Super Nintendo World Universal Studios Japan, Osaka
Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement Theme Park Land With the opening of the world’s first Super Nintendo World theme park land, Universal Creative has raised the bar for high-capacity interactivity, immersing guests in the wildly unique and colorful worlds of Nintendo while also honoring the gold-standard legacy of gameplay pioneered by Mario’s creator, Shigeru Miyamoto. With rides and experiences based on key Nintendo properties, this new, world-class theme park land checks all the boxes: incredible scale, bright colors, and lots of kinetic energy. It does all this on an astoundingly compact footprint, with a multi-level, vertical masterplan that feels intimate and charming - like the games - but has hidden depths and levels inside to explore, to maintain high capacity and accommodate substantial show, food and retail facilities. From the high vantage point of toddler-friendly “Yoshi’s Adventure” ride, guests take in a magical vista filled with detailed scenery, animated characters and special effects. Underneath this scenic attraction, “Kinopio’s Cafe” offers clever themed food and beverage that looks and feels (and tastes) just like you’d imagine the colorful mushroom kingdom to be. Exclusive merchandise is next door at the “1-Up Factory.”
Guests can purchase Power-Up Bands that transform the entire land into a life-sized, live-action video game, using multiple game mechanics, physical and media effects, multi-player interaction, achievements and leaderboards, and even a “boss battle,” the “Bowser Jr. Shadow Showdown” - a marquee experience that can only be experienced by first completing a series of quests. This is a unique themepark first that can’t be understated - a headline attraction that is literally gated by accomplishment. Guests’ unique player IDs are kept in the system, allowing them to revisit games and quests and play at higher and more difficult levels with each visit, or play in teams, winning collectible achievements in the mobile app. The groundbreaking, immersive ride experience: “Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge” is a richly detailed, dual-track dark ride that lets guests play Mario Kart in real life aboard an interactive ride vehicle, using AR headsets themed as Mario’s hat. As in the Mario Kart game, guests have agency to throw shells at a physical targets and virtual opponents. A steering wheel for each passenger creates a secondary game mechanic and scoring option, where visual AR prompts tell guests when to turn left or right. This blending and synchronization of physical sets and augmented, real-time graphics is a staggering and novel feat of engineering - each rider having their own unique game experience, each vehicle also working as a team, and each set of two vehicles competing against each other and against virtual and physical ride/game characters. The idea of theme park interactivity has been completely changed and elevated with Super Nintendo World, redefining what it means to give guests agency and immersion within their own, unique story experience.
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