It's now official, folks!
As it was already rumoured in the past, Universal Studios Japan will be receiving a brand new roller coaster and a new expansion around Spring 2024 in Japan, which should be between March and May. The announcement was made today by Universal at Super Nintendo World in Tokyo. The new thrill ride will be a new addition to Super Nintendo World, and is themed after the classic Donkey Kong video game series.
Donkey Kong, as you might know, is that charismatic monkey sporting that beautiful red tie. Why do a monkey needs a tie? Nobody will ever know. What we know is that Donkey Kong first debuted in arcades way back in 1981, in a classic game where you controlled a guy known as Jumpman. Years later, Jumpman received a new identity. His new name?
Mario.
A Nintendo icon
Since then, Donkey Kong appeared in numerous games, some of them considered the best platformers of all time, like Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Country 2 on the Super Nintendo. Let's just skip Donkey Kong 64 and focus on the big monkey's ressurgence on the Nintendo Wii with Donkey Kong Country Returns and later on the amazing Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze on the WiiI U and Nintendo Switch.
He has also been a series staple on Super Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros and every Mario Sport game out there. Oh, and Mario Party. Are we talking about a Nintendo game which features multiple Nintendo characters? Then he will be there, trust me.
What can we expect from the ride?
As we all know, the new ride will be a roller coaster. An indoor roller coaster? A steel giant that makes waves all around Super Nintendo World? We don't know yet. What we can say is that your vehicle will be built just like a mine cart, which makes a lot of sense if we take a closer look at the games.
Mine cart sections are a staple when it comes to Donkey Kong, where you hop on a cart and have to jump to dodge different hazards and not fall into pits, which might result in a game over. Apparently, the Donkey Kong roller coaster will use a brand new system to make tracks go up and down in real time, which might simulate your mine cart jumping and escaping from enemies and pits, just like how it happens in the games.
Let's see what Universal and Nintendo can do to surprise us. Donkey Kong will arrive sometime in 2024, and this give us hope that this expansion will already exist in Orlando when Epic Universe launches in 2025.
Now we have Mario and soon enough we will have an awesome Donkey Kong roller coaster! Now we just need Zelda. And Metroid. And Pokémon. And Kid Icarus. And Kirby. And F-Zero. And... okay, let's stop here.
For all your Universal questions, contact us and we will reply as soon as possible. Make sure to also send us a message if you ever want to set up your magical trip to Universal, or if you also agree that King K. Rool's theme song needs to be part of that new ride.
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