Lego Mario has been growing-and getting better.
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At this time last year, the Lego Group partnered with Nintendo to deliver Lego Super Mario, A unique transformation of Lego’s typical building toy decoration and Mario’s video game roots. Yes, this is a construction toy, but it is gamified by Mario himself, presented in block form, and equipped with sensors that allow him to interact with worlds and characters that can be constructed from various available collections.
Although hardcore Lego nerds are always a little disappointed with Lego Mario because it doesn’t provide a complicated model of Mario series icons (although leaks indicate that there may be a more traditional Peach Castle suit), Lego Mario is great for kids – just like you As expected from the cooperation between the two companies, the two companies are experienced in meeting the wishes of children. But no matter how many sets are released, no matter how many enemies and locations are recreated in the Lego Mario format, there is always something missing-until now.
Enter Lego Luigi, released about a year later, for the first anniversary of the reorganization of the entire series. Luigi is here in the same form as his brother — with digital eyes and a small status screen on his chest — and is compatible with all previous Lego Mario accessories, from lessons to power outfits. I am happy to report that Luigi is a little taller than his brother-accurate for the most important Mario Canon, although Lego can easily recolor the existing Mario molds.
Fans of Luigi can play with him-but what is really exciting is that visiting Lego Luigi unlocks the multiplayer feature.
There are two ways to link block brothers. The first is to simply use the Lego Mario smartphone app, which is available on iOS and Android. Or, you can connect the two through its native built-in Bluetooth. Once the two are connected, two players can bring a character each in your LEGO lesson creation-either work together to reach the goal or race to collect as many coins as possible before the timer runs out.
The level of detail is lovely, and usually lovely. For example, brothers will know if you want to team up to trample on boss enemies. If the other is injured or falls, one will react. There are many such small interactions-kids (and naive adults like me) will definitely have fun.
If you are playing the game through an app, at the end of each course, you will see what each player has done-including the number of their coins and which level elements each person has interacted with. Although there is not much difference every moment compared to the way of playing alone, I was initially skeptical about the value that Luigi might bring. However, after playing multiplayer games for a while, I think it’s fair to say that bringing the second person into the mix will definitely improve the overall experience.
Of course, the other half of the experience is establishment. The so-called “Luigi Adventures Introductory Course” offers a rich set of options that allow you to expand your LEGO Mario level for £50. However, it’s fair to say that what comes with Luigi is more like an extension than a starter kit. Although you can use it as an alternative entry point, it feels like a more advanced software package with multiple terrains and few basic enemies.
It includes a Pink Yoshi, Bone Goomba and Boom Boom as Boss characters. It stands on a clear seesaw for the brothers to jump down to overthrow and defeat Boom-Boom. This is a good package.
Lego Luigi also ushered in the new wave of the Lego Super Mario series. These include the new Frog & Bee enhancement pack, the new “blind bag” enemy character pack, and the crucial four new complete expansion packs, with prices ranging from £25 to £90.
The star among them is naturally the most expensive-a Bowser airship suit, which reproduces the airship that debuted in Mario 3 and became the main series of the airship. This is a lovely building with some great interactive works, including vandalized parts that Mario and Luigi can break down by stomping.
The other group includes the fan’s favorite Lakitu, and my personal favorite group is to see Reznor, one of the best bosses in the Super Mario world, whose boss mechanic faithfully copied the mobile Lego mechanism.
These things are crucial to the appeal of Lego Super Mario, both for the end user and for Lego. Of course, more suits means they have more things to sell to you, but it also tends to the whole proposition of these suits. The actual “Lego blocks” involved here are not complicated or fascinating-but each block will provide you with a small module of Mario level design, and then you can string them together to form a unique course layout. The more sets, the more types-it feels like Lego designers have more creativity and experimentation with this new series.
It’s cool to see more and more of Mario’s main characters appearing in the core series, and it does make people think about where other places in the series might go. I would love to see deeper cuts, but I also want to know if we will get Mario Kart related expansions.
All of this is to say… well, I might have to update my list of the best Lego Mario expansions from last year. And, obviously, Lego Mario is no longer just a crazy experiment now-it worked, and it succeeded, and it is now growing in an exciting and curious way. It is worth noting that Peach and Daisy have not seen any Lego representatives yet-so I wonder if there will be three or four people adventures next.
