Super Nintendo World opens on February 4 with the AR Mario Cart roller coaster

Universal Studios Japan Announced Launch date for its long-awaited Nintendo-themed area. The Super Nintendo Land Zone will open on February 4, 2021 at Osaka Theme Park.

This is actually a little earlier than expected – last month Nintendo said the project would open in the spring. A themed cafe and mall has already opened in the Great Universal Studios Japan Park.

USJ and Nintendo have also provided details on whether the park is one of the main attractions: a Mario KartRoller coaster. It is housed inside the rebuilt Bowser Palace and uses AR and projection mapping technology to design Raiders AR headsets like Mario’s hat:

Bloomberg made an early appearance at Super Nintendo World Mario Kart Ride, and noted that the park is to be further expanded DonkeyTheme Area:

Cars have steering, and many vehicles can race with each other, but the ride seems to be on the rails. According to the USJ, there is no guarantee that you will win the race – there is an element of throwing power-ups out of item boxes, and the experience will be different every time you ride.

The park says it is working with health administrators to ensure a safe environment for visitors and staff and is currently operating at 50 percent capacity. There has been a recent increase in COVID-19 cases in Osaka, with 490 positive tests being recorded on a single day last week. Japan, however, has so far avoided strict locking measures, however, relying on contact tracking and global masking to mitigate the impact of the epidemic.

The opening of Super Nintendo World will be meticulously observed as a model for the theme park industry severely affected by COVID-19. Last week Walt Disney announced plans to lay off 32,000 employees, mostly in its parks division.