I tested for you: LEGO Super Mario

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.