As the opening of the Super Nintendo World theme park area draws closer, Nintendo has revealed more about the area’s signature souvenir, Power-Up Bands. While the bands will open up all kinds of opportunities within the park itself, they will be surprisingly useful even when visitors return home.
The biggestNintendonews to come out of December was likely the special Nintendo Direct focused on Super Nintendo World, hosted by Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto. During the 15-minute presentation, Miyamoto revealed a range ofexciting Super Nintendo World attractions and experiences, including exclusive food and merchandise options. In particular, Miyamoto showed off giant wristbands known as Power-Up Bands that activate secrets hidden throughout the area. While the bands had been stated to have some kind of amiibo functionality, Nintendo had not previously clarified exactly what that would do.
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Nintendo’s Japanese website has revealed more details about how exactly the Power-Up Bands work. Each Power-Up Band will serve as an amiibo for its corresponding character in relevant games. This means that visitors will effectively purchase both a souvenir and an amiibo for Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Toad, or Yoshi. This represents an entirely new kind of wearable amiibo. Granted, Nintendo is no stranger to unique amiibo, having releasedMariocereal boxes that served as amiibo. Still, this is the first time Nintendo has created a product that interacts with something other than a Nintendo console - in this case, the interactive displays found aroundSuper Nintendo World.
It’s worth noting that the Power-Up Bands could offer some sort of exclusive in-game rewards in select Switch games. As it stands, some Nintendo games that support amiibo provide different rewards for each variant of the same character. For instance,The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildprovides unique rewards for scanning amiibo figures of Link, Young Link, Toon Link, and so on. On the other hand, games likeThe Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakeningdon’t provide unique rewards for each amiibo of the same character. It’s unclear whether the Power-Up Bands will follow in the footsteps ofBreath of the WildorLink’s Awakeningin this regard.
Nintendo has not yet announced a price point for the Power-Up Bands, so it is still unknown what they will cost compared to the standard amiibo figures of their corresponding characters. Given thatMarioamiibo have historically been popular worldwide, the Power-Up Bands will likely be strong demand regardless of price, so they could be fairly expensive. As the bands are important to experiencing Super Nintendo World, it would probably be tough for many visitors to resist the urge to buy one at any price.
Nintendo fans have a lot to anticipate in regards to Super Nintendo World in the next few years. The attraction will be replicated in several major tourist destinations worldwide, making it easier for anyone to visit. Additionally, datamines point toupcomingDonkey Kong Countryattractions, suggesting that Super Nintendo World will continue to expand beyond the already-impressive layout it features on opening day.
Super Nintendo World will open on February 4th, 2021, in Universal Studios Japan. Fellow Super Nintendo World complexes are currently in development in Hollywood, Orlando, and Singapore.
