Released worldwide on 1st October 2024, the Mario & Yoshi set was a wonderful bricky surprise for my birthday that year and, after remaining patiently in its box for a month or so, we finally got around to building it over the New Year.
With 1215 pieces split between 15 bags and being aimed at adult Lego fans, it was a fun challenge to undertake. It didn’t take very long to build – maybe two to three hours over two nights – and it looked great once completed. Based on graphics from Super Mario World game, released on 11th April 1992 (in Europe), the set features Mario riding on the back of Yoshi and wearing his yellow cape.
The build started with the base of mechanism to allow Yoshi to walk, then moved on to building Yoshi and finished with Mario. These parts were both interesting and frustrating in equal measure due to the tiny flat pieces which give the finished model its pixelated look. Interesting because it’s the largest area we have built using the smooth plates, and it was cool to see the final image taking shape; frustrating because of how tricky it was the get the pieces to sit uniformly place. Most Lego builds ensure the bricks align properly, but anyone who has used the flat, square stud pieces will know, they rotate slightly once in place. This usually isn’t too much of a problem, but with such a large area built with this type of brick, and the uniform design expected from a 16-bit image, it was hard work to get them looking good. After suffering several sore fingertips trying to straighten the pieces (only to push them too far and have to twist them back in the opposite direction), we discovered that the tapered side of a 15cm ruler, gently slid between the top of the bricks, worked well to get them aligned. This discovery allowed us to enjoy the mosaic-style building as we slowly saw our creation take shape.
The finished model measures an impressive 40cm tall and is 26cm wide (30cm with Yoshi’s tongue fully extended). It looks great as a display piece, but it also has three interactive features;
- a crank handle (located at the bottom right-hand side of the model) which, when turned, allows Yoshi to walk and Mario’s cape to float behind him.
- a dial (located behind Yoshi’s head) which, when rotated allowed Yoshi to poke out his tongue (in search of apples).
- an Action Tag (located on a slide out panel on the bottom left-hand side of the model), which can be used with the Interactive Lego Super Mario (or Luigi and Peach). It allows interesting interactions with your chosen character including a scene where Mario discovers a Yoshi egg, which subsequently hatches, Mario riding the newly-hatched Yoshi and Yoshi collecting coins and eating apples and enemies. It also plays music from the original game.
This is a nice inclusion for any owner of a Lego Super Mario interactive set, but as it is concealed, does not over shadow the model itself or stop it being a spectacular showpiece.
All in all, this was an enjoyable build and we think you’ll agree, the finished model is excellent and true to the original game design.