After a tease earlier this week from LEGO and Nintendo, we now know a lot more about the collaboration between the two companies that will bring Super Mario LEGO sets to the real world. But the work the two have done together isn’t just resulting in a LEGO set or two — it’s leading to a brand new type of LEGO play style that’s like if Super Mario Maker come to life.
As revealed in new images, a teaser video, and an interview IGN conducted with Digital Design Lead on LEGO Super Mario Jonathan Bennink, LEGO Super Mario, which will include a host of LEGO sets and builds to be revealed in full ahead of its launch later this year, is more than just a traditional LEGO set. Buyers will be able to, essentially, build customized Mario levels using specialty LEGO bricks, which will interact in various ways with the unique LEGO Mario figure you can see in the images below.
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That LEGO Mario is more than just a super-sized figure — he’s got special functionality that allows him to interact with different pieces of these levels in unique ways, such as greeting a friendly character like Yoshi, crying out in pain when standing in lava, and more. The goal of these levels is to have Mario traverse the blocky terrain, competing against the clock while interacting with each variable piece, to collect as many digital coins as possible. Bennink went a bit more in-depth with IGN about how the system all works, though saved some details for future reveals.
Is LEGO Super Mario a Game?
LEGO Super Mario is not a video game, though not purely just a LEGO set you build. A hybrid between an interactive game and a LEGO experience, Bennink described how the design team endeavored to capture elements of what fans love from both LEGO and Mario. Bennink cited Super Mario Maker as a clear analogue in Mario’s gaming history.
Though he declined to go into specifics about the LEGO sets themselves, Bennink did point to their modularity. While a piranha plant is very much intended to be a piranha plant in these sets, and the rotating platform shown in the video teaser is meant to be that as well, builders can ultimately decide for themselves when and how Mario will come into facing off with these elements in between the start and end of a level.
[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=LEGO%20Super%20Mario%20essentially%20brings%20Mario%20Maker%20to%20life.”]With the goal of collecting coins and finishing a level before the clock runs out, it might seem like you would just hop Mario from a level’s beginning to the end flag, right? Well, in addition to that modularity, it’s the unique tech that LEGO is infusing into these sets that brings about that challenge. As Bennink said during our chat, “Everything is happening in the bricks.”
These sets, and the different elements within them, will have specialty activation points on them, which interact with LEGO Mario. (And for those wondering, Bennink confirmed these are not a whole new set of amiibo figurines — they are a unique brand of tech being employed. So there’s no interactivity with Nintendo Switch at this time.)
Mario will get coins, for example, from attacking enemies, while also losing coins if he spends too much time in lava. Familiar power-ups will be featured as well to help Mario prevent his coin losses.
We’ll have to wait until more sets are revealed to see just how creative players can get, but obviously with the creativity shown by players in Mario Maker it’s easy to imagine that finding its way to the inherently creative world of LEGO building. Bennink even teased that, while the functions of different blocks will be largely conveyed to buyers, LEGO is keeping some “hidden features” a secret to let players discover. So placing certain types of blocks next to others may result in something unexpected, but for now, like any good video game Easter egg hunt, that discovery will have to be made by the community.
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What Nintendo Characters Will Be Included in the LEGO Mario Sets?
The video showing off LEGO Super Mario confirmed a couple of characters outside of Mario. Yoshi will be there as a friendly face to interact with, while Bowser, Jr. was shown as an enemy to overcome. Bennink promised there will be a “range of enemies” familiar to Mario fans, all with action tags to incorporate them into levels, but could not go into specific detail at this time.
LEGO also is not discussing any costume changes for Super Mario, as he appears in his traditional overalls in his standard form, and no mention has been made about the possibility of changing his form just yet.
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LEGO Super Mario’s Development
LEGO Super Mario has been a labor of love, as Bennink explained it has been in the works for over four years. He explained that early on the idea of having this interactive character Mario would become was key to the design, while also wanting to “really infuse the LEGO DNA into the product.” Over weekly calls with Nintendo, semi-annual visits in person, and constant iteration that Bennink said stemmed in part from Nintendo’s famous philosophy for letting products take the dev time they need, LEGO Super Mario is finally now ready for the world to see.
Balancing two iconic companies like LEGO and Nintendo is no easy task, and Bennink explained how Nintendo’s philosophy intersected with LEGO’s design experience. One of the biggest collaborative elements in LEGO Super Mario’s design came from a shared desire to give players and builders a simple understanding of how these new sets work. Bennink said that Nintendo favored quality over quantity in Mario’s interactions with other LEGO elements — they preferred his expressions and reactions to be more refined and unique rather than him simply having an abundance of them.
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LEGO Super Mario Sets, Release Date
Unfortunately, we don’t know any specific release date for LEGO Super Mario just yet, other than a planned release of this year.
Additionally, LEGO has yet to go into detail about the various sets that will be part of this new line, though promises information is to come. The pieces seen in the demo images and video, however, are a pretty clear indicator of the types of elements LEGO is crafting.
Stay tuned to IGN for more on LEGO Super Mario.
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Jonathon Dornbush is IGN’s Senior News Editor, Podcast Beyond! host, and has built many a LEGO on camera. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.
Source: IGN.com LEGO Mario Details Revealed – Not Quite a Game, More Than a LEGO Set