LEGO is building on its highly-successful LEGO Super Mario line with a new wave of expansion sets that are going to launch early next year. Nintendo unveiled its surprising crossover with LEGO in the form of an interactive board game that allows players to customize their own Mario experience in true LEGO fashion. LEGO Super Mario also recreates the feel of the Super Mario video games with a high-tech Mario minifigure that plays sound effects and keeps track of the player’s score as they move Mario across the LEGO game board.
Since the primary LEGO Super Mario set first hit store shelves last August, Nintendo and LEGO have been releasing several expansion sets featuring characters and locations from across the Super Mario franchise. The most recent addition is a Luigi game piece that allows two players to engage in co-op, and Mario’s green-clad brother is set to receive a line of spooky LEGO Super Mario add-ons based around the Luigi’s Mansion spin-off series early next year. As it turns out, LEGO and Nintendo have plenty more in store for fans in 2022 aside from Luigi’s haunted misadventures.
As reported by Nintendo Life, LEGO has just unveiled its new 2022 line of LEGO Super Mario Expansion sets. According to a leak by The Brick Fan, these consist of the Bowser Jr’s Clown Car Expansion Set, which features a Bob-Omb and a Lego version of Bowser Jr’s flying capsule car that either Mario or Luigi can ride, the Dorrie’s Beachfront Expansion Set, which includes the blue sea creature amid a small beach course, and the Big Urchin Beach Ride Expansion Set, which features a Porcupuffer, a yellow Yoshi, and a circular water obstacle. LEGO Super Mario Character Packs - Series 4 has also been revealed; it includes classic enemies like the Biddybug and friendly faces like Tuxie the Penguin.
So far, LEGO Super Mario has been one of LEGO’s biggest product launches in recent memory, with its high sales figures possibly paving the way for more Nintendo-based sets themed after games like The Legend Of Zelda or Star Fox down the road. Aside from the interactive LEGO Super Mario game and its surrounding expansion sets, LEGO recently released the LEGO Super Mario 64 Question Block set, a replica of Mario’s trusty Question Block power-up that contains miniature worlds and characters from Super Mario 64. Other Nintendo-themed LEGO sets include last year’s LEGO Nintendo Entertainment System set, which recreates the original NES console and even features a playable version of the original Super Mario Bros. on an old-school TV.
LEGO Super Mario has managed to combine the interactivity and technological advancements of Nintendo with the creativity of LEGO, and it seems the fun will continue with 2022’s upcoming line of LEGO Super Mario expansion sets. So far, there is no word on what these new sets will cost, but fans should expect to see them on toy store shelves sometime at the beginning of next year.
Source: Nintendo Life, The Brick Fan