dark ride but it’s generally fine for what it is - except that it’s too short and only has one real show scene. Missed opportunity to make this just a little better to make it worthwhile.
• The outer land itself is the most impressive part. Coming out of the pipe and seeing everything for the first time was genuinely kind of breathtaking. So much color and so much going on. I’m curious how the outdoor figures are going to hold up over the years. You can already see some minor weathering on them. They don’t look bad by any means just curious how they’re gonna be maintained over the years. In some places there is no attempt made whatsoever to hide the rods or slots the characters are attached to, I guess they just decided it wasn’t possible or important to try to theme that at all.
• I’m a little bit disappointed at how much of the land is kid-oriented. I know that might sound ridiculous to complain about but almost all of the outdoor stuff is just simple little mini games that only children would ever really be entertained by.
• Toad Cafe: This impressed me more than I was expecting. I’m not really a “foodie” but I thought what I ordered was not bad and the inside is a lot bigger and more detailed than it seems on the outside.

Other stuff:

• Sight lines are still an issue between SNW and HP. I know Universal has never really cared much about sight lines but it’s sad to have seen a “kind of attempt” at fixing this but it doesn’t really work in the end. It’s really obvious that Nintendo is right next door in Hogsmeade and Hogwarts is visible from most of Nintendo
• Back by the Yoshi ride is a jungle themed area which is clearly visually distinct from the rest of the land and even has its own unique background scenery stand up. I’m assuming this is where the DK expansion is planned to go? It’s like foreshadowing.
• I didn’t do the power up band thing.

Would you say MK is plus-size friendly? There's a test seat before you get to the queue, so I'm wondering how accommodating it'll be.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

The main criticism of Gringott's is that it is entirely screen based. Like, virtually no practical balance to it like Spidey and Forbidden Journey, plus it borrows an element already seen in Spidey and Transformers, the latter of which I like to pretend doesn't exist on this coast.

The main criticism of Mario Kart is the speed, people expecting and wanting Radiator Springs.

 

[JawsVictim]

The main criticism of Mario Kart is the speed, people expecting and wanting Radiator Springs.

I mean, it’s a ride based on a GO-KART game. Who would have thought people wanted something along the lines of GO-KARTS speed wise!

EDIT: I feel like Universal Creative has made this mistake twice recently: Mario Kart doesn’t have the speed of go-karts and Fast and the Furious is neither fast nor furious. Glad they scored a win with Hagrid, though.

I’ve also noticed people saying there’s too much going on with the AR.

 

[JungleSkip]

They had a choice between speed and interactivity. They (wisely) chose interactivity.

Also hard to put the blame solely on UC here when Nintendo was involved heavily every step of the way.

Nintendo and Universal wanted to build a big, interactive, family dark ride, and that's what they did, and from the looks of things they knocked it out of the park. The "problem" is it wasn't the interactive, track switching, racing simulator, dark ride coaster people built up in their own head for 5 years that never would have worked in reality.

 

[quinnmac000]

I'm sensing the issue with Mario Kart based on reviews from foreign riders is the video doesn't tell them exactly what they need to do. The voiceless Mii instructions are too vague and don't showcase how to play the game.

Batcom opinion matched the same older gentlemen on the other game site comment section who both stated they didn't know how to play.

Without reviving the good ride or bad ride fight, I think Universal did the right ride system, I think the issue is not going out all utilizing the motion base to create the feeling of acceleration despite slow speed and utilizing tools at their disposal to simulate speed. I fear though it was probably something discovered too late and to integrate would cost too much money.

I also think Nintendo and Universal did not forecast the popularity within the older population who crave thrills.

 

[JawsVictim]

They had a choice between speed and interactivity. They (wisely) chose interactivity.

Also hard to put the blame solely on UC here when Nintendo was involved heavily every step of the way.

Nintendo and Universal wanted to build a big, interactive, family dark ride, and that's what they did, and from the looks of things they knocked it out of the park. The "problem" is it wasn't the interactive, track switching, racing simulator, dark ride coaster people built up in their own head for 5 years that never would have worked in reality.

I’m basing this solely off of the reactions I’ve seen to the attraction and am excited to experience it for myself. Especially multiple rides once Hollywood’s opens.

The reaction I’m seeing isn’t a home run. I’m seeing mixed reviews.

If it was Nintendo’s call to make it more about interactivity over speed, so be it. But I can interact with Mario Kart from my living room. The theme park element here is speed.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I wonder if in an alternate universe where F&F was a fast dark ride (ala Test Track) and Mario Kart was built in Kidzone, will people still have complained about the lack of speed?

 

[JawsVictim]

I wonder if in an alternate universe where F&F was a fast dark ride (ala Test Track) and Mario Kart was built in Kidzone, will people still have complained about the lack of speed?

The non-AR ride throughs look great IMO. Looks like a solid dark ride. The footage I’m seeing of AR blended into the setting looks like a lot to take in.

 

[JungleSkip]

The non-AR ride throughs look great IMO. Looks like a solid dark ride.

I'm confused. Can you do this in your living room or is it a solid dark ride?

The footage I’m seeing of AR blended into the setting looks like a lot to take in.

Just like being in a Mario Kart race would be a lot to take in, and trying to judge the AR off misaligned POV videos is folly.

Without reviving the good ride or bad ride fight, I think Universal did the right ride system, I think the issue is not going out all utilizing the motion base to create the feeling of acceleration despite slow speed and utilizing tools at their disposal to simulate speed. I fear though it was probably something discovered too late and to integrate would cost too much money.

Dave Cobb touched on this in his twitter thread. He said motion base + interactivity is a nightmare. The interactivity becomes unusable. They tried it in tests for MIB and quickly decided it wasn't going to work.

Edit:

I also think Nintendo and Universal did not forecast the popularity within the older population who crave thrills.

I think the bigger issue is the older population refusing to admit that Nintendo is a family company and they're going to design their products for families.

 

[JawsVictim]

True, I can’t be immersed in the world of MK in my living room, which is another theme park component here. A dark ride with speedy elements would have been my choice for an MK ride, dropping interactivity.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

We need to remember this was designed to replace a kids designated area inside of Universal Studios, this was always a kids attraction. I’m not sure why people expected much more or much faster I guess, is it that Universal has never done something this family friends on such a large scale before?

 

[Parkscope Joe]

True, I can’t be immersed in the world of MK in my living room, which is another theme park component here. A dark ride with speedy elements would have been my choice for an MK ride, dropping interactivity.

In the alternate reality where this was chosen there would be a group complaining the ride didn't have detailed tracks or interactive elements like the game. Considering how much Nintendo focuses on the use of items in the games (to the point they offer auto-steering and auto-acceleration options) I think this was the direction THEY wished to go.

 

[BatCom]

Gonna be more specific about my issues with MK. I don’t think they’re anything any of y’all haven’t heard already though:

- It’s not fast or thrilling (very first thing you think of when you imagine Mario Kart is a car going fast)
- AR is gimmicky and will be outdated in a few years
- Lack of physical sets/props/AAs in favor of AR
- The “game” is not truly interactive nor replayable

I get there are counter arguments to these things, some of which are rational and well thought out. I don’t really care. The ride is not “bad” by any means but it fails to live up to the general expectation of what a ride based on that specific property should be.

 

[JungleSkip]

- AR is gimmicky and will be outdated in a few years

Universal has mentioned they designed the modular AR units in order to upgrade it as the technology improves.

The “game” is not truly interactive nor replayable

This I do not understand at all. How is it not interactive?

 

[BatCom]

Universal has mentioned they designed the modular AR units in order to upgrade it as the technology improves.



This I do not understand at all. How is it not interactive?

Upgrading the AR is a “I’ll believe it when I see it” thing

It’s not truly interactive because what you do in the game doesn’t appear to have any effect on anything except for getting coins and enemy racers playing animations when you hit them. Otherwise the ride is the same every time

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I get there are counter arguments to these things, some of which are rational and well thought out. I don’t really care.

Well, at least you admit it!