LEGO Super Mario Starter Kit Review

When Nintendo and LEGO partnered up to release some building sets, I was incredibly excited. I had visions of beautifully crafted sets that utilized amazing mini figures. After all, have you seen the Disney Minifigure Collection? It’s brilliant, and I fully expected Nintendo to match, or exceed, that line-up. Then the sets were revealed and demoed and my excitement went from a 10, down to a 4. Now that I’ve played with the starter kit, have my initial thoughts changed? Let’s take a look!

The Build

As I watched more and more LEGO Super Mario videos leading into launch, I began to quickly realize that this was definitely aimed at kids, not adults. Everything is large and chunky when built, perfect for small hands to play with. So instead of diving into the build myself, I sat back on my couch and handed the box to my kids.

About 2 minutes later, I instantly understood where Nintendo and LEGO were coming from when they put this line-up of sets together. Squeals of excitement when Mario was first powered on, more squeals as Bowser Jr and a Goomba were put together. Everything was exciting, and their little hands went to work on the set with more excitement than any other set they’ve built in recent memory. The phrase, “I think they’ve died and gone to heaven” could not be any more true in this situation. These kids were in paradise.

LEGO has done away with paper building instructions and instead opted for a phone application to help kids realize their Mario dreams. I understand the thinking here – LEGO Mario is incredibly interactive, and through the application, LEGO can demonstrate using videos and phase-by-phase building instructions how each component of the Starter Kit works. My kids first built Mario, connected him via Bluetooth to my phone, and put together a very basic starting course. Then a video showed them how to ‘play’ the LEGO set.

Then the building instructions introduced a spinning platform that Mario can earn coins on by, well, spinning. Then the instructions showed them how to implement that into their already built tiny course, and a video showed them how to use the new interactive brick. And this continued with each new build, until finally, everything was complete.

As an adult, we just want to get the dang thing finished so we can play. We have that, “I can figure this out for myself” mentality that often gets us into trouble. For kids, however, these quick, phased instructions and tutorial videos are outstanding, bringing new concepts and ideas into the build as they go. So while I think ALSO including paper instructions in the box is a big miss for those without access to a tablet or phone, the application itself is brilliant.

The Play!

If building the set itself wasn’t exciting enough, then playing with it made up for any building boredom (of which I saw none). The kids went head over heals for the Starter Kit, and while I fully expected them to ask to open the next set we had purchased, it was over an hour and a half later before I heard, “Can we open and build another one?” My biggest worry with this line-up was that the Starter Kit was not going to be enough, and that parents might feel ‘forced’ to spend additional money to add to the overall play experience.

There is a lot in the Starter Kit to keep kids entertained for hours, as demonstrated by my own kids. But they will inevitably want more, as certain characters are only available in specific packs. A great, economical way of enhancing your course is purchasing the enemy blind bags, but anything more than that will cost you at least 24.99 CAD for a 150-200 piece LEGO set, which is well above my ‘good’ purchase price of 10 cents per piece.

But back to the Starter Kit – there is easily enough here to warrant the price. The concept is easy enough to understand, aiming to get the maximum number of coins within 60 seconds was something my kids competed at for hours. With tons of interactive blocks along the course – spinning platform for coins, Bowser Jr., a Goomba, and a ? Block – there are lots of different ways to earn coins and maximize your winnings. The ? Block is definitely a game changer, as you never know what might pop out of the box, making each trip through the course a bit unique.

It was fun watching my kids change the course up to see how it could look differently. My oldest even created a ‘hidden’ area that Mario doesn’t necessarily need to visit to finish the level, but doing so netted a ton of coins. Both kids were remembering many of the levels they played in New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe and attempting to recreated those levels with the LEGO they had, and their imaginations.

Conclusion

I’ll be the first to admit that LEGO Super Mario didn’t look like my cup of tea when it was announced. But after seeing my kids play with it for hours, this might be one of the best new lines of LEGO that have been released in a very long time. If you have young, Nintendo fans in your home, the LEGO Super Mario collection is a definite must have!

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