Super Nintendo World Universal Studios Hollywood opens

Enter the iconic green warp pipe and snake your way into Universal Studios Hollywood’s newest theme park land: Super Nintendo World.

Nearly a decade in the making, this expansion to Universal’s California-based park is part of a broader partnership with video game company Nintendo that encompasses movies and merchandise. The area, a carved out section beyond Universal’s Jurassic World and Transformers areas, opened Friday to the general public.

Super Nintendo World features an augmented reality Mario Kart ride, a Toad-inspired restaurant and a stocked-up merchandise hub filled with shirts, hats, plush and themed popcorn canisters. There are also meet-and-greets with Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach.

The land, sequestered away from other parts of the park, is small, but packed with eye candy and the constant ding of parkgoers tapping question mark adorned bricks. Part of Universal’s lower studio lot was demolished to make room for the new world and new soundstages were erected or relocated to other areas on the expansive backlot.

“What we were able to do was actually have the size work for us,” said Jon Corfino, vice president of Universal Creative. “If you take a look around, I think we are successful at creating this very immersive, enclosed and yet intimate environment where you really feel like you’ve stepped into the game. Because you don’t really see anything else around you and you’re totally contained.”

It’s unclear how much Universal invested in the project, which opens less than two months before the company’s movie studio releases its animated “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” but it seems confident in its launch.

“The parks business … it’s never been better for us,” NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said in January. “We had a record year last year.”

Shell noted that growth is slow domestically, but that the company has “found our footing” in Japan, where it opened a Super Nintendo World in March 2021. Last December, Shell told investors during a UBS conference that the Nintendo land in Japan was driving a lot of attendance to the international park and that those results are encouraging considering the big bets the company made for several Nintendo lands, including the one in Universal Studios Hollywood.

The company has plans to bring similar lands to its much-anticipated Epic Universe in Florida and Universal Studios Singapore in 2025.

Here’s a look at Universal Studios Hollywood’s new Super Nintendo Land:

As guests exit the warp pipe, they find themselves inside Princess Peach’s Castle. The area is mostly a photo opportunity, but also sets the backdrop of the encased and immersive land.

Across the way, for about $40 parkgoers can purchase power-up bands that can be used to play mini-games within the land and unlock digital coins and badges on the Universal Studios Hollywood app.

The bands come in six styles based on major characters from Super Mario Bros. — Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Toad and Princess Daisy. The band character you choose coincides with with “team” you are on during your time in the land and all of your digital coin collection goes towards your own personal score and the team score.

The bands are an extension to the land and not required for guests to enjoy the ride or dining options within the park.

Essentially, the story line is that Bowser Jr. has stolen golden keys from the Mushroom Kingdom and guests need to collect three in order to gain access to a final boss battle with the little Koopa. Guests can participate in physical mini-games to get these keys including: Goomba Crazy Crank, Koopa Troopa POWer Punch, Piranha Plant Nap Mishap and Thwomp Panel Panic.

Collecting three keys allows guests to enter into Bowser Jr.’s lair and compete in a special mini-game.

The main attraction in Super Nintendo World is Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge.

To get to the ride, parkgoers must pass through Bowser’s Castle. The queue winds through different corridors and showcases a collection of trophies, memorabilia and Bowser’s plans to defeat Team Mario in the upcoming race.

The ride itself is multifaceted. At its most basic, it is a race of Team Mario vs. Team Bowser. Layered over a traditional racing coaster is an augmented reality shooter game.

Racers are prompted to turn the steering wheel to navigate the racing course and encouraged to shoot shells at rival racers and obstacles. Pay attention to the pre-show which indicates the racers you should target and the ones you should let breeze by on the raceway.

Corfino explained that the team decided to use AR technology because it was more of a social experience. Guests could wear clear plastic visors on the ride and see their friends and family as well as the immersive animation of the Nintendo racers.

He called the AR “transparent technology,” something that would disappear and allow guests to be completely immersed in the experience.

Pre-show animation guides guests on how to wear a specialized Mario visor that will be used during the ride. There is a toggle on the back to tighten or loosen the apparatus.

For the most part, the experience is seamless. Racers turn their head to see fellow racers, question-mark boxes filled with shells and upcoming obstacles.

However, those with glasses may find it difficult to see throughout the ride. The visor fits snuggly to the forehead. There isn’t a lot of room for eyewear between the visor and the plastic shield that attaches in the ride vehicle.

Additionally, Universal has faced criticism for size restrictions on several of its theme park rides domestically. Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge, too, saw some blowback for guidelines that stated the right may be unsuitable for riders with waistlines over 40 inches.

Riders exit through the gift shop filled with Nintendo character merchandise.

Super Nintendo World’s signature restaurant is called the Toadstool Cafe and its entryway is shaped like a giant red-capped mushroom.

Chef Toad oversees the kitchen which makes a collection of themed salads and burgers as well as spaghetti and meatballs and a short rib special.

Guests order their food, receive their drinks and are whisked away by the dining team to their seats.

There are video screens throughout the space that act as windows into the Mushroom Kingdom. Throughout your stay you may see multi-colored Mushroom People pass by the frames or battle it out in the skies against enemy invaders.

The restaurant’s signature drink is called the Super Star Lemon Squash. It contains honey lemon soda and tropical boba with mango stars on top.

For dessert, guests can choose from a question block shaped tiramisu, a Mr. Beanpole cake, which is a twist on an Italian cake, or a Princess Peach cupcake.

Super Nintendo World is open to the general public and will not require advanced virtual queuing in order to enter.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.