Super Nintendo World finally has an opening date after COVID delays

It's been a long time coming, but now the first Super Nintendo World park has its official opening date. The theme park, which is located at Universal Studios in Osaka, Japan, was supposed to be open already, but of course, the COVID-19 pandemic played a part in pushing back that opening date on multiple occasions.

At one point, Super Nintendo World was slated to open on February 4th, but that opening date was delayed due to a new round of lockdown orders following a surge of coronavirus cases in Japan. As Nintendo of Japan announced on Twitter today, the new opening date for Super Nintendo World is Thursday, March 18th.

任天堂のキャラクターとその世界をテーマにしたユニバーサル・スタジオ・ジャパンの新エリア『スーパー・ニンテンドー・ワールド™ 』のオープンが2021年3月18日（木）に決定しました。

— 任天堂株式会社 (@Nintendo) March 8, 2021

This is the first of a number of planned Super Nintendo World parks that are slated to open around the world. Nintendo and Universal are planning to open parks in Singapore, Hollywood, and Orlando in the future, with the Osaka park acting as something of a pilot.

Unfortunately, those of us here in the United States might be waiting some time before a Super Nintendo World opens in our neck of the woods. Last week, we heard reports that the opening of Super Nintendo World Orlando has been delayed to early 2025 – four years from now. As you'd expect given the past year, Universal apparently halted construction on the park because of economic uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and has only recently resumed construction.

So, for now at least, those of here in the US will have to watch Super Nintendo World from afar and see what our friends in Japan think of it when it opens next week. Back in December, Super Nintendo World was the subject of a Nintendo Direct, so if you're wondering what all the fuss is about, that could be worth a watch as we wait for more news on upcoming parks.