NewsLuke HendersonNovember 12, 2024Super Nintendo World, Nintendo, Universal Studios, Donkey Kong Country

Donkey Kong Country comes to life in Japan this December

NewsLuke HendersonNovember 12, 2024Super Nintendo World, Nintendo, Universal Studios, Donkey Kong Country

Nintendo and Universal Parks have been working together now for a while, since May 2015 to be exact and while Super Nintendo World is open at both Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Hollywood, the Japan version is expanding on December 11 when the Donkey Kong Country land opens.

In the recent Nintendo Direct, it was revealed that the land would now open on December 11, which is a fair bit later than the ‘Spring2024’ that was first planned, well Spring for Japan, so Autumn for us. There was never a reason given for the delay, just that it would now open in the second half of 2024. In the statement about the delay they just said:

Although the development work of this expansion area is in the final stages of completion, USJ would like to ensure a positive experience for our guests and has determined that additional time is needed for the final period of preparations and adjustments.

But that was then and now we have a release date, so lets talk about the land. Mostly the land will be one new ride, a few new play spaces and shops. The ride is called Mine Cart Madness, which as you might expect replicates the levels from the Donkey Kong Country series, having riders leap over broken track, skirt water and see a few familiar faces, both friendly and not. The art below is from the American version, which will have a water fall coming out from the top of the Golden Temple, in Japan it will be a mist fall.

The rides queue will have some murals to look upon and maybe discover a secret or two, but as riders get closer to the load station for this rollercoaster, they will be given a breakdown of what is going on by Cranky Kong and Squawks.

Outside of the ride, guests can visit the treehouse of Donkey Kong, which as you may know from the games, has a large pile of bananas underneath it.

Below the treehouse is where you will get the chance to meet Donkey Kong himself and maybe take a photo with the big guy.

Speaking of Bananas, you can see the horde behind Donkey Kong and Miyamoto-san above, but that will not be the only place to find them. There will be a special barrel stand that lets guests enjoy food and drink themed around the food, for drinks there is the DK Crush Sundae and for food there is the DK Wild Hot Dog, the names will likely be different in the American version, if the food is the same, but given the pallet differences between the two countries, the food is likely to be quite different.

If you want to spend your mon(k)ey on other items, then swing by Funky’s Fly ‘n’ Buy, which like the recent games is a shop. Sadly there are no extra lives or special potions here, but you can buy assorted plush, headbands, hats, keychains, barrel mugs and more.

Finally, there are games to play and secrets to discover around the land, you can jam out on the bongos, hunt down letters and interact with the land, just like you can do in Super Mario Land.