Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
Travel
Todd Martens

Universal's Super Nintendo World is the play-focused theme park land for our times

LOS ANGELES — A credit list into the hundreds — likely thousands — helped bring Universal Studios' Super Nintendo World to life. And the details show it.

After walking through an oversize green warp pipe — and hearing the three-pronged digital zaps familiar to generations of "Super Mario Bros." players — we're in a brightly colored fantasy world that immediately feels interactive. Laid out like an obstacle course, with creatures, characters, moving platforms and mushrooms beckoning us to explore, everywhere we look we're greeted with an inviting but loud contrast.

Plants chomp, a thumping, angry-faced block hovers and slams over a cave, and familiar-but-odd critters wander above us while our eyes adjust to an appealing clash of wintry and desert environments. We're surrounded by brash digital colors, and yet Super Nintendo World feels made of this Earth, as watercolor hills grace the entrance and sketch-like animations comprise some of the visuals.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.