Lego Super Mario

Mario stomping a Goomba in My First Course.

The Lego Super Mario theme was the result of the collaboration between The Lego Group and Nintendo for the 35th anniversary of the 1985 game Super Mario Bros..[2] The sets are essentially a mix between a Lego set and a video game, where people can build real life versions of 2D Super Mario levels, including grasslands, deserts and Bowser's Castle.[3] The key part of the theme is the interactive Super Mario figurine. Unlike traditional Lego figurines, the Mario figure is large and electronic[lower-alpha 1], with the eyes, mouth and chest use an LED display. Another key feature of the figurine is the scanner on the bottom of the Mario figurine, and Bluetooth connectivity. The scanner uses colors or machine-readable codes to operate.[4] The scanner can change the LED display to affect the expressions or actions of Mario. For example, if the scanner scans the color red, Mario will detect it as lava and pretends to "lose a life". Codes can be placed on enemies, ? Blocks, power-ups, Warp Pipes and flag poles to display action on the chest display, like coins when Mario defeats an enemy.[5][6] All of these produce sound effects, attributing the Super Mario franchise. Finally, the Mario figurine utilises Bluetooth to connect to the official app.[4] The app can also be used for challenges, as a camera and as a digital instruction booklet,[7] and to update the firmware on the Mario figurine. The theme was sold with 11 sets of Mario levels, 4 costume packs which reference previous Mario power ups[lower-alpha 2][8] and a blind-bag collection featuring 10 reoccurring Mario enemies.[9][10]

Lego Nintendo Entertainment System.

In July 2020, Nintendo unveiled the Lego Nintendo Entertainment System. This set includes a lego miniature replica of both the console with cartridge and controller and a CRT TV which displays gameplay of Super Mario Bros.'s World 1-1.[11] The TV supplies a crank, which when turned, can make the game scroll manipulating the 8-bit Mario on the screen move. While unrelated to the original theme, the TV can connect with the interactive Mario figurine, causing it to make sound effects when winding the crank. Inside the console is a homage to the warp zone.[12] This is the largest set out of the whole theme.[13]

Talks began between The Lego Group and Nintendo in Summer 2015, where the upper management of Nintendo asked to collaborate with the company.[14][15] This followed into a discussion which generate many ideas, before voting on what idea to use. The idea that was the most popular was the idea of an interactive figure. The team didn't have much to work with, with the only words to work with were "do something that only these two companies could do together. It's a Lego product, but it's also a Nintendo product". Lead designer, Jonathan Bennink took some inspiration from the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, but in reverse by bringing the video game to life using toys.[3] The team also took inspiration from Super Mario Maker, taking the idea of players constructing Mario levels and incorporating it into Lego building.[5] The sets themselves took inspiration from many mainline Mario games, however describing the result being "a mix between Super Mario Bros. and also 3D World, with the rounded corners".[14]

With the figure itself, the concept for making Mario took 2 years. Bennink and his teams brainstormed a wide range of ideas and prototypes that took advantage of different technologies such as Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. Another design involved the figure having a giant screen to display Mario's face, but decided against it due to the vacant void left when being turned off. Bennink then came up with an interactive 3x3 brick with a display, something of which the team hadn't seen before, and decided to settle on it.[14] The design went through rigorous testing for durability and strength, resulting in Nintendo dropping 6,000 prototypes to ensure its quality.[16] Many prototypes were taken to Kyoto workshops for further testing, with the help of Nintendo's creative leader, Takashi Tezuka.[17] These visits occurred often before they were stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sound effects that are emitted from the figure were newly recorded lines from Mario voice actor Charles Martinet, as well as music from composer Koji Kondo.[18]

The Lego Super Mario theme was first teased on March 10, 2020, also known as MAR10 / National Mario Day on both the official Nintendo Lego Twitter, depicting Mario's LED display.[19] The theme itself was then official revealed two days later, when Nintendo released a trailer detailing the sets and overview.[20] Official Lego Stores set up demos for the theme, allowing customers to test it out.[21] The Lego Nintendo Entertainment System was first leaked online by Chinese website VJGamer and German websites Promo Bricks and StoneWars, leaking price and date info.[22] On July 13, 2020, the Lego Twitter account posted a silhouette of the set before being officially revealed the next day.[23][24] Both the theme and the NES set released on August 1, 2020.[25][26] Three sets were made available on July 10, 2020.[17]

• Official Lego website
• Official Nintendo website