The promise is simple: allow you to build an interactive game board on which Mario will have to evolve while avoiding traps and collecting coins and bonuses before reaching the finish line. On paper, we can imagine having fun for long hours trying to complete the level within the time limit, 60 seconds excluding time bonus. In fact, it's a little less glamorous and you quickly get bored typing Mario on the different barcodes to scan to discover the different interactions offered.

Worse, this is a purely solo experience, only one player manipulates Mario and the others have to watch him evolve while waiting their turn. The spectators can not really take advantage of the evolution of the player through the level, the part not being "broadcast" on the smartphone or the tablet.

The events caused by the passage on the various bar codes are displayed only on the tiny screen placed on Mario's stomach, all illustrated with sound sequences that all those who have already played on console necessarily know. The screen of the device on which the application is installed remains black during the play phase and LEGO confirms that it has voluntarily focused all the interactivity of the product on the Mario minifigure and its screens.

LEGO also claims to have tested the concept with groups of children who have not been bothered by the obligation to remain spectators of the adventures of the only player on the track. The results of my few group sessions are less optimistic on point.

The interactive figurine reacts to everything presented to it under the sensor placed between the characters' feet: the colors (blue for water, red for lava, green for grass, yellow for sand), movements and the barcodes that allow you to earn coins, defeat a creature or unlock multiplier bonuses and gain time bonus. The discovery of the many programmed reactions and the animations corresponding to each action broadcast on the small screen of the figurine is a pleasure that fans of the Mario universe will appreciate.

While self-sufficient, the base set that obtains the interactive minifigure can and should be combined with one or more of the expansion packs to begin to deliver a compelling play experience. There are many organizational possibilities for each of the elements that make up the basic level, but it is the variety of the different interactive blocks distributed throughout the level that allows you to have a little fun by exploiting the entire minute of authorized progress. and some of these modules are exclusive to one or more packs.

The and 71360 Adventures with Mario is also the only one to provide the parts to scan which are used to start the game and to validate the end of the progression within the level. It is therefore not possible to build two real levels at the same time by combining parts from different packs.

The absence of real rules also affects the playing experience a little. The player organizes his level as he wishes, respecting the obligation to clearly identify the starting and finishing points and the time limit. For the rest, there are no particular progression constraints and it is virtually possible to never die or lose a game if the level has not been designed to offer a sufficient challenge.

All that remains is the pleasure of accumulating coins by tapping on the various villains and collecting the few bonuses distributed on the game board. By adding several expansion packs, the duration of the progression through the level is lengthened and it becomes more and more difficult if not impossible to complete the level within the allotted time, except to cheat a little while returning on certain bonuses.

If we put aside the "fun" experience offered by this new range, fans of the universe concerned will find in these different boxes some characters to isolate and possibly collect. The Mario figurine is not the most successful of the lot, the integration of electronics having imposed a format a little too cubic to be credible. The other characters provided are on the other hand more successful and it will be relatively easy to modify those equipped with bar codes to make them simple exhibition figures. There are no stickers in these sets, everything is pad printed.

LEGO sets aside all its usual principles here, along with the usual excuses to justify the presence of stickers or limit the number of new parts: Everything is pad printed and there are about thirty new elements spread over all the sets.

Note that LEGO will not be offering from August the possibility of acquiring Mario alone, to replace a too damaged minifigure or allow a second player to participate more actively in the games.

Some of the pieces that are making their first appearance with this range should appeal to MOceurs of all stripes who will find new possibilities or solutions to some of their problems.

By building my own levels and repositioning different modules to modify the course, it seemed to me that the small base plates with rounded edges had a little trouble holding the plates that serve to connect them together. Whether on two or four studs, the "Clutch Power"[the resistance to the interlocking / withdrawal of the pieces between them] of these new plates seems to me a little weak and it is difficult to move a set of several islands already built without breaking everything. It will also be necessary to provide sufficient space. to install the board which will not be transportable without disassembling everything, LEGO did not see fit to provide some base plates which could have been used to organize the game board into large modules to be linked together.

In addition to the many expansion packs, LEGO offers a series of 10 "surprise" sachets based on the same principle as those of the series of collectable minifigs with your choice of Bullet Bill, Peepa, Buzzy Beetle, Urchin, Spiny, Paragooba, Bob -omb, Eep Cheep, Blooper or Fuzzy. Each character comes with a few pieces that allow you to directly integrate a new island on the game board. You will therefore have to carefully feel the packaging to avoid duplicates or invest directly in a complete box to obtain your favorite characters and enjoy the interactions specific products they offer thanks to the barcode provided.

Each sachet will be sold for € 3.99 and it is therefore still about forty euros to spend to ensure not to miss anything of the "experience" promised with a global invoice which climbs to € 579.95 if we wish to acquire the whole of the products offered.

The application that allows you to benefit from the product is very well done. I had access to an unfinished version which already offered almost all of the expected functionality and I did not notice anything shocking. Connecting with the minifigure to transfer progress and score is hassle-free, the instructions provided are easy to follow, and each new expansion pack that you add to your game board is added to the home screen after you have finished. scanned a specific item with Mario.

During the assembly of the main level or of an extension pack, small video sequences specify the operation of the various interactive elements present in the box and the learning is done without difficulty. A young fan who has never played a video game from the Mario universe will undoubtedly miss some visual or sound references, but he will have at his disposal a sufficiently comprehensive tutorial to exploit all the possibilities of the LEGO version.

The application does not currently offer interactive content beyond the assembly instructions, some examples of personalized levels to reproduce based on the visuals provided and the possibility of saving your score. It is therefore more of a tool that allows you to fully enjoy the toy itself than a virtual extension intended to add a layer of interactivity. LEGO promises to offer "challenges" on a regular basis, it will be necessary to check what it really is when the functionality is available.

In summary, I think that LEGO offers us here a very successful concept on the technical level and we feel that the manufacturer has invested a lot at all levels to leave nothing or almost to chance. Unfortunately, and despite all the efforts made to offer a technically almost flawless product, the gameplay is in my opinion in decline and the pleasure of immersing yourself in a universe that brings together two emblematic brands does not survive beyond the first parts.

Knowing that it will be necessary to spend in total nearly 580 € to take advantage of all the possibilities of the product, I am convinced that the requested investment is much too high for what this range offers with an effect of surprise that fades too quickly and a concept that quickly becomes repetitive and a bit boring.

Even if there will undoubtedly be a few young fans to find their account, I remain convinced that the same range, freed from the overlay of interactivity and sold for less, would have more easily found its audience among video game enthusiasts who wanted just get a nice spinoff from one of their favorite universes. To each his own profession, it was perhaps not necessary to want at all costs to make this range a somewhat laborious ersatz of the video game from which it is inspired.

Note: LEGO has requested that the products shown here not be directly donated or donated, they are "pre-releases" not intended for commercialization. I am therefore putting into play a batch of "commercial" versions of these products which will be sent to the winner as of next August. Deadline set at 30th June 2020 next at 23pm. 

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.

Today we take a quick look at the LEGO Monkie Kid set 80012 Monkey King Warrior Mech, a large box of 1629 pieces sold for 129.99 € which proposes to assemble a robot about forty centimeters high accompanied by some additional elements which suggest many playful possibilities.

During the official announcement of the Monkie Kid range, LEGO sold us this set as the one that includes the most parts in Metallic Gold To date, it remains for us to verify whether this statement does not hide some gaps that could tarnish the picture.

Before tackling the construction of the big robot with a monkey head, we assemble the various additional elements provided. Nothing very complicated here, the end of the lane, the hill with the support of the stick, the floating cloud of the Monkey King and the little robot from the bad clones are quickly assembled with in the process the installation of half of the large plank of stickers provided.

Those who enjoyed the sets 70620 Ninjago City et 70657 Ninjago City Docks inspired by the movie The LEGO Ninjago Movie will appreciate to find here a set including a shop and a house a little in the same spirit, with signs, an arcade machine, neon lights, and a multitude of details that promote immersion in the atmosphere of the set. The building is also an important point of reference to give presence to the mech.

The context being set, we then move on to the assembly of the big robot. As soon as the central trunk is assembled, which also serves as a cockpit, we understand that the mobility of this mech will be limited. The shoulders are made of moving parts but the robot's waist and hips are fixed. By connecting the upper part of the legs, however, we can guess that it must be possible to move each leg slightly backwards or forwards.

By assembling the rest of the robot's two legs, we begin to imagine the improbable: knees! Indeed, there is a Ball joint at the knee, but we quickly become disillusioned when we notice that the calf is attached to the back of the thigh via two additional small kneecaps, thus preventing any flexion of the leg. Still missed, this is not the time that we will have a mech with really articulated legs. The good news: the mech is really very stable on its feet, both equipped with a central tire that helps prevent unwanted slips even on the smoothest surfaces.

In terms of joints, it's a little better at the level of the arms with a three-part structure that allows some movement, even if we quickly realize that the mech is in fact only thought to hold his giant stick with a very limited range of motion. Note that the stick can be "transformed" into a shorter version that fits in one hand. In both situations, the stick is attached to the palm of the hand (or both hands) via two ball joints.

Quickly, it becomes complicated to manipulate the construction in progress because of the decorative sub-assemblies that only fit on a clip or two, like the gold pieces that hide the shoulder joints or the fingers that come loose regularly. It's a shame for a toy intended for children and it does not get better afterwards.

The "naked" mech clearly lacks finish and it is not the hundred or so golden pieces that save the furniture. The back of the robot has obviously not benefited from the same attention from the designers as the front side but it is not so serious since it is necessary to attach a large piece of red fabric to it which covers the whole thing. . Even if the drape effect is not uninteresting, the felt used is in my opinion too fine to give hope for a reasonable lifespan. In the end, it seems to me that we are more in a “hide-and-seek” solution based on a consumable product than in a purely creative choice.

Finally, we must add seven decorative elements in flexible plastic which in principle should give this mech its final appearance. The four flags which take place behind the head only fit on a clip and also have an unfortunate tendency to fall off at the slightest manipulation. On the other hand, the three inserts which are fixed around the waist of the mech really help to give a nice visual coherence to the construction.

The building experience is not unpleasant, especially at the beginning of the assembly phase, although one does not escape the sub-assemblies to be built in two copies when it comes to taking care of the members of the robot. The youngest will get by without problem, the most difficult will remain to manipulate the robot while wanting to play with it.

Difficult to objectively judge the aesthetic aspect of the mech, tastes and colors cannot be discussed, but I think you really have to wait until you have finished assembling the thing to get a precise opinion. As far as I'm concerned, I find it visually a little too colorful to convince me. The gray joints are too visible and the red, yellow mixture, Pearl Gold et Metallic Gold is a bit too messy for my taste.

The addition of the three flexible plastic elements around the waist of the mech completes depriving the construction of the little mobility it had so far: they hinder a little the few possible movements of the robot and will be quickly bent and marked. This detail convinces me that this product is not a toy for children aged 10 or over. It is just a demonstration of the know-how of the LEGO designers which turns into a pure exhibition product far too static and too fragile to really have fun with.

There are also some minifigs in this box: two clones with identical torsos but one of which is decked out with arms and pink horns, the monkey king, delivered here in a different version from the one present in one of the sachets from the 19th series of collectible minifigs (ref. 71025), with its staff equipped with the new handles also available in gray on the knees of the mech, the young Jia (the boy) and An (the girl) and the inevitable Monkie Kid in person with his headphones around his neck, his smartphone and his hyper-detailed legs with a slightly less successful finish than on the official visuals.

For those who are wondering, Jia's Hawaiian shirt is not new, it was already present since 2010 in several sets of the LEGO Education range and more recently in the LEGO CITY sets. 60202 People Pack: Outdoor Adventures and Juniors 10764 Central Airport. An's torso is also a very common piece, especially seen in sets 10247 Ferris Wheel, 60200 Capital City or even 10261 Roller Coaster.

In the end, this set had it all on paper with a balanced content between the giant mech, the main hero of the range and the animated series that goes with it, the Monkey King himself, a pair of villains, two civilians and small additional modules.

Unfortunately, the robot is aesthetically very correct but it is not what it claims to be when it comes to playability and it will have to be content to expose it on the corner of a shelf after spending too much time putting it back in place. everything that comes off when playing with. At 130 € a box, in my opinion, it's too expensive to pay for such a fragile construction, with a somewhat sloppy finish in places and frankly limited mobility.

Note: The product shown here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at 7th June 2020 next at 23pm.

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.

Now that everyone has had time to digest the announcement of the new Structure 2019, the LEGO Creator Expert set 10264 Corner Garage (189.99 €), we can quickly talk about this building that will stick to the Downtown Diner from set 10260 for a neighborhood with a 50s atmosphere.

Small neighborhood garage with a single gas pump, upstairs veterinary practice and apartment above with direct access to the roof, on paper this set offers varied spaces with services that will be welcome in your LEGO city.

If you collect the Modulars, you will not hesitate very long anyway, you will need this one too. If you don't have any, it's not certain that this set is the best place to start.

First of all, I note that the building actually occupies only a large half of the base plate on which it is installed due to the presence of the gas station and the canopy that houses the gas pump. It is also a set at an incoming angle which constitutes a street corner and can therefore take place in a corner of a shelf attached to the walls on two sides. There isn't much to see behind the construction anyway, as is often the case on Modulars.

If you want to play with the garage lift, remember to leave a little space behind the set to be able to access the mechanism that allows the thing to be raised and lowered. just pull on the blue and black element visible in the photo above to activate this function. Nothing super exciting, but to wow your passing friends even more, you can always leave a vehicle permanently in the garage with the bridge up and the curtain up.

It is a constant of the range Modulars, the construction phase alternates between truly creative sequences and stacking bricks for the walls of the building. We are not bored and we discover in passing a few tips that will perhaps be useful one day such as the cornices or the canopies of the upper floors based on blue windshields. When assembling the two upper modules, it is difficult not to have a feeling of déjà vu over the pages, the exterior structure of the two levels being almost identical from one floor to the other.

The bags of the set being numbered, it is possible to share the assembly with several on the condition of having the instruction booklet in digital format (to download at this address as soon as the PDF is online) in addition to the one provided in the box. Everyone can assemble a section during a family and friendly activity.

The whole set ultimately only serves as a pretext to install a garage on the ground floor, with its gas station and small workshop. It really is a tiny neighborhood garage, but the designer still managed to install a lift, a tire changer, a tool console and a counter on which the cash register is located. It's all a bit crowded inside, but it's always like that with Modulars and this one is far from the worst of the range in terms of size.

The staircase which provides access to the veterinarian's office located on the first floor, from the small blue door with its paw-shaped handle, simply crosses the workshop without any partition wall. To get to the apartment on the second floor, you must also cross the waiting room of the veto's office and there is no door (or hatch) between the two floors. Those who find nothing to complain about will persuade themselves that the vet is the mechanic's brother and that it is he who lives above with his ex-brother-in-law. The others will have to do with or lay plasterboard.

The garage is run by Jo, as the sign indicates. He is assisted by a female character with a smeared face who must be his daughter. Or his niece. Or her daughter-in-law. Or whoever you want.

In passing, one may wonder if the choice of the garage / veto / apartment combination is the most judicious. Having to go through the workshop to get to the first floor could have prompted the designer to set up the boss's office upstairs and move the vet's office to the second floor. But in this case, it would have been necessary anyway to go through the offices to go to the vet. Failed, this stair system is really poorly designed.

Access to the workshop is closed by a sliding curtain which can be raised using the dial placed on the exterior wall. The mechanism is simple but very ingenious and the dial is discreet enough not to disfigure the construction.

The roller shutter elements are slid in a groove which serves as a guide and prevents derailments. Like everyone else, you will spend five minutes raising and lowering the curtain. It's fun and it always works if you haven't made a mistake while assembling the mechanism.

If the floor is covered with Tiles on the exterior part of the construction, the interior of the various spaces is left as is by the designer. You will tell me that it does not change much since most of the fans who will acquire this box will be content to display it on a shelf and we will not really see what happens inside. And you will be right. But it's ugly due to the scale of the surfaces and furniture. The studs seem huge and that's a shame.

Many pieces of furniture and other decorative elements are present and some of them are even very successful. This set does not reach the level of finish of other references in the same range but it is still very honest if we take into account the available interior space.

At the vet, in addition to the aquarium built into the wall, we get a few animals and a whole series of medical instruments. It's in the theme and if you like techniques that allow you to reproduce stuff with a limited number of pieces, you'll be served.

I couldn't resist the urge to take the toilet out of the small corner room of the studio on the second floor. I would like to point out that the flush is not attached to the white pipe on which it rests, it is in fact directly attached to the wall of the apartment. In the photo below, she balances on the white mat.

Oddly, the second floor studio has a toilet in one corner of the room, but no bathroom, however compact. The bed installed near the glass roof also leaves me rather perplexed: it looks more like a hospital bed than anything else. The rest of the furniture is quite successful, always with that 50s connotation. Special mention for the taps, blue for cold water, red for hot water, which remind me of memories of my youth.

The roof terrace is also designed with exposed tenons. Too bad for the finish of this space which is clearly visible from the outside. A floor covered with Tiles gray with some hints of dark green and brown to symbolize the degradation of the coating over time would have been very welcome.

I have nothing against studs, but when it comes to a detailed mockup intended primarily for exhibition, I prefer not to see too many of them. In the radius of the things I would have liked to have obtained here: A cylindrical water tank on the roof.

As with the limousine from the 10260 Downtown Diner set, LEGO is providing a vehicle here, to liven up the city streets a bit. The tow truck is successful, it is in the 50s spirit of the box and it will find its place in all urban contexts. The doors open, the tow arm is raised or lowered via the wheel placed at the rear, it's functional. LEGO could have cracked a pad printing on the doors with the logo of the garage sign.

LEGO also provides a scooter in Medium Azure and his pilot who takes the torso already seen in the LEGO CITY set 60202 People Pack: Outdoor Adventures. Not essential in this box, but since it's there ...

A second vehicle to troubleshoot and put on the lift would have been welcome to ensure maximum playability out of the box without relying on the fact that fans have already purchased the 10260 set and therefore have the pink limousine which is from elsewhere staged on the back of the box of this new set.

I know many fans consider the parts allocated to these vehicles to "penalize" the level of detail of the set by cannibalizing inventory. But if LEGO sells me a garage with a lift, I would love to be able to use it to lift something other than the tow truck ...

As you already know, there are no stickers in this box and all the signs are pad printed. The Octan brand is displayed on the gas pump, supported by the use of the fictitious company's usual colors on the garage walls, the vet has a sign that references the world of Indiana Jones and Jo's garage sign includes a funny slogan under the half tire. These little details aren't everything, but they're finishes that are generally popular with fans.

In summary, we like it or not, each to his own. I like the petrol station theme and the color Dark orange used for the walls of the floors. I like a little less the lack of finish in the cabinet of the veto and in the apartment, LEGO had accustomed us to better.

The sacrifice of nearly half of the available surface does not bother me more than that, it was the price to pay to offer something really original with the gas pump and the passage covered by a canopy.

The vehicle provided is successful, the minifig endowment is unsurprising but sufficient. 189.99 € is a bit expensive, so in my opinion it is appropriate to wait at least for a doubling of VIP points or a promo to invest in this new element of the vintage district of LEGOville.

Note: The set shown here is put into play as usual. To participate in the raffle, simply post a comment on this article before December 15 at 23:59 p.m.. You have every right to disagree with me, this is not eliminatory.

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.

A little comedy for LEGO, which today announces that it has set itself the goal by 2025 of selling 100% of its products in packaging whose impact on the environment will be minimized and which will be fully recyclable.

We are talking about sustainable packaging here: it is packaging in which each stage of the life cycle, production and transport included, makes optimal use of environmental resources.

While waiting to reach this goal one day, the brand communicates on the progress already made via the infographic above:

90% of current packaging (cardboard boxes and instruction booklets) is already recyclable and is made from raw materials from FSC certified forests.

75% of the cardboard used for current packaging is made from recycled materials.

Since 2017, the thermoformed plastic inserts found in LEGO Advent calendars have been replaced by recycled paper versions, which has saved a million of these highly prized lockers for fans who often use them to sort their items. parts are landfilled.

The size of the boxes has been reduced by 14% since 2014, which in turn has saved the equivalent of 3000 truck loads and saved 7000 tonnes of cardboard each year.

With regard to packaging, therefore, only the polypropylene bags remain, which contain the parts to be replaced by a product that uses less energy during its manufacture, easier to recycle and more respectful of the environment.