Super Nintendo World opened up in Universal Studios Japan earlier this month on March 18th. While it will be some time before Nintendo fans in the West can experience it for themselves, details from the Japanese version are coming to light. Some fans have noticed that Shigeru Miyamoto left his mark on the park.
One of the rides at Super Nintendo World is themed around Mario Kart. While customers are in line for the ride, they will be taken through Bowser's Castle which has been a recurring race track in the Mario Kart video game series. Included in the decorations of the castle is a portrait of Bowser himself. This portrait of Bowser contains the signature of Shigeru Miyamoto in the corner.
According to Tom Geraghty, the Senior Director of Technology and Innovation for Universal's creative team, Miyamoto's signature was not planned to be on the portrait from the outset. Geraghty and his team were showing Miyamoto the portrait of Bowser at the end of the castle hall, and noted that it did not have an artist's signature like one would expect from a finished portrait. They gave Miyamoto a pen and he signed it right then.
Given that Miyamoto's signature was not initially planned to be on the portrait of Bowser, it will be interesting to see if any similar Easter eggs make their way to the Western versions of the park. Now that Miyamoto has signed this particular part of the Japanese Super Nintendo World, he may, for consistency, sign a similar portrait for the California and/or Florida version of the park. That is of course assuming the parks will be laid out in a similar fashion. Perhaps Miyamoto will leave his mark in different ways with each park.
Among being best known for creating the Mario and Legend of Zelda series, Shigeru Miyamoto also created the Pikmin series of games, which includes its own Easter egg of sorts in Super Nintendo World, as various Pikmin can be found throughout the park. The team at Universal revealed that the Pikmin secrets and Miyamoto's signature will not be the only things hidden around the park for fans to find, but they're the ones that have so far received the most attention.
An exact opening date for the Florida and California versions of the park has yet to be confirmed with the Florida version having been initially put on hold due to the pandemic. However, it was later revealed that the Floridian park was expected to open in 2025.
Source: Gamespot