What The Tech: After Super Nintendo World, here are the video game theme parks we really want to see

After the events of 2020, the recently unveiled Super Nintendo Land seems lime the perfect antidote, but why stop there? With AR, a new era of video game experiences could soon be upon us.

Opening in February 2021, Super Nintendo World promises to be a unique and exciting new theme park featuring characters from the Super Mario games and enhanced by Augmented Reality. You won’t need your imagination or even a controller – you’ll be right there with the classic characters, just as if you’d stepped inside the screen.

Publicity so far has focused on the Koopa’s Challenge ride, which incorporates Mario Kart for a frenetic competitive chase around Bowser’s Castle. All the hallmarks of the bestselling video games series are featured in the park, including the ability to jump and punch blocks to earn coins. You can even don a nifty set of AR specs attached to Mario’s signature red cap – it looks to be a uniquely immersive experience.

But when you think about it, it’s rather strange that video games haven’t already moved into this territory. Consider how films have frequently inspired theme park rides and even the reverse, just look at Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion.

Notoriously, video games tend to be very poor when adapted as films, but adapting a thrilling console game into to a rollercoaster or an interactive experience seems far more intriguing…

Here are a few ideas for this untapped market:

• Pokémon: Another evergreen Nintendo property, Pokémon Go showed that the franchise still has pull, particularly when it comes to increased interactivity. The classic bird’s eye view gameplay will always remain special but finding, catching, and battling Pokémon before your very eyes in instantly recognisable locations from the classic games could be a great draw for nostalgia-heads everywhere.
• Platformers: We expect an attraction based on Super Mario Bros to also be unveiled at the new theme park, and while the series is no doubt the king of the platforming genre, there’s no reason why similar games can’t be given the same treatment. Cuphead and LittleBigPlanet come mind, but then again, the former just sounds like it would be far too stressful of an experience above all-else.
• Battle Royale Games: Okay, hear me out. 100 attendants go in, each given a weapon that’s as absurd as the last. A rubber ducky for you, and a spatula for this guy. Wait… who gave that guy a mace? I definitely don’t remember handing out any bazookas. On second thought, this is turning into a PR disaster so let’s just shut this town before it gets out of hand.

Which of these ideas would you most like to see become a reality? Let us know in the poll below…