Lego Super Mario bounces onto store shelves on August 1st
Lego Australia have been kind enough to provide pricing on the three sets that were shown off in the video below, we know that the Starter Set will cost $89.99, but now we know that the Piranha Plant Power Slide will be $49.99 and the Bowser's Castle Boss Battle will be $149.99, but there is no release date on those just yet.
There were a lot of talks earlier in the day, but now it is confirmed, Super Mario will jump from the digital to the real, when the Lego Super Mario set releases on August 1. Celebrating the announcement, Nintendo shared a video with Lego Group’s lead designer, Jonathan Bennink, about how it works, check it out.
The starter kit, which is the one we have seen the most, is available to be pre-ordered today from most retailers. The Lego Mario figure itself has LCD screens in his eyes, mouth and belly to display a wide variety of instant reactions to movement, color and action bricks. Also included is a speaker that plays iconic sounds and music from the video game series.
“We were thrilled to see the global reaction to news of LEGO Super Mario,” said Jonathan Bennink, Digital Design Lead on LEGO Super Mario, the LEGO Group. “Fans have been keen to learn more, so I am pleased that today we were able to reveal more details about this exciting new collaboration that has led to a reimagination of the LEGO building experience and an entirely new way to play inspired by the beloved video game icon, Super Mario. We can’t wait to see fans get creative and challenge each other with this highly engaging and social play experience.”
In order to track how well you are playing, or your kids of course as well, you will need to install the Lego Super Mario App on your phone or tablet. It keeps track of scores to encourage continuous rebuilding, as well as it provides digital building instructions with zoom and rotate viewing tools to make building easier, suggests other creative ways to build and play.
“Super Mario has continued to appear, always in a form adapted to the current hardware of the time.” said Takashi Tezuka, Executive Officer and Game Producer of Nintendo Co., Ltd. “I am thankful that in this project with the LEGO Group, Mario is jumping out of the digital world of game consoles and smart devices, and we are able to bring him into the world with a new, physical type of Mario play. 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.”
The Starter Course can be combined with Lego Super Mario Expansion Sets, which each unlock unique challenges and characters to play with and against friends. The first Expansion Sets, also revealed today, include the Piranha Plant Power Slide Expansion Set and the Bowser’s Castle Boss Battle Expansion Set. And because the products all include modular builds, fans are fully in charge of creating exactly the LEGO level course they want to see Mario come to life in.
Moments after publishing, Lego Australia confirmed that the Starter Kit will be sold for $89.95 and if you order it from Lego direct, you will get the Monty Mole set for free, a $23 value.
Local pricing has not yet been confirmed, but don’t expect them to be cheap. The starter set is priced at $59.99 USD, which right now is about $97, the Piranha Plant Power Slide Expansion Set is priced at $29.99 USD or $48 for us and the Bowser’s Castle Boss Battle Expansion Set is a massive ask at $99.99 USD or $160 here. Local prices should be confirmed within the next few days though.
