Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge | |
---|---|
![]() | |
![]() | |
Universal Studios Japan | |
Area | Super Nintendo World |
Coordinates | 34°40′05″N135°25′50″E / 34.6679417°N 135.4305455°E |
Status | Operating |
Soft opening date | February 2, 2021 |
Opening date | March 18, 2021 |
Universal Studios Hollywood | |
Area | Super Nintendo World |
Status | Operating |
Soft opening date | January 12, 2023 |
Opening date | February 17, 2023 [1] |
Universal Epic Universe | |
Area | Super Nintendo World |
Status | Under construction |
Opening date | Summer 2025 [2] |
Ride statistics | |
Attraction type | Augmented Reality Dark Ride |
Manufacturer | MTS Systems Corporation |
Designer | Universal Creative |
Theme | Mario Kart 8 |
Vehicle type | Bus-Bar Vehicle |
Riders per vehicle | 4 |
Rows | 2 |
Riders per row | 2 |
Duration | 5:00 |
Height restriction | 40 in (102 cm) |
![]() | |
![]() |
Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge (known in Japan as Mario Kart: Koopa's Challenge [lower-alpha 1] and Florida as Mario Kart) is an augmented reality dark ride that serves as the anchor attraction of Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Hollywood, with an upcoming version at Universal Epic Universe. The ride is based on the Mario Kart franchise, primarily on the Mario Kart 8 video game.
The layout and details of the attraction were revealed across several years worth of leaked photographs, patents, and construction. [3] [4] Universal confirmed the attraction via the "We Are Born to Play" music video on January 13, 2020, but official details were still kept to a minimum. [5] The attraction was then formally unveiled on November 30, 2020. [6] The attraction opened alongside Universal Studios Japan's Super Nintendo World on March 18, 2021. [7] [8]
The ride, alongside the rest of Universal Studios Japan, was temporarily closed on April 25, 2021, amid rising concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic; [9] the park reopened in June of the same year, maintaining enhanced health and safety protocols. [10] [11]
The ride officially opened in Universal Studios Hollywood on February 17, 2023. [1] Another clone of the ride was announced for Universal Epic Universe scheduled to open in Summer 2025. [2]
The ride's exterior and queue are modeled after Bowser's Castle. The queue gradually reveals that the ride's plot involves "Team Bowser" (Bowser and the Koopalings) challenging "Team Mario" (Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Toad, and Yoshi) to the "Universal Cup." [12]
Guests are given the augmented reality's visors and enter the first pre-show room, which features Lakitu and Mii characters showing how to put on and adjust the visor. Guests then enter the second pre-show room, filled with replicas of Mii outfits from Mario Kart 8. Here, Lakitu explains the ride vehicles and the shooting gallery-esque gameplay:
The four-person vehicles (modeled after "karts" from Mario Kart 8) follow a set path on a railtrack. Guests attach the AR visors to the AR lenses in the vehicles, to view the Mario characters racing alongside them. Guests rotate their AR-wearing heads around to aim their Koopa Shell ammo, and press a button on their steering wheel to fire the shells at characters within the augmented reality. Guests accumulate points during the ride by successfully hitting the "Team Bowser" characters with their shells. If all four riders turn their wheels in unison at certain turns, they'll "drift" into the turn, earning more points. [12]
After leaving the boarding station, the ride vehicles turn into a corner where guests can practice aiming and firing in the augmented reality before heading to the starting line.
The ride then takes guests through a variety of locations from Mario Kart 8 based on previous Mario Kart installments, including: N64 Royal Raceway (from Mario Kart 64 ), GBA Mario Circuit (from Mario Kart: Super Circuit ), 3DS Piranha Plant Slide (from Mario Kart 7 ), Dolphin Shoals, Twisted Mansion, Cloudtop Cruise, Wii Grumble Volcano (from Mario Kart Wii ), and Mario Kart 64's Rainbow Road. [13] If riders collectively earn 100 points, the ride ends with "Team Mario" winning the race. However, if riders don't accumulate enough points, they'll see an alternate ending where "Team Bowser" wins.
Point tallies are shown at the end of the ride, similar to Toy Story Mania. [14] If guests scan their Power-Up Band against the steering wheel, they can log and keep track of their high-score for the ride on the official Universal Studios smartphone applications. [12]
The ride has received mixed reception from critics. The attraction has been praised for its innovative technology, intricate theming, detailed sets, and special effects. However, it has also been criticized for moving at a slow pace, since the attraction is based on a high-speed racing franchise, and the AR lenses offering a narrow view of the characters. [15] [16]
Mario Kart is a series of kart racing games based on the Mario franchise developed and published by Nintendo. Players compete in go-kart races while using various power-up items. It features characters and courses mostly from the Mario series as well as other gaming franchises such as The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, F-Zero, Excitebike, and Splatoon.
Super Mario Kart is a kart racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The first game in the Mario Kart series, it was released in Japan and North America in 1992, and in Europe the following year in 1993. Selling 8.76 million copies worldwide, the game went on to become the fourth best-selling SNES game of all time. Super Mario Kart was re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console in 2009, on the Wii U's Virtual Console in 2013, and on the New Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console in 2016. Nintendo re-released Super Mario Kart in 2017 as part of the company's Super NES Classic Edition.
Koopa Troopas are a fictional turtle-like race of characters from the Mario media franchise. They are commonly referred to as Koopas, a more broad classification of creatures that includes Bowser, his Koopalings, and Lakitu. Predecessors to Koopa Troopas, Shellcreepers, first appeared in the 1983 game Mario Bros., while Koopa Troopas themselves debuted two years later in Super Mario Bros. (1985). Koopa Troopas are a common staple in most Super Mario and spin-off games. When defeated, they may flee from or retreat inside their shells, which can usually be used as weapons. Koopa shells are a recurring weapon in the franchise, particularly popularized in the Mario Kart series, in which they can be fired as projectiles against other racers. Despite making up the bulk of Bowser's army, Koopa Troopas are often shown to be peaceful, sometimes even teaming up with protagonist Mario.
Yoshi is a fictional dinosaur who appears in video games published by Nintendo. Yoshi debuted in Super Mario World (1990) on the SNES as Mario and Luigi's sidekick. Throughout the mainline Super Mario series, Yoshi typically serves as Mario's trusted steed. With a gluttonous appetite, Yoshi can gobble enemies with his long tongue, and lay eggs that doubly function as projectiles. Yoshi is the title character of the Yoshi series and a supporting character in the Mario franchise. He has appeared in Mario Party and Mario Kart, as well as many Mario sports games. He also appears as a playable character in the crossover fighting game series Super Smash Bros. Yoshi is a member of the same-named species, which is distinguished for its wide range of colors.
Princess Peach is a character in Nintendo's Mario franchise. She was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and introduced in the 1985 original Super Mario Bros. game as Princess Toadstool. She is the princess regnant and head of state of the Mushroom Kingdom, where she resides in her castle along with Toads. Since her debut, she has appeared in the majority of Mario video games as the main female character and the romantic interest of Mario. She has been voiced by Samantha Kelly since 2007.
Bowser, also known as King Bowser or King Koopa, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Nintendo's Mario franchise. In Japan, his title is Daimaō. He is the arch-nemesis of the plumber Mario, and the leader of the turtle-like Koopa race. Bowser's defining traits are his monstrous appearance with dragon-like elements, full-throated roar, fire-breathing abilities, and tyrannical personality. His ultimate goals are to kidnap Princess Peach, make her his queen, and conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, and eventually the world.
Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and theme park in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles County, California. About 70% of the studio lies within the unincorporated county island known as Universal City while the rest lies within the city limits of Los Angeles, California. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood film studios still in use. Its official marketing headline is "The Entertainment Capital of LA". It was initially created to offer tours of the real Universal Studios sets and is the first of many full-fledged Universal Studios theme park resorts located across the world.
Universal Studios Japan (ユニバーサル・スタジオ・ジャパン) is a theme park located in Osaka, Japan. Opened on March 31, 2001, it is one of six Universal Studios theme parks worldwide and was the first to open outside the United States. The park is owned and operated by USJ LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of NBCUniversal. The park is similar in layout to Universal Studios Florida and contains selected attractions from both Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood, in addition to a small number of unique attractions.
Universal Creative is the division of Universal Destinations & Experiences responsible for designing, developing, engineering, and producing themed attractions, rides, and, resorts. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida the company operates at Universal Parks & Resorts locations around the world in the United States, Singapore, Japan, and China.
The Goombas, known in Japan as Kuribō, and originally Little Goomba, are a fictional species from Nintendo's Mario franchise. They first appeared in the NES video game Super Mario Bros. as the first enemy players encounter, part of Bowser's Army. They have appeared outside video games, including in film and television. They are usually brownish with long black eyebrows, sharp upward fangs, tan torsos, dark brown feet, and are most commonly seen walking around aimlessly, often as an obstacle, in video games. They were included late in the development of Super Mario Bros. as a simple, easy-to-defeat enemy.
Mario is a Japanese multimedia franchise created by Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto for video game company Nintendo, which produces and publishes its installments. Starring the titular Italian plumber Mario, it is primarily a video game franchise but has extended to other forms of media, including television series, comic books, a 1993 feature film, a 2023 animated film, and theme park attractions. The series' first installment was 1983's Mario Bros. even though Mario made his first appearance in 1981's arcade game Donkey Kong and had already been featured in several games of the Donkey Kong and Game & Watch series. The Mario games have been developed by a wide variety of developers. Mario games have been released almost exclusively for Nintendo's various video game consoles and handhelds, from the third generation onward.
Toad, known in Japan as Kinopio, is a character from the Mario franchise. The character was created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, and is portrayed as a citizen of the Mushroom Kingdom and one of Princess Peach's attendants. Toad is typically a non-player character who assists Mario and his friends, but he occasionally appears as a protagonist.
Universal Express Pass is a priority status boarding system used at various Universal Destinations & Experiences: Universal Orlando, Universal Studios Japan, Universal Studios Singapore, and Universal Studios Hollywood.
Super Nintendo World is a themed area at Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Hollywood. Further areas are under construction at Universal Studios Singapore and the upcoming Universal Epic Universe at Universal Orlando Resort. A result of a partnership between Nintendo and Universal Destinations & Experiences, the area is based on Nintendo video game franchises, primarily the Mario and Donkey Kong franchises.
Universal Epic Universe is an upcoming theme park under construction in Orlando, Florida. Scheduled to open in 2025, Epic Universe will be the third theme park and fourth park overall to open at Universal Orlando. The park is part of a larger 750-acre (300 ha) development and will feature five themed areas named Celestial Park, Dark Universe, How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, Super Nintendo World, and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic.
The Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary was a celebration of the Super Mario video game series created by Shigeru Miyamoto. The series began with the release of Super Mario Bros. on September 13, 1985, and has since spanned over twenty games appearing on every major Nintendo video game console. Through a series of leaks initially reported by Video Games Chronicle in March 2020, plans revealed that Nintendo originally planned to celebrate the anniversary earlier in 2020; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the anniversary was postponed to September that same year. The anniversary was announced in a Nintendo Direct on September 3, 2020, and ran until March 31, 2021.
Yoshi's Adventure is an omnimover ride themed after the Yoshi character and spin-off series in Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan, with an upcoming version at Universal Epic Universe.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a 2023 American animated adventure comedy film based on Nintendo's Mario video game franchise. Produced by Universal Pictures, Illumination, and Nintendo, and distributed by Universal, it was directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic and written by Matthew Fogel. The ensemble voice cast includes Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, and Fred Armisen. The film features an origin story for the brothers Mario and Luigi, Italian-American plumbers who are separated after being transported to a fantasy world and become entangled in a battle between the Mushroom Kingdom, led by Princess Peach, and the Koopas, led by Bowser.