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Lego’s interactive Super Mario sets will be out on August 1st, preorders start today

Lego’s interactive Super Mario sets will be out on August 1st, preorders start today

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Starting at $59.99 for the base set

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The Bowser’s Castle Boss Battle Expansion Set
The Bowser’s Castle Boss Battle Expansion Set
Photo: Lego / Nintendo

After Lego and Nintendo’s surprise announcement in March that the two companies were working on interactive Super Mario Lego play sets, we’re finally getting details on the actual sets and how the interactive video-game-in-real-life elements will work. Lego and Nintendo also announced the prices and release dates for the sets, which will be out on August 1st.

The cornerstone of the Super Mario Lego sets is the Adventures with Mario Starter Course, which is set to cost $59.99 and include the interactive, Bluetooth-enabled Mario figure. In addition to the smartphone connectivity, the figure also features LCD displays on Mario’s eyes, mouth, and stomach to display reactions and gameplay elements, and a speaker for music and sound effects. There are also sensors to detect color, movement, and special “action bricks” that can interact with the figure in different ways. (Mario himself is battery-powered, though, for anyone hoping for a USB-C-powered plumber.)

The Adventures with Mario Starter Course
The Adventures with Mario Starter Course
Photo: Lego / Nintendo

The base set lets players contract their own modular course as they collect digital coins and progress through their own Mario level (going from a starting pipe to a goal flag at the end), fighting Goomba and Bowser Jr. figures along the way. As part of the experience, there’s also a Lego Super Mario app that will track scores and help players design new courses.

Building on the Starter Course set are the first two Expansion Sets, which add new challenges and characters for players to add to their courses (think of it as IRL DLC for your IRL Mario game). The first is a $29.99 Piranha Plant Power Slide Expansion Set, which (as the name implies) adds a pair of Piranha Plants, a Koopa Troopa, and new gameplay elements to the mix. The second is the largest of the three initial sets: the $99.99 Bowser’s Castle Boss Battle Expansion Set, which lets players face off against Bowser himself.

The Piranha Plant Power Slide Expansion Set
The Piranha Plant Power Slide Expansion Set
Photo: Lego / Nintendo

The two expansion sets are fully modular, too, meaning that players will be able to build out and integrate the sets into their courses however they’d like. And it’s entirely possible that Lego and Nintendo will be offering more expansion sets in the future.

Preorders for the Super Mario Lego Starter Course set starts today, with all three sets planned to launch on August 1st.

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