The castle was really cool with themed walls, doors, banners, ceilings, lights and a giant statue of Bowser. The Mario Kart attraction is called Koopa’s Challenge and is located inside Bowser’s castle. The course uses AR, projection mapping and other tech for immersion," Mori tweeted. Additionally, the starting roster is identical to Super Mario Kart’s roster with Donkey Kong in Donkey Kong Jr.s place. Mario Kart 7 is the only game with Wario initially locked, being replaced by Koopa Troopa in the initial roster. "Riders set off from Bowser's castle and race through different scenes including a lava level, underwater, a spooky area, Rainbow Road and more. Mario Kart 7: 4 13 N/A N/A 17: N/A All characters from Mario Kart 64 return. One element that has been confirmed is the use of AR glasses, which is likely how riders are given at least an illusion of control-they can even collect items and throw shells at other karts, just like in the game. Every kart has four seats, each with its own steering wheel. Contrary to earlier rumors, the ride is of the on-rails variety, rather than using actual go-karts on a track.Īs reported by Bloomberg's Kurumi Mori, the ride is called Kooper's Challenge and is located inside Bowser's castle. Universal Japan recently released a music video in collaboration with Charli XCX for the park, which included a sneak peek at the ride vehicle for the Mario Kart attraction. Now, we get to see the inside-specifically, the Mario Kart attraction. Photos of the entire park arrived last week, showing its remarkable likeness to a Mario game. It was scheduled to open this year, but, like so many events, the pandemic scuppered those plans. In addition to a few photos of the Mario Kart attraction and the AR headsets that accompany it, an official opening date has been revealed: February 4.įollowing its announcement in 2015, Universal Studios Japan broke ground on the Nintendo theme park back in June 2017. Something to look forward to: We've been hearing about Japan's Super Nintendo World for years, but images of the park's interior have been absent-until now.