Super Nintendo World - Reviews, Photos, & Video (Spoilers)

[Jerroddragon]

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Very interested.

Thank Brian

 

[Stryker]

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Interested.

 

[Adammarkland81@gma]

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Interested

Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood is an absolute must-visit for any fan of the iconic Nintendo franchise. From the moment I entered the park, I was blown away by the attention to detail and the sheer level of immersion in the Nintendo universe. The theming is fantastic, with iconic locations and characters from Nintendo games brought to life in vivid detail. Walking through the park, I felt like I was exploring the Mushroom Kingdom, riding on a Yoshi, and even battling it out with Bowser. The rides and attractions are equally impressive. The Mario Kart ride is an absolute blast, with immersive theming and exciting gameplay that had me on the edge of my seat. I also loved the interactive gameplay elements, like collecting virtual coins on my wristband and competing against other park-goers in various games and challenges throughout the park. One of my favorite parts of Super Nintendo World was the food and beverage offerings. The Mario-themed snacks and drinks were not only delicious but also incredibly cute and fun to photograph. Overall, Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood is a must-visit for any Nintendo fan or theme park enthusiast. The attention to detail, immersive theming, and thrilling attractions make it an unforgettable experience that I can't recommend enough. I had an amazing time and can't wait to visit again soon!

 

[Freak]

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Interested for sure!

 

[CyborgDinosaur]

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I had the somewhat-unexpected opportunity to visit Super Nintendo World (and USH as a whole) for the the first time last month with my family (my brother, sister, and parents, all of us adults). The view of the land from the escalators was a tantalizing tease, but few sights in theme parks can compare to the reveal once you step out of the warp pipe. The vibrantly stylized, vertically-tiered expanse is chocked to the brim with excellently-animated animatronic figures (the fluid movement of the piranha plants is my favorite) in a way that truly feels like the games come to life. It all feels so tangible, like you really could just jump your way up the platforms, flatten the goombas, collect the coins and slide down the flagpole. Even having previously seen it in a number of videos before prior to visiting, it was absolutely stunning to see in-person. Even my parents, who I'm not sure have ever played a Mario game themselves, were wowed at the sight and its sheer kinetic energy.

After spending a few minutes taking in the sights, we headed straight for the queue of Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge. We had purchased the early entrance tickets, so our wait time wasn't long, around 30 minutes including both pre-shows (once the early entrance period ended the line quickly ballooned up to insane wait times I never would have been able to convince my parents or sister to wait in). The queue was impressively detailed. The Yoshi area, especially the cave, was quite charming, and I really enjoyed how many of the Bowser's Castle were crammed full of details that really gave it a lived-in quality that was refreshingly different from the Mario franchise's typically very broad-stoked, abstracted stories. The pre-show videos, however, leave much to be desired. They aren't effective at setting-up or expanding upon the premise or story of the ride, nor are they effective at conveying the rules, objectives, or controls of the ride. I already knew how the ride was supposed to work thanks to this forum and videos, but I had to explain some of it to my family, especially the "Team Mario vs Team Bowser" conceit, and which characters are on which team. I think at the very least that some narration would go a long way.

The ride itself was amazing. The physical sets were beautiful, and it was great to be able to experience the AR technology in person (it really can't be captured by video). The integration between the AR characters, the background screens and the physical sets was very well done (I particularly enjoyed the animatronic piranha plants shooting AR fireballs, and of course rainbow road), and the head-tracking for shooting projectiles was far more precise than I imagined it would be. However, I was a little disappointed by the limited FOV (field of view) of the AR goggles. The action is happening all around you, but the AR characters can only be seen when in the center of your vision. It's a little immersion-breaking, and it makes it difficult to keep track of the action at times. Your mileage may vary though, my parents and siblings had no complaints about the FOV. Overall, we all really enjoyed the ride, and everyone found the gameplay compelling.

After the ride, my brother and I decided to purchase Power-Up bands and try our hands at the challenges. I hadn't been sure I was going to get a Power-Up band, owing both to their high price-point and the long lines already forming at each challenge (even during the early-entry period), but I was compelled to by my brother's enthusiasm. There isn't much to some of the challenges, such as the Goomba Crazy Crank, although the interactive animatronics are fun. Others, such as the Koopa Troopa POWer Punch, were tricky enough that I was worried I might have to repeat its long line and try again (although in retrospect I think I was just psyched out by the repeated failures of people playing it in hard mode). The Piranha Plant Nap Mishap was my favorite of the 3 key challenges we tried. It was fun to work as a team, and it delivered the perfect level of intensity. The giant animatronic helped too, of course.
Overall, I'd say the key challenges were fun, but for me they weren't quite worth the very long waits. We started waiting for them near the tail end of the early entry period, and we were waiting ~30 per minigame, some of which only took ~15 seconds. Meanwhile, across the park, my mother, father, and sister were doing walk-ons for RoTM, the Simpsons, and Forbidden Journey. Again, though, your mileage may vary. My brother was very into all the gamification of the power-up band, including the coin blocks, hidden 8-bit characters, AR goggle secrets, etc.) and he would have happily spent all day in SNW (no matter how long the lines) earning every virtual stamp he could instead of experiencing the rest of USH for the first time, no matter the wait.

Due to the relatively high barrier to entry of completing 3 key challenges, the wait for Bowser Jr.'s Shadow Showdown was actually pretty short. This was definitely the highlight of all the Power-Up band activities. More than any other part of Super Nintendo World, this felt like actually experiencing the gameplay of a SMB game in real life, and it was a joy. Like the Piranha Plant Nap Mishap challenge, I think the experience was elevated by feeling of experiencing it as a team (even though I'm pretty sure it's impossible to fail). It served as a perfect endcap for our time in Super Nintendo World.

Overall, I really enjoyed Super Nintendo World. I eagerly await the day I can visit an expanded SNW closer to home at Epic Universe, where there will be greater capacity and crowds will hopefully be more evenly spread across the entire theme park instead of concentrated into one plaza.

 

[CyborgDinosaur]

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I won! Thank you to Brian G. and the rest of the Inside Universal team for the giveaway! It was good to have a reason to organize my thoughts and commit them to writing.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

 

[captainmoch]

Did an in-depth video review of Super Nintendo World Hollywood if anyone here wants to check it out!

 

[HORRORable Commenter]

I don’t know if this counts as a review, but bill burr recently told a story about going to Super Nintendo land and his gripes with the Mario Kart ride that’s pretty funny and relatable for a lot of us. Check it out here

 

[Jerroddragon]

I don’t know if this counts as a review, but bill burr recently told a story about going to Super Nintendo land and his gripes with the Mario Kart ride that’s pretty funny and relatable for a lot of us. Check it out here

It's funny because he even thinks he wife knows everything but then can't get the right tickets to skip the line on MK.

The current system of tickets, I think could just be made easier to read for any event if they just had a chart next to the ticket with what perks it came with like the AP's have, I think this would help with any confusion

I do think the bit about feeling about about everyone around you to hating them is very true, lol