Lego Super Mario sets will launch Aug. 1
Start saving up your coins now. The Starter Course will cost $60, but tackling big bad Bowser will require a $100 expansion set.
It's a-he, Lego Mario!
Lego will release its delightful-looking Super Mario sets on Aug. 1, bringing classic Nintendo moments into the real world. The 231-piece Starter Course will cost $60, and you'll be able to combine it with the $30 Piranha Plant and $100 Bowser's Castle expansion sets.
The set is basically an analog version of the DIY Super Mario Maker games -- you can build your own levels and guide Mario to the flagpole. The starter set also comes with Goomba and Bowser Jr. figures.
The Lego Mario figure -- which is a good bit chunkier than a traditional Lego minifig -- has LCD screens in his eyes, mouth and belly to display a wide variety of instant reactions to movement, color and action bricks. It also has a speaker that plays the iconic sounds and music we've been humming since 1985. It runs on two AAA batteries.
"Super Mario has continued to appear, always in a form adapted to the current hardware of the time," Nintendo producer Takashi Tezuka said in a release. "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'
Bowser's Castle will be available in a $100 expansion set.
You'll also be able to download a free app that tracks scores and has digital building instructions (with zoom and rotate viewing tools). The Starter Course went up for preorder on Tuesday.
"We can't wait to see fans get creative and challenge each other with this highly engaging and social play experience," said Jonathan Bennink, the project's digital design lead.
This year is Mario's 35th anniversary, and Nintendo is also reportedly planning on rereleasing a bunch of old 3D Mario games for the Switch.
