LEGO & Nintendo Lift the Lid on LEGO Super Mario
Danish toymaker LEGO has unveiled the Super Mario Adventures with Mario Starter Course which features an interactive Mario figure that collects coins in real-life game levels created with LEGO bricks.
Neither a video game nor a traditional LEGO brick-based set, it promises to change the way people interact with Super Mario in the physical world and engage in LEGO experiences.
Unveiled by LEGO Design Lead Jonathan Bennink, fans will be able to begin exploring the fun-packed LEGO Super Mario universe with the Adventures with Mario Starter Course.
This entry point set to the world of LEGO Super Mario is needed to unlock expansion sets and features seven action bricks for different interactions with the LEGO Mario figure that are only included in this set.
The LEGO Mario figure itself has LCD screens in his eyes, mouth and belly to display a wide variety of instant reactions to movement, color and action bricks. Also included is a speaker that plays iconic sounds and music from the video game series.
Takashi Tezuka, Executive Officer and Game Producer of Nintendo says Super Mario has continued to appear, always in a form adapted to the current hardware of the time.
“It’s very exciting to think of LEGO Mario becoming a real friend to children and to picture them playing in their very own Mario world that they imagined themselves.”
LEGO Mario is used to collect virtual coins as he runs and jumps from the Start Pipe to the Goal Pole via LEGO bricks, cloud platform, and clashes with the Goomba figure and Bowser Jr. figure.
The Starter Course can be combined with LEGO Super Mario Expansion Sets, which each unlock unique challenges and characters to play with and against friends. The first Expansion Sets, also revealed today, include the Piranha Plant Power Slide Expansion Set and the Bowser’s Castle Boss Battle Expansion Set.
Fans can also download the LEGO Super Mario app, a supporting feature to further enhance the physical play experience. It keeps track of scores to encourage continuous rebuilding, as well as provides digital building instructions with zoom and rotate viewing tools to make building easier, suggests other creative ways to build and play, and is a safe forum to share ideas with friends.
Bennink says the global reaction to news of LEGO Super Mario has been overwhelming.
“Fans have been keen to learn more, so I am pleased that today we were able to reveal more details about this exciting new collaboration that has led to a reimagination of the LEGO building experience and an entirely new way to play inspired by the beloved video game icon, Super Mario.”
While the full LEGO Super Mario assortment is only expected to launch on the 1st of August, it can also be pre-ordered from the online LEGO store in South Africa from June.
Check out the video posted by the LEGO Group and Nintendo earlier today (https://youtu.be/OXGX1-BJFpQ) and on the LEGO Super Mario website at www.LEGO.com/SuperMario.
