Thoughts on the new LEGO Super Mario theme – it’s not exactly what you expected

March 13, 2020 | 14

So, this is certainly not what most people expected when LEGO teased a new Super Mario theme.

LEGO’s partnership with Nintendo will see an entirely new and novel play experience born out of LEGO Super Mario.

Billed as “neither a video game nor a traditional LEGO brick-based set, LEGO Super Mario™ is a new product line that features an interactive LEGO Mario figure who collects coins in real-life game levels created with LEGO bricks.”

The new line will let kids experience the playful world of Super Mario like never before. Super Mario will be brought to life in the physical LEGO world and new levels of challenge and styles of play will be part of the iconic LEGO experience enjoyed by generations.

It really can’t be fully explained with words, so watch this video where the concept is shown off

Basically, you play with a Mariofigure (coining this one now), which is battery-operated through a brick-built Super Mario level, navigating through Goombas, Pipes, Piranha Plants and Bloopers.

The Mariofigure is a really interesting contraption. It’s square-shape gives it a bit of an 8-bit vibe, and it has minifigure hands and legs. What sets it apart is that his eyes, mouth and chest – which have some sort of LCD screen, allowing it to play animations, giving Mario different facial expressions, or using the chest-screen to display game progress like falling into lava, or coin counts.

The back of the Mariofigure shows an on-button, and also a Bluetooth switch which is pretty interesting as the press release makes no mention of a companion app, or how it connects with a smartphone or tablet.

My guess? We’ll probably require a phone app to see LEGO Super Mario brought to life, or to keep score etc.

In the video, we’re given a preview of the LEGO Super Mario level, which is constructed using LEGO bricks. A message in the video says that “multiple sets are shown” suggesting that the layout is modular, and that multiple sets are required to expand the course.

It seems like LEGO and Nintendo will be strongly encouraging people to collect multiple sets, which I’m guessing will have different Super Mario enemies or worlds.

The Mariofigure interacts with these little tiles with what looks like a QR-type code, which I’m guessing triggers different scenarios.

There’s still no set release date for LEGO Super Mario – only an indication that it will be later this year. My guess is that it’ll be available before the holiday season, in September.

While this does look like another gimmicky LEGO digital play experience, I have to give credit to LEGO for doing something so bold, and innovating with these play experiences.

If you watch the video, it’s crystal clear that adults are NOT the target audience for this. This entire experience is made for kids, and the success of this iteration of LEGO Super Mario will be hedged upon how well its received by kids and parents.

I do think this isn’t all we’ll see of the LEGO and Nintendo collaboration. We’re talking two absolute juggernaut companies working together for the first time, and a lot more will have been invested in this.

I totally expect to see more traditional LEGO sets, maybe a massive Creator Expert/AFOL-targeted set yet to be unveiled, and more on the Nintendo side of things.

My prediction? We’ll see a Nintendo Direct dedicated to the LEGO Collaboration. I doubt we’ll see a Switch game, but will be very very pleased if we get something. My guess is some sort of smartphone app, and maybe DLC in existing games.

I’m also willing to put money down on a LEGO Minifigure/character in Super Smash Brothers Ultimate.

Now that LEGO Super Mario has been revealed, what do you think? Is this what you were expecting? How do you think it’ll be received by the general public?