Video games and LEGO have always gone together like two bricks in a set, but Nintendo has just taken it to the next level with the LEGO NES, which is the actual Nintendo Entertainment System console in LEGO form. This is just the latest (and weirdest) in a series of Nintendo-based building sets being revealed over the past few months.
It all began back in March with the announcement of LEGO Super Mario, an electronic board game that recreates sounds and graphics from the Super Mario games via a special Mario game piece. The project had been in development for four years before its official unveiling, and LEGO Creative Play Lab Design Manager Jonathan Bennink has spoken of developing adaptations of other Nintendo properties in addition to planned expansions for the main Lego Super Mario set. Still, no one could have predicted what this eclectic pairing was dreaming up next.
Yesterday, Hong Kong-based gaming news site VJGamer leaked photos of a new Nintendo LEGO set based on the original NES console, which consists of the system itself, a controller, a Super Mario NES cartridge and an old TV set, all made out of Denmark’s favorite building bricks. On the TV’s screen is a LEGO representation of a level from the original Super Mario, which can is seemingly playable with thanks to a crank on the side of said TV. Even more interesting, the Mario figure from the Lego Super Mario set can be attached to the top of the TV, but the function for this is still unknown. Now, that leak has been confirmed by the odd corporate duo, with LEGO's Maarten Simons stating in a press release:
“Super Mario has been a cherished figure in the gaming world for over thirty years now. Many adults still fondly remember that first time they saw Mario leap across the small screen, even if the graphics were a lot simpler than they are today. With the LEGO Nintendo Entertainment System, we’re letting them truly indulge in that nostalgia, recreating one of the most-loved consoles of all time so they can see the Super Mario from their childhoods once again - and even to share the experience of gaming in the 1980s with their own children.”
Video games and LEGOs have been crossing paths for years thanks to developer Traveler’s Tales producing a line of highly successful LEGO titles, based on popular franchises like Star Wars, DC Comics, or even Warner Bros.’ animated LEGO movies. Not to mention all of the fan-created video game tributes made out of LEGO, such as a set based on Nook’s Cranny from Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which was recently submitted to the LEGO Idea program.
An official LEGO set of an actual console like the NES might seem out of left field even for a quirky company like Nintendo, but the LEGO NES looks like it could be fun for the young and young at heart. The level of detail in the set is impressive (it even includes the AV plugs on the back of the TV), and the implied functionality with the previous LEGO Super Mario set is certainly intriguing. Overall, it leaves one to wonder what else the team of LEGO and Nintendo will build next.