Review: 71360 Adventures with Mario

But what does Mario look like when you turn the screens off?

I am impressed by the amount of function that they fit into a brickheadz sized figure.

For some reason I though I remembered hearing the "four" LCD screens are actually windows into one big LCD screen beneath Mario's shell. Is that correct?

So there are no paper instructions?

I admit that I still understand nothing. I think a video demonstration, in addition to the photos, would greatly enhance and help with this specific product's review.

This is all absolutely adorable and I'm sure the kids will love it.

I still have no idea what the "game" is here.

What's to stop someone from just going straight to the end of the level for a faster time? Yes, I know that's not in the "spirit" of the game, but unless the unit has a way of knowing if you did, in fact, touch every platform and defeat every enemy then scoring seems extremely arbitrary.

@Lordmoral said:
"It would be interesting to see how much someone who wants all the Mario sets and the figures (no repeats) will invest on everything. Thanks for this lovely review."

It's because the total cost of the sets is something like £600 that I won't be getting this. I know I'll feel compelled to get basically everything, and I feel like I should probably just play a Mario game if I want to enjoy the Mario experience. Hell, buying a Switch and Super Mario Odyssey probably works out cheaper.

Like, I see what they're trying to do, but I don't really find this interpretation that interesting. I'm sure kids will get an absolute kick out of it, though.

There seems to be a lot of technology and work gone into the Mario character in order to try and create a physical rendition of a video game. What exactly does the app do, apart from act as a timer and coin counter, and when do you move Mario? Possibly if the course looped back on itself, you could go around again, but with more difficulty if that is possible. How long do you think it will keep a child entertained, before those that love the game just go back to playing it, and those who have never heard of the game, may be a bit confused and lose interest.

Regarding the pre-applied stickers: printing would wear off fast with all the banging of the figure on top of things, and "normal" stickers would also quickly be destroyed - so these are probably very durable stickers with a thick laminated surface and a stronger glue. A new and special solution for LEGO, needed for a very special use...

@ambr said:
"There seems to be a lot of technology and work gone into the Mario character in order to try and create a physical rendition of a video game. What exactly does the app do, apart from act as a timer and coin counter, and when do you move Mario? Possibly if the course looped back on itself, you could go around again, but with more difficulty if that is possible. How long do you think it will keep a child entertained, before those that love the game just go back to playing it, and those who have never heard of the game, may be a bit confused and lose interest."

I think it’s Lego with added functionality, not exactly a video game brought to life. Not for everyone, but my kids will like it.

Thanks for the thorough review; as mentioned above though, it really needs a video...

Anyway, to repeat: this is going to flop so hard.

@Unikittius said:
"But what does Mario look like when you turn the screens off?"

The eyes, mouth, and screen on the chest all turn black, it's kind of horrifying. I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned in the review at all.

It’s a shame they didn’t just make Mario a stand-alone set for $15. If you really want one of the other sets you have to fork over $60 just to get the one element you need to play with the actual set you want. I really want bowsers castle, and this set offers little extra that I would want but I’m likely to get neither because of the extra expense to get a Mario.

@Unikittius said:
"But what does Mario look like when you turn the screens off?"

Terrifying. All the screens are black. Deep, terrifying, black, black eyes.

I will buy the base set, and possibly a couple expansions several months from now, due to likely markdowns. Mario seems like something pretty neat to mess with. I'm intrigued at the electronics and engineering that went into him.

I am betting that next year these things will be on clearance everywhere at 50% off or even moreso. Given the total cost, I doubt many (except for nuts like us!) will spring for the cost of everything available. Parents (and kids) would probably more or less buy a games console. I'm betting the Switch and/or 3DS will have a Black Friday deal as well making it way cheaper. Each set seems like a fraction of a level compared to the various Mario games I've played on GBA, DS, and Wii over the years (yeah, I'm in the stone age--but planning to buy a Switch this year if there's a Black Friday deal/bundle)

@legolover777 said:
"Big Brain if Mario gets coins for spinning, tie him to a ceiling fan and unlimited money."

Not that simple. The platform that he collects coins on has one of the scannable stickers, so unless he's standing on that he won't collect coins in that manner.

What the actually game component of this. I understand you get coins as you go through your level but how and when do I move etc. Do i just move when i want or is there something that tells me when to move?

I cannot for the life of me understand any of the decisions that led to this product line being the way it is. LEGO Super Mario should be a slam dunk, but trying to make it play like the video game and not like LEGO has led to this very weird looking, large, and expensive to produce Mario figure that all the sets have to be scaled around, which is inexplicably only sold in a $60 set that's much less interesting than any of the other ones. Collecting all the sets costs twice as much as the actual video game system, and individually none of them do much because of how big they have to be, the game component requires an additional smartphone app to work properly, and most of Mario's supporting cast is entirely absent. None of this makes any sense.

I don't understand why they didn't just do a Mario Kart line. You get all of the characters in minifigure scale, you can easily bundle vehicles together or add race track elements to create different sized sets, the inexpensive sets aren't totally useless, LEGO already loves single person vehicles with launchers and wheels that rotate to hover... seems like such a better choice than all of this.

Seeing a lot of people say that the lack of minifigs is what's turning them off... Honestly, I don't really mind that too much, although I would prefer minifigs. It's the juniorization of the structures and the forced gimmick that's making me uninterested, personally. (Those character packs look great, though, and may want to actually get my hands on them.)

The "squareness" of the creatures and characters also look wrong...

@legolover777 said:
"Big Brain if Mario gets coins for spinning, tie him to a ceiling fan and unlimited money."

Too slow. Power functions!

"He remains immediately recognisable as LEGO though"

That's a bold claim!

I still don't understand the "game" aspect of these sets. They are intended for imaginative replay of a video game with none of the challenge presented by the video game?! Where is the (long term) fun in that?

This is such a weird and flawed on so many levels (pun not intended) theme, it boggles my mind this was ever green-lit in the first place.
LEGO + Nintendo could have been totally awesome and a match made in heaven. What they came up with is Meh at best. I showed it to my kids who have played quite a few Mario and other Nintendo games, but they had zero interest in this.

Where is the challenge? You just swoosh Mario around and tap the plates. There's no luck involved, no skill required. How can this be considered a game?

This is the first review I remember by CapnRex without using the word "superb", so this set must really stink. ;-)

I don't think it's fair to judge the play experience by the standard of game difficulty. I think the better comparison is designing and then playing a Mario Maker level, where you're trying to determine how to develop a fun flow. The coin score is used to reward challenge or potentially introduce risk.

I don't mind that a lot of people aren't interested in what this set is offering, but I'm very disappointed that few critics seem to be curious about what the sets are trying to accomplish, and why, and whether they're successful at that or not.

Could we please get a more in-depth review/stresstest of the technical and gameplay aspects of this? Like showing how creepy Mario would look when turned off? Are the motion sensors able to detect if you make a too long jump? How does the barcode sensor work? Is it possible to fake the power-up suits by applying tinfoil on the inside of the overalls? And most of all - does this *really* hold any long-term interest for kids above Duplo age?

I'm going to go against the flow here and say that I can imagine my girlfriend's 6 (almost 7) year old son absolutely loving this, the changing around of the levels, and the interactive element of it.

Above all, that's who it's aimed at isn't it? Not us 40+ year olds. Job done, Lego.

Definitely need a video to understand the review properly

regarding the comments about price: the electrical components are actually really expensive. I heard from the lead developer on the range that lego does only barely break even on the starter pack, and hopes to regain investments on the expansion sets.

@Dash_Justice said:
"What's to stop someone from just going straight to the end of the level for a faster time? Yes, I know that's not in the "spirit" of the game, but unless the unit has a way of knowing if you did, in fact, touch every platform and defeat every enemy then scoring seems extremely arbitrary."

nothing, but then you would just not collect any coins... the idea is that kids will want to collect as many coins within 60 seconds, by jumping, salto's, landing on surfaces, qr codes and stuff.
and the idea is that the kids are some kind of game designer, you can get all the modules loose and rearrange a level how they like. and they can challenge their parents/friends on the same level

This is just way too gimmicky to have any real play value in the long run, the sets don't do well as display pieces either and those aside I don't see any real reason to go with this over a Nintendo Switch and a copy of Mario Maker 2.

I hope they do something more standard with Mario like minifigure scale sets or basically anything other than just this.

@CCC said:
"So how many hours do you think an afol would play with this and still feel they are doing something useful, productive or enjoyable. I doubt I'd even make 5 minutes before I'd take Mario apart, then realise the screen, controller and the sensors are worth about $10."

PSA: we're not the target audience. Although I'd love to be...

@Dare_Wreck said:
""He remains immediately recognisable as LEGO though"

That's a bold claim!"

Exactly. There's a few studs, but for the most part, you'd think he was made by Tomy.

@cody6268 said:
" @Dare_Wreck said:
""He remains immediately recognisable as LEGO though"

That's a bold claim!"

Exactly. There's a few studs, but for the most part, you'd think he was made by Tomy. "

I’d have assumed he was a McDonald’s toy. He’d fit right in.

@B_Space_Man said:
"Regarding the price, I think it makes sense when you add the external IP tax plus an electronic component. Yeah it’s not cheap but we are talking about Lego here. "

Remember "Lego Dimensions" ? They can't pull the "Lego is pricy" card with every product. I predict this will have the same fate. Check Walmart's clearance aisle in about a year from today.

This whole "game" looks like it's gonna get boring after less then 5 minutes of playing with it. I don't see how this is gonna have any long-term play value for kids.

This looks like so much fun! The only thing stopping me from investing in it is the fact that I don't play the video games, and I don't have enough room, let alone excess funds, to dedicate to a LEGO Mario course.

I don't understand why there was ever any doubt as to the play, replay, and rebuild value of these sets, even at the initial reveal. I can see so much potential. I can imagine individuals or groups putting together a massive and elaborate custom course worthy of a convention, and awarding prizes to visitors who collect the most coins or speedrun it the fastest. The game doesn't restrict you to building these predefined models. The only crucial elements are the scannable 2x2 tiles — they could easily be attached to just about any model (that doesn't even have to match what the tile represents, you could put a Goomba tile on a volcano and Mario will still stomp on it like it's a Goomba), so the building possibilities there are indeed endless.

The only thing I agree with others on is the price. It is quite, as I said, an investment, especially with the size of the Starter Course and how much it costs to get each expansion. And it's also quite a niche because I don't see that many people getting into these. Most people are familiar with the Mario brand, and have maybe played the video games a bit, but probably aren't going to sink their time into a physical, LEGO version of the game. OTOH, Mario fans, especially Mario Maker fans, who happen to like LEGO, I can't see them not having a blast with these.

Personally, given a choice between this and Mario Maker, I'd go for this in a heartbeat.

It seems there are no physical building instructions included in the box? How disappointing.

@TWP said:
"regarding the comments about price: the electrical components are actually really expensive. I heard from the lead developer on the range that lego does only barely break even on the starter pack, and hopes to regain investments on the expansion sets."

ROFL

I have such deep sympathy for poor TLG with this. Electronics are indeed terribly expensive...

I love it when fanboys fall for those BS fake explanations. Electronics are so cheap nowadays that it boggles my mind sometimes when I read about it.
If TLG did indeed spend millions on this figure then I am really beginning to question their business decisions or the sanity of the minds of those in charge of such a decision.
Honestly, hasn't the flop that was Dimensions told them anything?

In the interview by zusammengebaut.com that was linked to in the comments about the new Crocodile locomotive set, Jamie Berard himself in a by-sentence confirmed that sets that are heavily discounted on LEGO.com are sets they have trouble getting rid of. I bought lots of Dimensions sets as parts packs on LEGO.com back in the day, most of them were 75% off and still available for months even at that price. That shows what a flop that theme was.
And I can totally see these Mario sets going in the same direction.
They offer little for AFOLs and also not much for kids. Add to that the inflated price and it becomes a no-brainer that parents will rather spend their money on the original consoles and games themselves instead of this.

@PicnicBasketSam got it right. This is beyond useless. "Kids will love it". No, they will not. They either play a real Mario game or they build with bricks. This works as well as the utter failure that was their AR "game".

Maybe a toddler will get some fun out if it when Mario chirps but there are way cheaper ways to achieve that.

@AustinPowers said:
ROFL

I have such deep sympathy for poor TLG with this. Electronics are indeed terribly expensive...

I love it when fanboys fall for those BS fake explanations. Electronics are so cheap nowadays that it boggles my mind sometimes when I read about it.
If TLG did indeed spend millions on this figure then I am really beginning to question their business decisions or the sanity of the minds of those in charge of such a decision.
Honestly, hasn't the flop that was Dimensions told them anything?

In the interview by zusammengebaut.com that was linked to in the comments about the new Crocodile locomotive set, Jamie Berard himself in a by-sentence confirmed that sets that are heavily discounted on LEGO.com are sets they have trouble getting rid of. I bought lots of Dimensions sets as parts packs on LEGO.com back in the day, most of them were 75% off and still available for months even at that price. That shows what a flop that theme was.
And I can totally see these Mario sets going in the same direction.
They offer little for AFOLs and also not much for kids. Add to that the inflated price and it becomes a no-brainer that parents will rather spend their money on the original consoles and games themselves instead of this. "

You don't think Lego would have made this set cheaper if it was possible? They know as well that the price seems expensive as a standard lego product, but it is just not a standard product. A cheaper product would have gained them more sales, but it's impossible to sell under production cost, as that would loose them a lot of money

This product came out of development of the creative play lab, where they try new things. It's really hard to predict sales of such a product, and they may sometimes overproduce. But that is better in some cases than underproduce. But I do not agree with you that an overproduction means that it is a flop

I don’t know why I bother to even look through the comments anymore. As an AFOL recently off a long dark age and quickly found this site, it seems to be common when new products are released to see a plethora of nothing but complaints. Tons of comments of cost (it’s LEGO!! You spend hundreds or thousands per year!) or not understanding the decision LEGO made to produce this. Rest assured, there are people with jobs, that do actually understand that decision :) Personally, I think it is great to see LEGO stretch themselves into new categories. I am very intrigues by this set.

Just think of the comments as entertainment.

@Mickitat said:
" @PicnicBasketSam got it right. This is beyond useless. "Kids will love it". No, they will not. They either play a real Mario game or they build with bricks. This works as well as the utter failure that was their AR "game"."
———————————

The fallacy of everyone arguing “but the play feature is useless” is amusing. How about any normal Lego set? “What can you possible expect kids to do with this? It’s a pile of pieces, they’ll build it once and get bored!”. It doesn’t hold up. This is a Lego set with some added functionality. It’s still a Lego set. Not a video game. Kids will like it if they like Mario and if they like Lego.

Have you followed Nintendo at all? The design fits perfectly with what they have always done. They go for the interesting new angle.

The adult complaining is getting really old.

Also, I should be playing a drinking game for whenever “Mario minifig” is mentioned in the comments.

@eldomtom2 said:
" @B_Space_Man said:
"This is a Lego set with some added functionality. It’s still a Lego set. Not a video game. Kids will like it if they like Mario and if they like Lego."

It lacks all of what you could call the "dollhouse" aspects of regular Lego. It doesn't seem that interesting to engage with it outside of the prescibed method of play.

"Have you followed Nintendo at all? The design fits perfectly with what they have always done. They go for the interesting new angle. "

And it often backfires on them."

————————
Well I guess I’m lucky that my kids bring 80% of the play experience with imagination to the 20% that Lego (and most toys) are as the baseline. As I think most kids do.