Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood.
Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood.
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My impressions of Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood | The DeanBeat

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 5 min

Some Super Mario magic is headed our way soon through that not-so-magical word “transmedia.” This time, it is taking the form of a theme park addition. Super Nintendo World opens at Universal Studios Hollywood on February 17.

I’ve managed to get a couple of hours to play around the space, which is packed into a relatively confined space in the Lower Lot of Universal. Before you go in, you can buy a Power-Up Band, which costs $40 in addition to your Universal Studios entry ticket. If you’re a video game geek, you won’t blink an eye at that price to visit a place that will bring back both your childhood and adulthood. The music alone will do that.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.