Mercedes-Benz has teamed up with Nintendo to develop a car-themed event course dubbed Mercedes-Benz Jump’n’Drive for the side-scrolling Super Mario Maker game that’s out now on the Wii U console.
Created by Super Mario fans who work for Mercedes, the course takes players through several areas including a trip to a Mercedes-Benz dealership, a test drive through the city, a short off-road course dotted with trees, and a flat-out jaunt on the unrestricted Autobahn. Once they’ve hopped in a mini-GLA, players need to jump from platform to platform, sometimes using conveyor belts, while gathering as many coins as possible and avoiding enemies such as Piranha Plants and tricky obstacles. P Switches turn brown blocks shaped like Mercedes’ three-pointed star into coins, and Mario can even get a star behind the wheel of the company’s smallest crossover.
The soft-roader is hidden in an item block under blocks arranged to spell out its name. Once players unlock the GLA and complete the level it’s found in, they can add the car to their collection of Mario Costumes in the game.
Mercedes and Nintendo have collaborated on similar projects before. Last year, Mercedes added a GLA, a 1934 w25 Silver Arrow, and a 1957 300 SL to Mario Kart 8 as part of a free update.
The partnership between two brands that seemingly operate on completely different planets sounds a little odd at first, but Mercedes sees it as an ingenious way of reaching out to younger buyers who grew up playing Mario games on consoles like the SNES and the Nintendo 64.
“Mercedes-Benz and Nintendo have a lot in common. Above all, they share the same vision: to inspire their customers and fans — whether in real life or in the virtual world,” explained Dr. Jens Thiemer, the vice president of Mercedes’ marketing arm, in a related press release.
