It was the end of 2020 when Universal Studios Japan let the guests within its area of Super Mario World of the Park, with walks and a series of mini -games based on the Super Mario franchise. Unlike most of the experiences of the theme park, it was about collecting coins and stamps, competing against other visitors and with the aim of overcoming the classification. A reduced version opened in Universal Studios Hollywood in 2023, consolidating the idea that Universal continued ahead with the gamification of its thematic parks. In May, the company’s newest theme park, Universal Epic Universe, will present its own Super Nintendo world, completed with a section of Donkey Kong Country.
Gamespot recently had the opportunity to tour the New World of Super Nintendo of Epic and, of course, play in it. While those who have visited the Super Nintendo World of Hollywood will find parts of this new family Florida location, the earth has been completely redesigned and is much larger. The last iteration not only brings the Donkey Kong Country Ride and Mini-Land that was inaugurated in Japan last December, but also brings the beloved Dark Ride of Yoshi’s Adventure. However, what is more important, brings new challenges and ways of playing on Earth, and more coins to win.
The walks
The outstanding of the new land is Donkey Kong Country’s roller coaster, Minecart-Madness. Imagine opening one of the Minecart levels of the video game franchise. That is what you get with Minecart-Madness, which is not a traditional roller coaster. Instead, it is made to simulate the feeling of being in a Minecart that jumps from track to track, since it avoids danger at all costs.
If he was lucky to visit Universal Studios Japan since the opening of the trip, he knows that it is a unique experience. In fact, the creatives of Universal Studios essentially had to invent a new type of travel to properly simulate the feeling of being in a Minecart. That said, add an excellent emotion to the Super Nintendo World, which until now was all the dark travel attractions (style of theme park that sends passengers through a series of animated sets aboard different types of travel vehicles).
However, if you are not a fan of the Russian mountains, there is much to ride. Like each version of the Earth, Orlando presents the Ride Challenge of Super Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge, which is destined to simulate the world of Mario Kart. You walk through Bowser Castle, you see how he created his various henchmen and monsters, and then you keep a race against some of the best pilots in the mushroom kingdom by using augmented reality glasses.
The other trip on Earth, which is not in the Hollywood version, is Yoshi’s adventure trip above, which is aimed at a much younger audience. In him, you basically travel on Yoshi’s back through a series of thematic configurations. There is not much, apart from that it is a very pleasant and relaxing trip.
The games
However, the games are where Super Nintendo World shines. If you read our Super Nintendo World coverage when it opened in Universal Studios Hollywood, you know about the collection of coins and stamps to finally access a boss struggle against Bowser Jr. However, that is not openly explained inside the earth, so it depends on the guests to explore and find ways to win coins using the food bands. Since they cost more than $ 40, it is good for Universal to continue adding things to do with them.
With the incorporation of Yoshi and Minecart-Madness adventure, there is much more to do with them. For example, there are several Yoshi eggs hidden in Yoshi’s adventure trip. To obtain the Golden-Hegg label, you will have to find them all and press the appropriate button on your travel vehicle to approach your general super Nintendo World score.
Gallery
As for the Donkey Kong Country area, there are some ways to win coins, and have mostly been taken directly from the games. The best minigame in this section requires that you find the giant letters that spell Kong covered throughout the earth. In the games, Kong’s lyrics have given additional lives, unlocked special levels or have even been used as rescue points. In the land of Donkey Kong Country, they earn a seal and coins to help him drive him to the top of the classification tables. In addition, there is a banana slot machine located in the area that simply slides from its ignition band to activate. You could win anything, from bananas batteries to extra life balloons. What collects determines how many coins are added to your general score.
There are also pieces of hidden puzzles to find, several boxes with hidden kong donkey logos to scan, a golden banana in the climax of Minecart-Madness and a game based on Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat. Yes, they turned the Gamecube game 2005, which came with a Bongo drums peripheral, a theme park experience, completed with mass drums for drums along with and collecting coins. Honestly, this could be the best game that Super Nintendo World has to offer, since who expected a tribute to a Gamecube title?
As expected, you can also obtain additional coins of repeated walks of any of the attractions. However, if you are looking to head the classification table, keep the line times into account.
The themes
This is possibly the most important thing at stake here, especially in the Donkey Kong Country section. After all, Yoshi’s adventure easily fits the Super Mario Land section of the Park. Entering Donkey Kong Country, as someone who first performed this franchise in the Super Nintendo, was as incredible as the first time I went to Super Mario Land.
The area is built to seem that you are entering a Donkey Kong range game, from music and design to banana flavor and Donkey Kong are found and greet. It is difficult to properly explain the feeling of being inside a video game you grew up playing, but it is like no other.
That, of course, can also be seen as an inconvenience. After crossing everything Donkey Kong Country had to offer, I wanted more. Isle of Berk, the section how to train your dragon from the epic universe, is so massive, is the largest land in the park, and that is what I wanted for Super Nintendo World, even if only to give way to more Donkey Kong. The Mario de la Earth section has a lot of space and extends in all directions when you enter. I want that feeling for Donkey Kong Country, which is a fraction of the size of the expansive section of Mario. After all, the franchise is alive and well with a new Switch 2 title, Donkey Kong Baniza, on the way. Perhaps they could eventually expand to include more meetings and cracks of characters or even another trip. Where can I meet Cranky Kong?
On the other hand, perhaps they could also extend to a new franchise under Nintendo’s umbrella. Where is our legend of Zelda Land and Ride?
Anyway, Donkey Kong Country meets exaggeration and, in most cases, surpasses it. It establishes the epic universe as the home of the final Nintendo World World of North America (sorry, Hollywood) and creates even more ways of playing and winning. In addition, the DK Crush DK Sunday with banana flavor, served in a giant cone of gofres inside a cup of collectible DK barrel, if you pay the surcharge, it is quite delicious.
The Super Nintendo World of Orlando, and the epic universe as a whole, opens to the public on May 22. In addition to Super Nintendo World and Isle of Berk, the park has original lands and trips based on the magical world of Harry Potter and the dark universe of universal amount.
