Super Mario World was slated to be a huge expansion to Universal Studios Japan ahead of the Tokyo Olympics this summer, but with the Olympiad delayed amid the coronavirus pandemic, the park is officially on ice “until further notice.”
Nintendo Life reported via Nikkei that the international expansion to Universal’s Japanese park has been officially delayed. Originally supposed to open this month ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Games, official word came down that the park will not happen as scheduled as the COVID-19 crisis continues to interrupt ordinary life around the world.
The expansion of the park, which is located in Osaka, has been in the works for years, and there’s been plenty of hype since it was first announced. Real-life Mario Kart is perhaps the most exciting attraction teased, and the layout of the park itself has been the subject of intense scrutiny. But with international travel severely hampered by coronavirus and gathering in mass groups inadvisable until there’s a vaccine, the park will remain a dream until we hear word from Universal otherwise.
There have been some early glimpses of what the park will have, including some spinning coins and Yoshi walking in a surreal-looking Mario landscape. So hopefully it’s really happening, it just will take a bit longer than we’d like to see made real.