Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge Review

You can now ride Rainbow Road in real life and get hit by a red shell right before the finish line

Ahh, Mario Kart. The game responsible for creating new friendships, sparking rivalries that last a lifetime, and making everyone in the world hate blue shells. I’ve been playing Mario Kart for a while… well, since the first game launched on the SNES back in 1992. God, I’m old. Since then, Nintendo has released sequel after sequel, culminating in Mario Kart 8 on the Switch, complete with new downloadable content and online multiplayer. Now, I can finally play and lose to an 8 year old from Japan.

Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge is the main attraction at Super Nintendo World in Universal Studios Hollywood and will soon be available at Epic Universe in Orlando as well. This dark ride uses AR (augmented reality) technology, meaning you’ll wear special glasses that allow you to see racers from the game integrated into the environment around you.

Think of it as a more chaotic version of traditional dark rides like Disney World’s Peter Pan’s Flight or Journey of the Little Mermaid, but here digital characters interact with the physical sets. Oh, and you can also use your steering wheel to aim at virtual racers, fire shells at them, and compete for the top score.

What we like about Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge

Mario Kart Bowsers Challenge team bowser.webp

The queue is incredible, and the atmosphere throughout the ride is fantastic. As someone who grew up playing games like Super Mario World, Super Metroid, and Chrono Trigger, it’s amazing to see a juggernaut like Nintendo brought to life at Universal Studios.

And you know what? They really did a great job! The ride is packed with characters and Easter eggs that show the creators paid close attention to the Mario franchise as a whole. The track features chain chomps, piranha plants, shy guys, and dozens of cool characters from the Mushroom Kingdom that only a few fans will recognize.

The ride is also a lot of fun and feels very original compared to most attractions out there. For one, you use AR glasses, making it one of the few rides of its kind in the world. This also means it’s a ride you really have to experience in person to fully understand. YouTube videos just don’t do it justice and often look a bit janky.

The concept, however, is simple. You use a steering wheel alongside the other guests in your car to steer your vehicle, look at rival racers through your AR glasses, and press a button to fire shells at them. If your team collects 100 coins, you win! Yeah, time to show Bowser who’s the boss.

What we don’t like about Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge

Super Nintendo World mario kart vehicle.webp

The main drawback of this ride is that it sometimes feels like a tech demo. That’s not to say it’s bad, but it does feel more like a prototype for a future ride that could fully harness the potential of AR technology.

At times, the visuals can look a bit wonky, as if the racers are floating, and the virtual characters occasionally appear blurry. This is understandable, given that the technology is still relatively new and likely paving the way for more advanced rides in the future. Plus, there’s nothing stopping this ride from being updated down the line with improved racer models or smoother visuals.

The lines for this ride can get quite long. It’s the only major attraction at Super Nintendo World in Universal Studios Hollywood and is set to debut at Epic Universe in 2025. In California, you can expect to wait about two hours most of the time, and the wait times will likely be even longer once Super Nintendo World opens in Florida.