LEGO will launch it’s Mario ranges this September. It is a funtastic range of sets that is different from anything that the brick company has done before. Finding that sweet middle ground between gaming antics and traditional brick building. We get to journey to the Mushroom Kingdom and play with all the colorful characters from the popular Nintendo franchise.
Coming Soon
Coming to stores soon will be the starter pack that will have everything you need to build you first course. Following that will be expansion sets that will add characters and expand on the kit. And as we know with LEGO it isn’t limited to the instructions that accompany the respective sets. I fact we are only limited to our imagination. To me that is the best thing about LEGO. There are no rules on what you can or cannot build.
It will be interesting to see what both the young masterbuilders as well as the older ones create with their sets. While we wait for Mario to make his way to the stores here are some interesting facts about the Italian Plumber.
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Mario made his debut alongside Donkey Kong
Before Mario took the spotlight in Super Mario Bros, he had already made his first appearance as ‘Jumpman’ in a video game known as Donkey Kong – in fact, creator Shigeru Miyamoto, would refer to Mario as Mr. Video Game. Playing as Jumpman, you were tasked with saving Pauline by leaping from beam to beam, all the while dodging dangerous items being flung by Donkey Kong to get to the top level.
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Mario was a jack of many trades
Mario has taken on many challenges and roles in his time. He was initially depicted as a plumber in Mario Bros. in 1983, then a doctor in Dr. Mario on NES in 1990, and a racing driver in Super Mario Kart on SNES in 1992.
Some of Mario’s other roles throughout the years include demolition engineer in Wrecking Crew (NES, 1985), a golfer in Mario Golf (Nintendo 64, 1999), a tennis player in Mario Tennis (Nintendo 64, 2000), and a footballer in Mario Smash Football (Nintendo GameCube, 2005).
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Super Mario Bros. was meant to be Nintendo’s last cartridge game ever
Nintendo planned to switch from the popular Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) cartridge consoles to floppy disk-based systems after the release of Super Mario Bros. However, the Mario franchise became such a hit that cartridges stuck around another two decades!
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Mario’s signature look was a quick fix
While there’s virtually nothing that today’s motion graphic technology and coding experts can’t achieve, things were certainly a little different three decades ago when Mario was born.
Mario’s look is actually a result of the graphical limitations of arcade hardware in the 1980s. Creator Shigeru Miyamoto gave him bright red overalls and a blue shirt so that his arm movements could be seen more clearly, along with a big nose and moustache so players could recognise his face.
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The Super Mario theme song has lyrics you’ve probably never heard
The popular earworm that played during the game and was even remixed into popular pop songs over the years actually has lyrics to accompany it. This happened after the game was released, when Nintendo got wind of a Japanese radio competition that asked fans to submit their ideas for Mario theme music lyrics, and was so impressed by one that it decided to record the lyrics to music and release the song on vinyl.
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The LEGO Group has just revealed the full product portfolio for its LEGO® Super Mario™ experience.
Fans can expand on the LEGO® Super Mario™ range with a whole new range of Expansion Sets, collectible Character Packs and Power-Up Packs. The result of a unique partnership with Nintendo, LEGO® Super Mario™ will reinvent the way people interact with Super Mario™ in the physical world. The products announced gives fans the chance to build Mario’s house, search for treasure hidden by Toad, and defeat a Koopa Troopa in the Guarded Fortress.
Mario has rich history in pop culture. He has been around through multiple generations of gamers. Having him introduced in the LEGO family is like coming home. To be honest it’s time the mustache little guys started to build bricks instead of bashing them up.
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