Month: February 2021

Tale of Immortal has been out for barely a week as an Early Access title, and already the open-world sandbox based on Chinese mythology and cultivation has become one of the most popular games on Steam. Concurrent players peaked at 172,000 users this week, resulting in Tale of Immortal being more popular than Grand Theft Auto V or Rust.

With its tile-based 2D world aesthetic and a single language option of Simplified Chinese, Tale of Immortal might seem like an incredibly unlikely game to have debuted as the fifth most popular game on Steam. User reviews are overwhelmingly positive though, as the combination of Chinese mythology, vibrant monster-slaying action, and a low price has resulted in a smash-hit debut.

This can also be chalked up to Steam’s current presence in China, which now has over 30 million players on the platform who regularly flock towards similar games such as Amazing Cultivation Simulator and other Chinese-produced indie games that celebrate the culture of the country. Steam still has plans for a more official launch in China this year, as the platform currently exists as more of a grey market for users on that side of the world.

The launch of an official Chinese platform will allow Steam to sell games that fall in line with Chinese government regulations, though Chinese gamers aren’t happy about the change as the international Steam client has a much broader selection than what would be possible on an officially sanctioned digital distribution platform.

China is notorious for having strict rules regarding video games, as titles that are intended for sale must first apply for a license before they can be published. In 2020, only 97 games even managed to obtain a license in China.

After decades of vampires hogging all the spotlight in the World of Darkness, I’ve been drooling over the prospect of a good Werewolf: The Apocalypse game to showcase my favorite side of that fantastic universe… but it might be a couple decades more at this rate, because Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is an unambitious swing at video game-ifying the beloved tabletop roleplaying game of fangs and fury that originally got me into that hobby. If it can’t make transforming into a massive beast and ripping your enemies limb from limb fun, what are we even doing here?

In Earthblood, you play as Cahal, a Garou of the Fianna tribe born under the moon sign Arhoun who must battle Banes and Fomori to save Gaia. If you found that sentence confusing, this story is going to be a doozy because it barely ever stops for even a moment to explain any of the concepts of its rich but sometimes perplexing setting. And to anyone without an understanding of werewolves and their culture, a lot is going to be lost from its storytelling. This stands in stark contrast to the classic Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, which is set in the same universe. That game spends the first few hours explaining to you what vampires are, what they can and can’t do, and how their society works. Earthblood, meanwhile, seems to be written for existing Apocalypse fans only. If you’re exploring this part of the World of Darkness for the first time get ready to be bewildered – and that probably describes most players.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/04/first-15-minutes-of-werewolf-the-apocalypse-earthblood-gameplay”]

Anyway, Cahal is a tough guy in a leather jacket with a bunch of stock character traits who, through about half the story’s 20-ish hours, doesn’t seem to be able to express anything that would register above a two or a three on the emotional Richter scale. This includes when multiple people close to him are killed. In a game with the tagline, “When will you Rage?” it’s kind of a problem that your lead character has a hard time expressing believable anger. The voice acting improves a little in the second half, but overall it’s very flat. And the dialogue writing isn’t particularly good, either, which ends up making most of the characters seem almost creepily robotic.

Garou Kidding Me?

Cahal and his werewolf buddies are basically eco-terrorists, fighting against an oil company called – and I am really not making this up – Endron. If this were South Park or Robot Chicken, that kind of on-the-nose nod to a real company might have worked. But tonally, there is no levity to be found at any point in Earthblood: these are serious business werewolves. Each level involves infiltrating these greedy polluters’ facilities, sneaking past security, beating up guards, and completing simple objectives like planting a bomb or putting a bug on a computer terminal.

[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=Stealth%20action%20is%20the%20one%20thing%20that%20kind%20of%20works%20about%20Earthblood.”]This central stealth action routine is the one thing that kind of works about Earthblood (which is nice, except that werewolves in Apocalypse aren’t generally known for their stealthiness). Going swift and sneaky in wolf form lets you sabotage equipment, shut down turrets, and thin the herd with stealth kills. And to its credit, the levels are well-constructed enough to make whittling away the defenses as much as I could before the alarms went off a satisfying puzzle that tested my observation skills and quick execution. But on the other hand, when it’s fully possible to just kick the door down, roar, and splatter all of your enemies into jelly on normal difficulty, it can feel like a waste of time because you don’t get any extra rewards for doing things the quiet and patient way.

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A lot of Earthblood’s weaker points could have been forgiven, at least to some degree, if Cyanide had managed to make it fun to go on a rampage as a snarling 400-pound hellbeast. But forgiveness must be earned, and combat – the part of Earthblood that seemed to get the alpha’s share of the attention – is really mediocre.

[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=The%20fact%20that%20you%20never%20feel%20scary%20hurts%20the%20roleplaying%20experience%20a%20lot.”]It’s floaty and arcadey in the worst way. You don’t feel much of a sense of momentum, which hurts the illusion that you’re playing as a massive, bloodthirsty beast. The animations aren’t that great either, and that’s particularly noticeable when most enemies won’t even flinch as they’re being slashed by a clawed arm as big as they are. They’re too dumb to even flee in terror when you’ve killed all of their friends! It’s a far cry from the World of Darkness tabletop game, in which most average mortals go temporarily insane just from looking at a werewolf in the Crinos form. The fact that you never feel scary hurts the roleplaying experience a lot.

There’s some variety to the slaughter in that you can toggle on and off a special heavy stance, but that just makes you into a plodding, cumbersome Frankenstein’s monster. Why the designers would choose to include this instead of one of the other iconic Garou forms from the lore doesn’t make much sense to me. Especially when the bear-like direwolf shape from the tabletop game is used by several werewolf NPCs, but you never get access to it yourself.

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Building up a special meter in Crinos form can let you activate Frenzy, but it’s basically just a power up that, for a limited time, lets you kill just about anything by button mashing. That’s disappointing because in the lore, Frenzy is a dangerous and even transgressive act in Garou culture, but that’s only briefly explored, and not in a way that gives you any reason to avoid using it. The World of Darkness breaks down entirely when its superficial power fantasies aren’t tempered by real, usually horrifying consequences. And that fact is written all over Earthblood.

Perplexing Prey

The enemy design is extremely annoying as well. Security guards with shotguns will just stand there blasting you with cones of buckshot even when you’re right up in their faces going to town. You’d think it would be hard to aim when you’re being actively mauled by a monster twice your size, but not for these guys. Most human foes will also slide around like they’re on ice skates when you come barreling into them, rather than being knocked down.

Some of the boss fights against monsters and giant corporate mechs are okay, in that they’re refreshing and even sometimes challenging compared to fighting hordes of henchmen. Having to fight two enemy werewolves at once was probably the most fun I had with the combat in Earthblood. But in general, I ended up playing a lot of the levels in almost pure stealth mode just because fighting isn’t enjoyable, and the lackluster upgrades from progression never made it that much better.

[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=I%20ended%20up%20playing%20a%20lot%20of%20the%20levels%20in%20almost%20pure%20stealth%20mode%20just%20because%20fighting%20isn’t%20enjoyable.”]Story missions and boss fights give you spirit points, which you can also find more of by exploring each area using Earthblood’s version of the obligatory Batman Detective Vision. The perks and abilities they unlock are mostly so underwhelming, though, that I would sometimes let them stack up for hours because there was nothing I was all that excited about buying, and when I finally did it just confirmed I hadn’t missed anything. They mostly make you better at the things you can already do or let you throw in an extra special move to your attack combos, but that doesn’t really change how you fight. Almost none of them open up new ways to play, in or out of combat.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/the-biggest-game-releases-of-february-2021″]

I don’t get a sense that I’d have a significantly different experience if I were to play the campaign again and make different choices because you don’t get to pick Cahal’s Tribe or Auspice (the moon sign a werewolf was born under, which serves almost like their character class in the tabletop game), so there isn’t much by way of customization. You don’t even really get to decide how you want to roleplay him. Aside from one story choice at the very end which is played out with all the emotional weight of a wet sock, his personality and values are set in stone. I am again compelled to contrast this with Bloodlines, in which all the different ways of making your vampire your vampire were among the main strengths.

[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=You%20don’t%20get%20to%20pick%20Cahal’s%20Tribe%20or%20moon%20sign%2C%20so%20there%20isn’t%20much%20by%20way%20of%20customization.”]I could go on and on about how Earthblood also fails to successfully capture the major themes of Apocalypse, or any of the things that make werewolves in that universe so uniquely cool. There’s a lot. And it’s especially frustrating because there are some artifacts of a better game here. For example, during development, Cyanide mentioned that keeping your inner beast caged for too long by using stealth and diplomacy could lead to your rage overflowing, causing an involuntary transformation and starting a fight at a perhaps inconvenient time. That would have been awesome, and it’s the sort of thing that happens in the tabletop game all the time! Losing control and going on a rampage is as much a part of being a werewolf as drinking blood is part of being a vampire. But it doesn’t seem to have made it into the final game, because there are never any lasting consequences for anything you do.

Building up your rage meter just gives you more mana points to use when you do go full beast mode. Earthblood barely deals with the consequences of being a monster outside of some incredibly short, scripted story moments that had nothing to do with any choices I made. A level that takes place inside a prison and lets you negotiate with a powerful inmate to get information almost managed to be interesting… until I realized I could still just berserk out and easily kill all the guards to skip those missions entirely. There was no incentive to ever use anything but violence to achieve my goals – not even a pat on the head.

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In the background, the music is generally just as boring as almost everything else. Generic, distorted guitar riffs make up the bulk of it, which at least fits with the overall mood and tone of Werewolf: The Apocalypse and its often over-the-top action-horror sensibilities. None of the more contemplative or emotional moments are scored appropriately, though. This soundtrack has one trick, and it’s only really good at drip feeding you a bit of extra adrenaline. The one exception is Kai Tangata, a pulse-pounding track full of intimidating chants and a clean, emotion-rich vocal hook written in the Maori language by Alien Weaponry, an excellent Maori metal band from New Zealand. It seems to only be used on the menu screen and over the credits, though, so it’s a bit underused.

Few things are more important to a 3D action platformer than having movement that’s both fun and responsive, and Blue Fire takes that fact to heart. Its assortment of agile abilities not only look great in action, but also offer the kind of precise control needed to overcome its demanding enemies and obstacles alike. While there’s a bit too much reliance on retreading familiar ground by the end, its array of treacherous yet addicting challenge rooms had me happily running, jumping, and dashing through them again and again.

At first glance, Blue Fire bears resemblance to what Hollow Knight might be reimagined in a 3D space. It’s got plenty of familiar ideas: quickly dashing between platforms in an all-but-abandoned kingdom full of dark monsters, piecing together your mysterious tiny warrior’s purpose in the world, and striking at foes while bouncing off their head with repeated aerial slashes. The few scattered survivors that aren’t trying to kill you will often have small tasks to undertake instead – quests that are actually tracked in your log, which is something I’ve always wished for in games with sprawling worlds like this one. You can even find and equip Spirits (Blue Fire’s take on Hollow Knight’s Charms) to modify and enhance your abilities to a near-ridiculous degree.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/04/the-first-10-minutes-of-blue-fire-gameplay”]

And yet, developer Robi Studios has built Blue Fire’s platforming mechanics in a way that feels tailored for 3D space, with a level of control that nearly always left me with no one to blame but myself whenever I met my demise. Your character’s quick mid-air dashes can be lengthened or stopped short at will, and lock-on targeting allows you to dash towards or away from foes at any angle. The inclusion of a small stamina bar for wall-running and jumping is a godsend when learning the limits of your parkour abilities, as most all surfaces are applicable – including weaving around pillars to jump at different angles. You’re only able to utilize one dash and double jump (unless you equip the right Spirits) each time you take to the air, which turns every platforming segment into a series of calculated decisions. Every area, every challenge room, and every boss fight makes clever use of its terrain (or lack thereof), pushing you to experiment with your platforming powers and figure out how to best come out on top. Certain encounters can line spikes along the walls to stop you from parkour past enemies, or limit your time on the ground with deadly shockwaves and hazards to make sure you’re constantly in motion to find relative safety.

Float Like a Sword-Wielding Butterfly

When you aren’t dodging spike traps or pits full of corrupted ooze, you’ll be strafing and zipping around shadowy creatures looking to tear you to pieces. With short combo attacks both on ground and in the air, your character can slice and dice with dual swords that can be swapped out for upgrades as you explore – but don’t expect to be able to take many hits in return. You’re only able to block attacks with the help of a shield spell that drains fairly fast – and also shares a mana pool with a quick and lightweight ranged fireball spell, so the best defense usually turns out to be moving quickly to avoid getting hit altogether.

Fighting these enemies also let me incorporate movement abilities in interesting ways. I could dash circles around sword swiping foes, or refill my midair dash and jumps by striking them from the sky, turning my diminutive fighter into a very agile and angry hornet. Fights never become crushingly difficult, but Blue Fire’s protagonist is remarkably squishy – so much so that even using a shield spell to guard melee attacks would knock me backward several feet, frequently sending me skidding off the narrow platforms I was fighting on. The impact of these attacks resulted in a comedic Looney Tunes moment of frantically dashing back into the fight before gravity kicked in. This might not have even worked were it not for the satisfying ability to do  targeted dashes, allowing me to zoom straight up to floating adversaries otherwise out of reach and resulting in some very entertaining killstreaks.

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Blue Fire builds slowly at first, as the foreboding tight corridors of the mysterious floating castle you start in open up into larger halls, varied environments, and bottomless pits aplenty. Initially I wasn’t really digging the fact that I had to pay just to unlock checkpoints where I could save and respawn, using one of a few different types of currencies gathered from tearing apart enemies and scattered debris. That currency is shared with upgrade unlocks, and at times it felt like I had to forego buying new attire, Spirits, or upgrades out of fear that I’d find myself exploring a new area only to die and lose my progress a few feet away from a checkpoint I was too poor to activate.

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A few areas are locked away until you reach specific parts of the story, but most are instead gated behind enticing ledges, bridges, and platforms left just out of reach until you obtain the right movement abilities – be that an extra jump or a series of wallruns. By the end of my 12 hour adventure, I was practically able to fly across early areas that once had me carefully plotting every single jump. Once I found some very hidden equippable Spirits that enhanced my character with increased dashing length (on top of a second consecutive dash), a third jump, and more, it almost felt like cheating as I strafed circles around opponents and cleared rooms without ever touching the ground.Seeing these areas in a new light helped soften the blow of Blue Fire’s reliance on backtracking.

Temple of No Time

Early on, your pint-sized hero is occasionally asked to assist the gods – under assault in their own temples – in entertaining little mini-dungeons full of puzzle rooms, keys in chests, and locked doors leading to new abilities and corrupted bosses. While the Hollow Knight influence is clear elsewhere, these areas reminded me more of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker than anything else. One challenging yet fun room had me using my newly minted double jump to perform a treacherous climb up a series of moving and disappearing platforms to reach the top before a timer shut the door, and one wrong move would send me hurtling back to the start, but I was pleased to find I could quickly course correct with a dash or wall-run to salvage my progress.

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This deity-saving setup led me to believe I’d be helping out each of Blue Fire’s five gods in order to beat back the Shadow corrupting the castle, but to my dismay things quickly switched gears after only two temples. Once equipped with wall-running and double jumping, Blue Fire abruptly drops the dungeon idea in favor of seeking out three boss “shadow lords” directly. Instead of facing new contained challenges, this had me mostly returning to earlier regions to press previously inactive buttons or collecting orbs to unlock boss doors –  even with upgraded movement tech refreshing these locations, it felt like an unexpectedly quick sprint to the finish. This pivot might have worked better if the first half of Blue Fire’s adventure lasted a bit longer, but I was happy to see at least one of the boss lieutenants had me searching through an unexplored region. And even in old locations, all the bosses proved to be a fun exercise in quickly dodging new types of attacks and putting my sustained aerial combat ability to the test.

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Besides, as entertaining as Blue Fire’s enemies are, the optional challenge rooms called Voids steal the spotlight. Similar to Super Mario Sunshine’s secret levels or A Hat in Time’s Rifts, Voids test your platforming skills in the best possible way. From quickly hopping across tiny temporary platforms to wall-running and bouncing off blocks to dodge an array of killer buzzsaws and spikes, each Void presents a new trial to overcome – and makes you feel like a platforming paragon for beating them. Several Voids will have you running across more walls than the prince of Persia himself, and they generously increase your stamina to compensate for the amount of time you’ll spend before ever touching solid ground.

Completing Voids will boost your maximum health, and even if you don’t manage to make it to the end of one, collecting tokens along the way will let you unlock more Spirit slots – which means more chances to boost your parkour abilities to overcome that one seemingly impossible part of the gauntlet. Even after completing the story, I immediately dove back in to finish every last Void, especially to complete one I had been banging my head against for half an hour the first time I attempted it, as these things can be an excellent optional opportunity to push the limits of Blue Fire’s platforming mechanics.

One of the last big items in Destiny 2‘s Season of the Hunt is the Harbinger mission, which gives players a chance to earn new versions of the Exotic hand cannon Hawkmoon with different perks and stats from the original. In addition to a cool gun, the mission also packs a quest named Bird of Prey, which requires you to find and earn “paracausal feathers” to complete it. Get 100 feathers and you unlock an Exotic ship Radiant Accipiter.

Harbinger shifts slightly each week, rotating between different versions of the mission and featuring a different boss and shifting the locations of some enemies and the paracausal feathers. We’ve run down where to find all five feathers for the Week 3 rotation of Harbinger below.

Paracausal Feather 1: Crow’s Nest Near Taken Captain Emissary

The early portion of Harbinger sends you into a large, long turbine room, where you’ll find the three Emissary enemies. After you damage them some, they’ll disappear, fleeing deeper into the dam. You’ll find the first feather through one of the doors on the upper level of the turbine room, which is blocked by a Taken Blight and which you can access using a metal catwalk. Follow the hallway to get to a room where you’ll fight the Taken Captain Emissary, and where the floors above are destroyed and populated by snipers.

Clear the room and climb to the top. You’ll find a door on the upper level that will let you leave the room and leads to the Crow’s room. Look for the paracausal feather on his bed.

Paracausal Feather 2: Hallway Near Taken Wizard Emissary

Find the Taken Wizard Emissary by leaving the turbine room through another door on one of the second-level metal catwalks. You’ll find yourself in a narrow hallway as you move away from the turbine room, which will end in a T-junction. To the right is the Wizard; take the left path at the fork instead, going a bit uphill, to find the feather waiting at a dead end.

Paracausal Feather 3: Taken Centurion Emissary’s Room

Your final emissary is found through the last door blocked by a Taken Blight, which is down on the main floor of the turbine room. The path from here will actually take you back to where you first entered the dam. Go past the hole in the floor you first climbed out of to find a room with some crates and a fence acting as a barrier. Kill the Taken Centurion Emissary inside and look for the feather, located on a rusty metal box in the corner of the room.

Paracausal Feather 4: Cross The Rusted Pipes

After clearing the Emissaries, return to the turbine room and follow the golden hawk to reach a big fight where you’ll fight and survive waves of enemies. Once you’re through that, exit the room to enter the platforming section of the mission, Hallowed Rift. Continue until you hit the first platforming room, which is marked by thin ledges on either side and a bottomless pit in the center. Jump across the room and follow the thin ledge to the left, toward a big rocky outcropping. Take the tunnel past the rock and continue following the path to the right in the next room, then keep climbing as it curves back to the left. You should pass a tree to enter a room with a big rusty pipe running vertically down the far wall. Jump across to the ledge ahead of you, then spin around to find higher ledges behind you that can take you higher.

When you get enough height, leap across to the gray pipe running horizontally along the wall toward the rusted pipe you saw when you first entered. Follow the tunnel and you’ll enter a room where a sniper waits below, standing in the mouth of a larger rusty pipe. Kill him and jump down, go through the pipe, and use the dangling plumbing ahead to climb around the room and reach another rusty pipe, where a sniper waits. Follow that pipe to its end and you’ll see a ledge up and to your left where the feather waits.

Paracausal Feather 5: Near The Train Tracks

The path to the last feather is right next to the fourth one. Spin around from where you found the fourth feather and look for a hole in the wall just above the rusted pipe you crossed to get here; you’ll find an Acolyte standing on the ledge there. Kill him and go through the opening to find a room with smooth concrete walls with doors set into them. You can jump across to the upper door, which is pushed in and gives you a little space to land on. From there, jump ahead and to the left to reach an open door.

Through the door, you’ll fight a couple of Taken Acolytes in a tunnel marked by train tracks on the floor. Follow the tracks to their end and turn right to find the feather sitting on the ledge next to a chasm.

A new series of Super Nintendo World videos from Universal Parks News Today have given us our best look yet at the rides, merchandise, food, and so much more from the much-anticipated park coming to Universal Studios Japan.

Universal Park News Today shared 20 videos on its YouTube page, each with a focus on a different part of Super Nintendo World. While it may contain certain spoilers if you want to experience the magic of this park for yourself, we’ve gathered together all the best details from each one.

Hopefully this will help make the wait for the park to officially open a bit easier, as it was recently delayed from February 4, 2021, to a date that will be announced once Osaka Prefecture’s state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/11/30/super-nintendo-world-reveal-trailer”]

Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge

As guests enter Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge, they walk into a rendition of Bowser’s Castle. As Mario music plays in the background, guests walk up the stairs and are greeted by a giant statue of Bowser. As they go through the ride, there are tons of Mario and Bowser-themed items that adorn the walls, as well as Mario Kart trophies that will be familiar to any who have played the games. There are in-universe advertisements and posters, as well as power-ups scattered across the queue. A van from MKTV (Mario Kart Television) even makes an appearance, which looks set up and ready to capture all the action.

One piece on the wall is the “Team Koopa Rules of the Road,” which is Team Koopas plan on how to stop Team Mario. The three rules are;

1. Play smart.
2. Crush Team Mario.
3. Win the Golden Cup or else!!!!

There is also a book containing what appears to be the maps of Mario Kart, with Rainbow Road being featured, a Paper Mario diagram of a Mario Kart race, and a book titled ‘Sibling Rivalries and How to Exploit Them.’

Once guests make it to the end of the queue, they are given AR goggles that look like Mario’s hat. MKTV’s Lakitu welcomes you to the race and introduces you to the main racers from Team Koopa and Team Mario, as well as giving instructions for the ride using Mii characters. Players can collect power-ups and coins, steer, and use the power-ups by aiming their glasses at an enemy.

The actual ride itself is a bit hard to gauge, because the footage shown is through a guest’s AR glasses, so it doesn’t translate perfectly to video. However, it looks to feature all of the characters, fun, and chaos of a Mario Kart race. There are enemies that appear on screen as you travel above and below water, through the air with a glider, and you appear to collect 15-30 shells at a time that you can use against your enemies. It all culminates with a battle against Bowser, a Star power-up, and a trip down Rainbow Road.

At the end, either Team Mario or Team Koopa wins, and you can see your score and how many coins you collected during the race.

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Yoshi’s Adventure

Yoshi’s Adventure has a very colorful and artful look that is seen quite often in the Yoshi games. As you go through the queue, you see fruit and blocks that you can use your Power Band to interact with, Yoshi eggs and flowers all over the place, and so much more. Toadette even makes an appearance.

The ride itself seems to be a slower ride, most likely geared towards children, and takes you through a course that goes around Super Nintendo World. Each group of guests rides in a different color Yoshi, and it looks to give a great overview of the entire park. We also get a look at some important parts of Yoshi’s history, including a glimpse of Super Mario Galaxy 2, his time with Baby Mario and Peach, his trusty friend Poochy, baby Yoshi, Captain Toad, and more.

Walking Around Super Nintendo World

As guests walk towards Super Nintendo World in Universal Japan, they are greeted to a walkway adorned with score markers from the early games and other Mario items. The entrance of Super Nintendo World features a giant Star on the floor alongside both a pipe to enter the park and a few to take pictures in.

As you walk through the entrance pipe, it feels a bit as if you are traveling through hyperspace. As you walk out of the pipe, you arrive in the entryway of Princess Peach’s Castle, complete with shifting paintings on the wall and the stained glass portrait of her a la Super Mario 64. Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad were even waiting outside to greet fans and take photos.

There are so many things to take in and items from Mushroom Kingdom to find and discover like 1-Ups, Fire Flowers, Key Coins, and more. There are also Coin Boxes, Mystery Boxes, and little Mario symbols located around the park that can be interacted with a Power Band to make something special happen like an iconic sound, secret glowing 8-Bit Mario or Bowser, or more. There are also LED walls with enemies that can also be played with.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/18/super-nintendo-world-direct-presentation”]

Music Boxes take over one of the walls in Super Nintendo World, each which light up with different colors. If you hit a few of the same colored boxes in a row, it will reward you with a classic song from Mario’s history.

Much like Disney World and Disneyland’s Hidden Mickeys, there also appears to be Hidden Pikmin all around Super Nintendo World just waiting to be found.

Ultimate Key Challenge Mini-Games are placed around Super Nintendo World, and each have a challenge guests must complete, including having to crank a wheel to defeat a Goomba, repairing a broken Key Coin on an LED screen, hitting POW blocks to make a Koopa shell hit another POW block, one that has you touching an LED screen filled with tiles to switch ? to !, and one that has you turning off a bunch of alarm clocks to not startle a Piranha plant.

Bowser Jr. Shadow Showdown

Guests can partake in the Bowser Jr. Shadow Showdown, which tasks you with swatting away virtual enemies, ducking to avoid Bullet Bills, and even collecting Fire Flowers to shoot fire at your enemies. When you play, you are looking at your shadow, and you have to physically do all the motions, not unlike Fruit Ninja on the Kinect.

What’s a bit different about this interactive experience is that you have to collect three keys around Super Nintendo World for the chance to face off against Bower Jr.

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Super Nintendo World Merchandise and Food

One of the best parts of going to a theme park is the wonderful exclusive merchandise and food you can buy, and Super Nintendo World provides both.

The 1-Up Factory is one of the stores and features a TON of Mario-themed gifts and treats. From chocolate crunch to collectible tin boxes to pins and key chains to t-shirts to figures to water bottles and cups, there appears to be something for everyone.

There are also a wide collection of plush toys, including a row of blocks with hidden 1-ups inside, wearable blankets of Mario and Yoshi, Princess Peach’s Crown, and more. You can find pretty much everything you’d expect to find in a store in Disney World or otherwise, but with a Mario twist.

Mario Motors is another store guests can visit, and it features many gifts themed after Mario Kart, including collectible cookie tins to a Mario Kart wheel filled with chocolates to keychains and pins to exclusive Mario Kart and Power-Up figures. There is even a Blue Shell plushie.

Kiniopio’s Cafe is one of the main dining spots at Super Nintendo World, and it offers a ton of delicious-looking options, most with a bit of Mario flair on them. For example, the Mario burger comes with a Mario hat on top and the Super Star Rice looks like a Star power-up. It is also a sit-down restaurant, and you can see a bunch of virtual Toads in a virtual kitchen cooking up all the food. Some of the food and drink choices include;

• King Bowser’s Hamburger Steak with Bread or Rice
• Fish Bone Meunière with Bread or Rice
• Mario’s Bacon Cheeseburger
• Luigi’s Green Curry Chicken Sandwich
• Teriyaki Chicken and Super Star Rice
• Chef’s Special: Omelet Rice with Shrimp and Mushroom Cream Stew
• Yoshi’s Spinach Carbonara
• Fire Flower Spaghetti and Meatballs
• Piranha Plant Caprese
• Yoshi’s Favorite Fruit and Veggie Salad
• Mushroom Soup
• Super Mushroom Pizza Bowl with Mushroom Tomato Sauce
• Portobello Mushroom Pizza Topped with Bacon and Vegetables
• Kids Hamburger Meal with Mario Figurine Pick
• Kids Curry and Rice Meal
• ? Block Tiramisu
• Goal Pole Cake
• Double Cherry Chocolate Cupcake
• Princess Peach’s Cake
• Super Star Lemon Squash
• Super Star Hot Yuzu Lemonade

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Yoshi’s Snack Island is a smaller snack booth that offers guests an array of delicious treats as they explore Super Nintendo World. It has everything from a Green Shell Yakisoba Calzone to Yoshi’s Hot Apple Tea to Yoshi Melon Lassi.

Caramel Peach and Mushroom Cream popcorn can also be purchased at a Popcorn shop in the park. What’s even better is that they come in collectible containers that make a full picture when put together.

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For more on Super Nintendo World, check out 8 ways your visit to Super Nintendo World will be gamified, a look at the official website, more details on Super Nintendo World’s area map, merchandise, and cafe items, and all the exciting reveals from the Super Nintendo World Direct that was hosted by Shigeru Miyamoto.

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.