LEGO Mario doesn’t need the sets to be together to operate. In fact, it’s encouraged that you take them apart and make something new with it. That’s what I’m trying to get at.
LEGO sets also always come in boxes and use bricks with studs on them and have minifigures, what are these weird robots with gear functions?
You can’t fit LEGO, a company designed to help kids think outside the box, into a box. It’s a company that is always adapting, evolving, and changing. It tries new things, and takes risks. LEGO Super Mario is, undoubtedly, a risk. It’s an entirely new style of play and building. People have been starting to complain about where LEGO is today, putting out the same type of sets over and over again, and here they are with not only a new theme, but an entirely new toy, and people who aren’t even in the target market are wanting this torn down.
So LEGO and Nintendo are still creating a product they believe will compete with Nintendo…
I mean, take it from me, the free apps are kind of dumb. Nintendo even announced that they are “retreating” from the mobile games market, and nearly every single mainstream one I’ve heard about has been trashed and hated by the fans of the franchise it was made after. I played Mariokart Tour long enough to know that it’s just not the best game.
Plus, you’ll always have those parents that are tired of their kids on their phones and video games all of the time that will likely gravitate much more towards this. I mean, $60 is only, what, a fifth of a console?
You got me there, but obviously people are interested. It’s sold out several times.
Calling this a board game is like saying Bionicle and Pop! figurines are the same thing. One has a fixed ruleset that can’t be experimented with or messed around with, the other has a list of parts and entities that can be mixed, remixed, imagined, and realized by a kid rather than a genius board game designer.
Considering how big Mario is, I feel this could easily be wrong.
If this theme doesn’t take off, I’d imagine it’d be because of the style and design you are talking about not clicking with its intended consumers. Mario is huge. LEGO is huge. Surely there is enough between them that it could easily fare decently.
This is why the instructions are virtual: to literally show you how it works.
There is a bit less to get sick of than a normal LEGO set. Don’t try to imagine this as a video game, think of it as an interactive LEGO system.
Still a LEGO set that would probably be pretty entertaining to kids. Again, I’m not even planning on buying the Starter Course.
You’re not supposed to buy all of it. You’re supposed to pick up your favorite ones, and then throw in your own bricks. The designer really wanted to do something only LEGO and Nintendo could do together, something standard minifigures wouldn’t accomplish (Peach’s castle would just be another castle, and the minifigures would just be minifigures. It is evident that this them was created by these two companies working together).
Do you understand children? The child in me wants this so badly right now
It’s the simplicity that allows the children to make it complex. The builds aren’t extraordinary, but they look very Mario and fun and cartoony to children (and me), and so if they want to keep their Bowser’s Castle together, they can, but if they want to take it apart and make a giant Bowser car Mario has to jump onto and battle Bowser on, they totally can. I’ve seen kids have fun with less.
The gimmick here isn’t the coin game, the gimmick is the creativity. Mario doesn’t need the pipe or flag to jump around, collect coins, play noises, and fight bosses. He doesn’t only have sixty seconds to do everything. While that’s what’s advertised, it’s kind of like a creative VS survival mode thing.
For a line designed for kids, I’m glad it isn’t more complex than it is. It’s nice and simple, which is nice. How would you even make the rules? On the app, which everyone seems to hate the idea of?
Mario VS Thanos.
Mario VS Thanos.
I’m going to make it happen. I’m just going to.
So, some people are complaining that LEGO Super Mario went too far, but I think you’re saying LEGO Mario didn’t go far enough. Remember this is wave 1. Wave 1 of Ninjago wasn’t all that impressive. Nor was HeroFactory. And while both can be controversial theme, they both started small and only ever expanded. Look at Ninjago now. Some of these sets are equal in quality to Star Wars. BB-8’s AT-ST is surpassed in quality by Lloyd’s mech, or pretty much anything from the movie. Maybe Mario will take the same route? I promise you, we are not done with LEGO Mario.
So why are you criticizing it? This is a door into a whole new world! LEGO is taking such a massive risk right now, what you should be doing is encouraging it to go farther, not shaming it for not meeting your dreams.
They do to me. I would buy a Galaxy set in a heartbeat.
A good lot.
I don’t care about any of that, I just want some fun with LEGO and Mario… I’m not a programmer
Bionicle was very simple to start out with, and it certainly had gimmicks. Collectable masks, gear functions, this stuff lasted until, what? 2004? 2005? Then it got replaced by shooters. Bionicle is full of gimmicks, so why does no one criticize them? Because their main gimmick, just like LEGO Mario, is what you can make with them. Make your own Mario level, make your own Bionicle storyline. Build your own boss fight, build your own self MOC. It’s been LEGO’s gimmick for years, and it’s been serving the company very well.
The play potential in this is far higher than most LEGO sets. I know I flip back and forth on the game, but I do really like the idea, and I also know that if people don’t, that’s okay too. The game aspect makes your LEGO sets into a playable level that you design nearly every part of. Yes, you say the technology is to simple and deserves more creativity, but to simple minds such as kid’s, this is magnificent.
I think… I think this is kind of what LEGO is wanting you to do.
LEGO has been working with Nintendo for, what, four years? This is their trial wave. They are using this to see how much kids enjoy it. They can go above and beyond if it catches on, and I highly doubt Super Mario is the last we’ll see of this partnership.
I think I have two, probably three main points in all of this. I understand LEGO is taking a risk. I know people are not going to like it. As both a LEGO and a Mario fan, I originally was severely grossed out by it.
But that brings me to my first point:
I looked into it. I watched reviews, and I pondered it, and I realized just how incredible this is to me. I can design my own Bowser’s castle level, for cheaper than if I were to buy a Switch and Mario Maker 2 and make my own, plus it’s LEGO. Mario Maker 2 just feels so limited now that I can literally build an Umarak the Hunter boss fight. And it really is not that hard. I can attack different tiles to different parts of my collection, and make, say, a Bohrok Va take one step to defeat, a Bohrok three jumps, and a Bohrok Kal a whopping ten-step boss battle.
I watched Brian’s Beyond the Bricks review, and he urges people who are not sure about the theme to go and find a why to try it out. He seems certain that LEGO would have had some kind of demo in the stores or something that currently is not possible, but he believes that the only way to know for certain whether or not this wave is for you is to try it out yourself. You don’t need to necessarily buy it, but see if you can find someone who does, or find some YouTube channel (like TTV) who is working on showing it off for you.
There is so much potential here. You’re right, SirKeksalot, there is much more that could be done, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t more that won’t be done. And that brings me to my second point:
The theme isn’t done. Mario is so big of a universe, trying to fit it into one wave of sets, even thirteen sets, is like trying to fit the story of Bionicle into one thirty-minute speech. It just can’t happen. I guarantee this won’t be the last of LEGO Super Mario, and I’m also pretty confident that we’ll see minifigures at some point. Look at the LEGO NES, isn’t it beautiful? If that doesn’t make a Nintendo fan somewhat satisfied with LEGO Mario existing, I’m not sure what would.
Beyond the Bricks is also promising that LEGO will do something with Mariokart, the number 1 best-selling game on the Switch. I mean, I got into Mario thanks to Mariokart Wii.
My final belief is that it’s okay you’re disappointed, or upset, or overall hateful, if you are any of those things. LEGO Mario isn’t made for you. It’s made for children who like LEGO and like video games. I can’t promise this theme will soar thanks to these, but I can accept AFOL’s getting angry because I know they weren’t meant to be made happy by this. And just as there will be kids who don’t like this, there will be adults (such as yours truly) who do.
I want this theme to do well. Not just because I love Mario, but because I want LEGO to branch out and try doing more new things. I wasn’t ever sick of LEGO. It’s a risk for sure, but it’s one I’m glad LEGO was willing to make. Wishing for this line to fail will have a lot more impact than just this wave of Mario being marked as a failure. Hidden Side apparently just ended, when would LEGO ever try anything interactive again? Would they be excited to make more Nintendo products if Nintendo’s biggest character just flunked? Probably, but would they put as much effort into trying to make you guys happy or not?
I just love the diversity. At the moment, there are no themes I’m actively collecting (unless Bionicle counts as one). I’m ready to find another, and Mario screams to me.
I think this is it for me. This is going to be my new favorite theme. I am overwhelmingly satisfied, and yet excited for going forwards. I wish other were with me, but I’m not used to being a part of a crowd. I think that’s all the LEGO Mario I will debate for now. I want to start getting excited for the first time I’ll hold a LEGO Bowser in my hands. What a magical moment that will be.