After months of speculation and several ongoing leaks, the LEGO Group has announced its latest video game collaboration: Lego Sonic the Hedgehog.
Of course, Sonic has appeared in Lego form before – first in the Lego Dimensions toy-to-life video game, and later in the brilliant Lego Ideas scene depicting the Green Hill Zone. Unlike that set, however, the new official Sonic series is aimed directly at kids. As it should be.
Lego Ideas sets are more for grown-up Sonic fans and nineties kids in need of nostalgia. Dioramas set up as classic Sonic levels, not all that “playable”. It even comes in a black box, which is Lego’s signal that they consider the set an 18+ product. The new sets are the opposite, with suggested ages ranging from 6+ for the basic set to 8+ for the most complex set.
As an adult who should know better but spends upwards of four figures a ye ar on Lego, I can’t help but be a little disappointed. However, in my heart, I knew it was the right path. After all, Sonic is for kids, and these sets look great.
It’s a similar path to the one Lego is taking with its Super Mario line, but with one key difference. Mario sets are designed to gamify the LEGO experience by featuring Bluetooth-compatible Mario, Luigi and Peach figures with scannable codes on the bricks. This allows you to set up Lego layouts, record them in the mobile app, and actively score highs in a kind of bridge experience between Mario video games and Mario toys. You can even play cooperatively. Sonic brings it back to basics.
These are Sonic suits, but they’re technically toys. By putting his minifigure in a kind of LEGO hamster ball and placing it in a launcher that is cutely decorated like one of Sonic’s signature carnival springs, Sonic can be sent up the ramp and loop through. Put him in the ball, then punch the launcher with your fist to send Sonic flying.
Two of the four scenes revealed recreate various parts of the Green Hill Zone, including brick-built badniks, custom-molded Flickies, and power-up TVs. The larger of these sets – the largest – also includes Robotnik/Eggman himself in new minifigure form based on his modern designs.
Then, the Tails’ Workshop set includes the iconic Tornado biplane and “Amy’s Animal Rescue Island,” an adorable playset where Amy takes care of a few critters that pop out of the beaten villains.
With Sonic, Tails, Amy, Eggman, and a range of Flickies and Badniks figures, LEGO clearly has room to expand. Of course, Knuckles is the most notable absence – but there’s Shadow and others.
Collection starts with £24.99 range up to £94.99. In fact, the worst might be the price — part of a general squeeze in which LEGO brick prices have spiked several times during the pandemic. But the charm of these sets is undeniable, and it’s nice to see another gaming icon get a run out of building blocks.
It’s worth noting that the leak relates to five sets in the LEGO Sonic series, so one seems to be missing. Collection numbers range from #76990 to #76994, but leaked #76993 is missing. Leaks suggest this is a mid to high range setup, around £55-60. This could be an adult-friendly set, or another more complex toy set – in the trailer for the Sonic series, a brick-built death egg robot from Sonic 2 and Carnival can be seen, timed at 48 seconds. That could be a missing set, or just an exclusive promo video.
Either way, it feels great to see Sonic getting loved in this way. He’s the perfect LEGO partner, and it’s only right and proper that these sets are designed for chaotic kids’ play – have Sonic flit across the carpet and bump into brick-built baddies who will dutifully explode. It fits the franchise.
As for those of us who want to receive pensions, our post-90s kids? Well, I’ll probably buy these anyway – but it’s not unreasonable to think that sooner or later LEGO will throw the bones at us. LEGO Super Mario is aimed directly at kids, but so far, LEGO releases 18+ Nintendo sets a year in the form of LEGO NES, Mighty Bowser, and Mario 64 question mark block dioramas, among others. The leak also tells us that The Legend of Zelda for 18+ is likely coming soon.
Hope Sega can do the same. Bricked Mega Drive, anyone?
