Talk about how LEGO ported Super Mario Bros. c NES into reality. An exclusive review of the designer of the legendary game.
review addiction one of the first in the world to come to test sets Lego Super Mario – and they surprised me. Instead of the expected pure collector’s kit, I got the port Super Mario Bros. into the real world. I tell (and show!) How all this is played, assembled and sold.
Case trumpet
To begin with, I must say that LEGO is not the first time addresses the universes of computer games. And I’m not talking about a galaxy of dubious projects TT Games, and about sets based on Minecraft, Overwatch and to some extent Star Wars. So when I heard about collaboration with Nintendo, then I drew a clear picture for myself: they will hit the fans, release collection figures of Mario, Yoshi, Gumba, Bowser and those very toothy flowers in the pipes, well, they will add a couple of recognizable locations.
Reality games
When I said that this is a Nintendo game, I was not joking: LEGO Mario brings Super Mario Bros to the real world. for NES with all its mechanics. There is a main character, a two-dimensional level and the task to reach the end, collecting as many coins as possible. Apart from the impossibility of dying, everything looks exactly the same. Mario gets into that very starting pipe, the famous music is turned on, and the timer starts for 60 seconds. Our goal is to go over the entire level in the allotted time and collect the maximum coins. In the end, Mario will take stock … and you can start over: break your own record, or gather a company and compete with friends.
Implemented this is difficult for the usual LEGO, but very simple from a technical point of view. On Mario’s chest there is a display that shows the current action, timer and final score. A color optical sensor is built into the legs, and bar codes are placed on the cubes, which give the controller a command to start this or that action.
The barcode in the green pipe starts the timer, on the head of Gumba he throws a coin, on Bowser Jr. – five coins in five jumps, and so on. In addition, an accelerometer is built into Mario: reactions to walking are suspended on it (they give a coin for every ten steps), jumps, some level elements and falls. And the optical sensor distinguishes colors: thanks to it, Mario perceives green cubes as safe weed for walking and collecting coins, and red ones as a dangerous lava, on which earnings are lost.
It sounds simple, but LEGO and Nintendo have screwed a lot of different mechanics to this foundation. For example, in the basic set there is a mill, on which Mario must be scrolled so that he does not plop on the table. The faster you spin, the more points you get, but also the higher the chances of falling and losing a few precious seconds. Or the cloud on which you put Mario and fly above the level: coins are strewed like from a cornucopia, but a fall is a “swoon” and minus time. And there is the famous question cube. In it, as in the original game, a “mushroom” can be caught that will save you from falls or lava, a bunch of gold or extra life.
All this is seasoned with “high technology.” Mario can and should even be connected to a phone or tablet so that the device records every race, remembers the number of coins collected and analyzes which element you were able to collect the most gold from.
And it works. I’m not sure that this mechanic will entice an adult longer than an hour or two, but you get the pleasure of typing and even get into a rage. Each element works: rhythmic music from World 1-1, and a time limit that makes you rush and worry about failures, and even the complexity of a mechanic.
Competition
In attempts to collect maximum gold, you try to make as many circles as possible on the “mill”, but inevitably you fall and lose time. Carried away by walking on the grass and free coins, you understand that you do not have time to run much more profitable parts of the level. Because of this, you start to rush – and make mistakes: either you jump on the lava, then you fall from the cloud, or you can’t banally jump five times on Bowser Jr., because in a hurry he threw him on the wrong side. And the final chord of all this is the counting of coins.
And Mario pulls him as far as he can: first he shows the animation of the flag, thinks and only then gives the final score. And if it so happened that in the second call you scored less than in the first, it really upsets – and again you throw Mario into the pipe to start again. And if the company gathered at home or there are children, then here you can not only compete who will collect the most, but also openly laugh at each other.
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Unusual, but correct, in my opinion, detail: LEGO does not give clear instructions for assembling the level. There are guides only on separate obstacles and the mechanics of their work. But here, in what order, at what angle and how exactly to assemble them, is completely up to you. Therefore, the design of the levels is constantly changing, and this definitely adds replayability. And in general, unlike classic LEGO with clearly defined rules, it makes you move your brain.
No tablet anywhere
Super Mario is the first kit with no paper-based assembly instructions in my memory. All guides are fully digitized in the LEGO Super Mario app. As the chief designer said, it’s so conceived so as not to introduce clear rules for level planning. As for me, this is not very convenient, especially considering that the kit is primarily aimed at children.
Although the application itself is sensible and reminds mobile games. On the main screen, collections are displayed in the form of already collected levels. Click on them – go to the instructions on the 3D engine, in which all the details can be twisted, zoomed in or out. At the same time, for each element there is a short video showing how to interact with it.
In addition, the application keeps statistics of your races. The Mario figurine connects to a tablet / smartphone, starts counting points and shows why and how many coins you received. True, there is an unpleasant moment: nowhere is a clear amount of gold prescribed for one or another obstacle, and you get to many things by experience. So, for example, there is no understanding of what happens on the lava, what gives extra life or why you need a “mushroom”, which in the original increases the size of Mario. Perhaps this is done on purpose so that the children themselves deal with mechanics, but in reality this is confusing.
I also note that the application involves a certain element of online competitions. When you pass a level, it offers you to photograph it and upload it online. And theoretically, someone could collect the same level and try to break your record. Whether this scheme is working or not is not yet clear. At the time of the tests, the kits were not yet sold, and it was empty online.
How to sell
They are going to sell all this according to the princes of computer games with a bunch of DLC: first you need to buy a basic set with Mario in the kit, and then you can take updates to it. Moreover, it can be both small upgrades with just a couple of new characters and one or two additional obstacles, or whole levels – though without a starting pipe and finish.
For the basic set, they are now asking for 4200 rubles. For LEGO, especially a special series in collaboration with another company, this is the average price. And even the basic set allows you to build a level almost a meter long – it is enough to evaluate all the possibilities of a new toy.
Additional sets cost 1800-2800 rubles for a conditional collection of new obstacles and 3500-7000 rubles for full-fledged new levels. Plus, for about 700 rubles, costumes for Mario will appear on sale, which add new features to the character himself. For example, we had a cat suit on the tests, which made Mario meow and allowed to collect coins while running along the walls. Also, small collectible characters in closed bags will be sold for 350 rubles – a total of ten pieces are planned.
conclusions
The Nintendo project is definitely a landmark story for LEGO. The company very carefully transferred the mechanics of a video game to the real world: it made it not just decorative, but completely working. Another question is for whom this kit is intended. To me, an adult, he is not particularly interesting because of his age: it would be much more pleasant to collect a large Mario or a flower and put it on a shelf. And for children – especially those who have not yet plunged into the world of video games – the collection is definitely delightful, but Mario is far from them, and without company the child quickly gets bored.
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