If I were TLG and Had a Creativity Gene Series: Part 3 - Mario Brothers

For my next try at being a Lego design star, I wanted to tap into something that could be a massive theme for Lego. It has been mentioned many times and I think most of us are pretty flummoxed that it hasn't happened yet – though we all probably agree it eventually will. This theme is Video Games.

Now there are hundreds of thousands of great video games to choose from, so in this article I only wanted to look at one. This is probably the most recognizable video game character of all time and probably the most popular video game character of all time: Super Mario.

So there are tons of things that could be included in this theme and it was really hard to narrow it down. I had a lot of problems trying to find things that I thought would really work well as Lego sets, and trying to decide what would be the best iconic sets that could be made. This is what I came up with:

Yoshi's House

One of the most memorable non-Mario-Brothers character's in the Mario games was Yoshi, which was Mario's pet. He has been popular enough that several other video game lines have been based off him alone. A lot of us remember Yoshi's house from the Super Nintendo game, Super Mario World. Near the beginning of the game, you could stop off at Yoshi's house to get a Yoshi by jumping up an feeding the small younger Yoshis until one of them grew up (those are some serious apples). Everyone knew that once you had Yoshi, you were pretty much unstoppable.

This set would be a smaller 200-300 piece set that would include a large elongated green-leaved tree. There would be Lego apples hanging from it at different spots that were detachable in some measure. It would come with the following minifigures:

• Mario
• 1 big full sized Yoshi for that Mario could actually ride
• 3 smaller Yoshis that would sit on top of the tree. Their mouths would also open and close so that they could properly communicate that they were hungry

Who wouldn't love this set? It would appeal to Lego fans as a minifigure value set, and it would appeal to pretty much any video gamer that ever played the games. And what kids don't love Yoshi!?

Mario's Tunnel and Cave

I am going a little bit out of the box here - and someone who does have a creativity gene could try and name it. Everyone remembers the tunnels form the Super Mario game. You have just won a castle and jumped on the flag, and a tunnel opens up in front of you. “TinkoTinkoTinko”. And then Mario pops out from the bottom of the pipe and he is now in a dark cave with some different looking... cave turtles? You hear “duh duh, duh duh, duh duh”...“duh duh, duh duh, duh duh”. It is a pretty iconic part of the video game.

For this, I think I would look awesome as a diorama. The bottom of the cave would a full large, dark gray Lego floor. It would also have sides and a ceiling, they just wouldn't come out as far so that there is a ceiling, but room to play with the set. There would be some Lego rocks, hills, and some how they would find a way to suspend Lego blocks for Mario to jump on. There would also be the entry pipe coming down from the top, as well as another pipe or two on the bottom for those possible secret areas.

This would include these minifigures:

• Mario – a different design with a more cave-worthy outfit.
• 2 Turtles for Mario to jump on.
• 2 spike turtles – the guys that have very sharp spikes so that you can't jump on them.

Kids would have a great time re-creating the Mario game and making Mario defeat the evil turtles! Maybe they could even add something that would play music so you could here that great theme in the background.

Mario Kart Raceway

So, yes this is a little out of the original Mario line as Mario Kart came later, but it is a stable for any Mario gamer. Though there were other party PvP games, this game really cemented PvP and battling as a staple of any video gamer's fun.

This would be a little outside the Lego box, but it would be a Lego racing set. Like the Lego trains, this would include a Lego track for the cars to race on. The cars would be completely made of Lego, but would also take batteries so that they could move by themselves. The set would come with Lego remotes as well (that also take batteries) that allow anyone to race the cars around the track. The track would also have some nice Mushroom terrain to decorate with.

And what is Mario cart without some hazards right? So the cars would have Lego attachments (I know I am outlandish) that would include a few shells and bananas. These could be launched at any point in time to try to keep the other participant from winning the race. This set would include:

• One Mario Kart
• One Luigi Kart
• A Luigi minfig
• A Mario Minifig

Can you imagine how much fun you would have with this?

Princess Peaches Castle

My favorite Mario game of all time, and what I would call the most complete and memorable video game of all time, is Super Mario 64. Peach's Castle was in a ton of Mario games – evidently she just has a knack for getting into trouble I particularly liked the castle's look in this game. It really looks like someone took one of the nicer castles from the Castle theme and touched it up with a bit of Lego Friends. Everyone loves Castle sets so we all know this would be a big hit.

I think it would be great if it had the moat and the drawbridge from the game. It should also have a few trap doors, secret entrance ways as we know there were those times where Mario got himself locked out of the castle. The Castle would also open up on the front so that it could become a play set as well.

The minifigures would include:

• Mario
• Luigi just for good measure
• Princess Peach
• 2 Bombombs – I always really liked these guys and they were around a lot in Super Mario 64.
• A Goomba – Can you imagine how much fun people will have playing with something called a Goomba?
• A large Chain Chomp – you have to have a chain chomp

I am not ashamed to admit I would play with this set.

Bowser's Castle

Alright, so yes I know it is a little repetitive, but Lego has a pretty serious history and track-record of making impressive buildings. Can you imagine how amazing a Bowser's castle could be? Lego could really make it an intimidating and impressive set.

This one wouldn't open up, it would be more about a large display piece. It would have the Bowser Logo on several parts of it, along with spikes everywhere. The front of the Castle would be a large Bowser mouth opening to swallow whoever dare entered his realm. There would also be plenty of Lego fire protruding from the Castle.

Minifigures would include:

• Mario – Gotta have a redesign since he is in every set
• Luigi – Mario needs a backup
• 3 Koopa Troopas in Bowser garb
• Bowser himself – A gigantic Minfigure with flames coming from his mouth and spikes on his back. Needs to be as big as the rancor.

What do you all think? Did I pick the right stuff? Do you all think this theme would be winner?

Note: All of the information here are my own opinions and are pulled from my experiences. You may or may not have success with these methods. Thanks for reading!