Tag Archives: Nintendo

Super smashing Pokémon partners in LEGO

Ivysaur, Squirtle, and Charizard, the starting trio of the Kanto region in various states of evolution, are some of the most iconic and beloved of the ~~151~~ 1025 monsters in the Pokédex. They’re also the swappable characters used by Pokémon Trainer in Supers Smash Brothers Ultimate. LEGO Builder Zane Houston pays tribute to this fighting tag team with a Miniland scale ensemble. Zane does a phenomenal job capturing each character’s colors and personality in the Miniland aesthetic that celebrates bricks and studs. My favorite has to be Ivysaur with leaves built from green cheese slopes and the judicious use of whips as the only non-brick element. This isn’t Zane’s first Pokémon or Nintendo tribute. We loved his shocking Pikachu model, and his clever twist on the Nintendo Switch hardware still makes us smile. For more LEGO pocket monsters, catch ’em all in our Pokémon archives.

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Our princess is in this castle, Mario!

We’ve seen some amazing LEGO microscale builds this month thanks to the Marchitecture contest. Matthias Bartsch jumps into the game with a delightful and instantly recognizable recreation of Peach’s Castle from Super Mario 64. A version of the castle appears in the official Super Mario 64 Question Block set, but Matthias’ take greatly expands on the homage with gorgeous landscaping, a larger interior and careful fidelity to the beloved in-game design. Mathias leverages the printed tiles from the official LEGO set but finds clever solutions of his own for details like the micro warp pipe, here represented with a technic pin, and poofy trees made from ice cream toppers.

The roof lifts off to reveal the castle’s interior, with a tiled floor and tiny staircase.

Animal Crossing glow up takes you to new horizons

Someone’s been busy upgrading her Animal Crossing island! Rylie Howerter gives Nook’s Cranny an impressive glow up, and terraforms a pixel-perfect island landscape to go with it. Even the little gift balloon gets an HD upgrade. The grass, made from a mosaic of cheese slopes, is an especially nice touch that perfectly mimics the game franchise. Now that Animal Crossing minifigs are in the wild, I hope we’ll see many more original island creations. Excellent work, Rylie! I hope you make good use of all those Nook Miles. Now, can we interest you in a loan to expand your diorama?

The Metroid Queen; the baddest baddy of them all

I am loving these LEGO Metroid creations as of late. It takes me back to the late 80’s when my brother and I would play it on our Nintendo system. The music and sound effects were as extra-terrestrial as they come, the alien baddies were totally awesome and finding out the main protagonist, Samus Aron, was female at the end; priceless! I recall the revelation squigged some kids out at school but I was all for it. The big boss at the end, as it turns out, was also a lady of sorts. She was responsible for laying all the Metroid eggs and defending her brood with all her armor-plated, teeth-gnashing glory. Benjamin Anderson has recreated the Metroid Queen nicely, even including the transparent organ at her abdomen that was her well-guarded weak point. The only way to defeat her was to get her to ingest bombs or power bombs. It was no easy feat, by golly!

A little brain can be a dangerous thing

Boy, industrial containment standards sure have fallen lately, as evident in this LEGO build by Care Creations of one of the more disturbing video game bosses I have seen since Resident Evil, Mother Brain from Metroid. Clearly, if a giant brain can break their glass prison this easily, someone in the QA department deserves to get fired, if they didn’t get devoured by Mother Brain first.

Samus fears this Metroid baddie made of LEGO

As one of the largest Space Pirates fought by warrior Samus Aran, it’s a wonder that this LEGO-made Kraid manages to fit into frame. Builder Bionic Supreme has clicked together the perfect set of dark green, olive green, and dark tan Bionicle bits to recreate this Metroid villain. But beware the spinning claws and abdominal spikes! Just like in the video games, they also look particularly deadly in brick-built form. And something tells me we’ll be seeing more of Samus’s foes in the near future….

Five new LEGO Animal Crossing sets unveiled for March 2024 release [News]

With a range of interactive LEGO Super Mario sets and the iconic 71374 Nintendo Entertainment System, it’s been clear for a while that LEGO’s licensing of Nintendo properties has been expanding. However, it wasn’t as clear what other Nintendo properties LEGO might produce sets for. Fans of the Animal Crossing franchise can rejoice, as LEGO recently unveiled five new sets from the popular series, although you’ll have to wait until March 2024 to pick them up. The sets mimic the pixelated style of the video games, and each one features unique minifigures.

We’ve got all the details about the five new LEGO Animal Crossing sets, so read on to learn more while you wait nearly five months for their release. Although the sets seem to be geared toward younger builders, I’m sure adult collectors will be interested in the parts and minifigs as well.

Read all the details about upcoming LEGO Animal Crossing sets

Game Boy Color: Get into it!

While this LEGO Game Boy Color (GBC) doesn’t play actual games, it’s still a treat to see from Nick Brick. Personally, I never owned one of these handhelds, but that has never stopped me from appreciating the look and feel of the hardware. This build captures one of the iconic bright colors of the console – kiwi green. That’s something I love about the GBC: all the different colors it came in instead of the flatter colors of the Game Boy and Game Boy Pocket. It takes some imagination and sweet designing to build this handheld out in LEGO. It looks like you can just flick the power switch and hear that iconic chime before playing whatever game you want. Personally, I’d love to throw The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX into this thing and play around on Koholint Island.

LEGO mosaic evolves

John Kupitz is on a LEGO speed run. We just covered his recent build based on The Legend of Zelda, and now he’s shocking us with this greebly mosaic of Pikachu, the default Pokémon mascot. Using a technique similar to his past Mario mosaic, John has taken a “gotta catch ‘em all” approach to the pieces used to create this pocket monster portrait – minifigures, tubing, flags, crabs, steering wheels, clips, bars, tiles, and hearts. It’s all here.

This is your Link to adventure in the land of Hyrule

It’s dangerous to go exploring without a sword, though decidedly less dangerous when everything is made of LEGO. John Kupitz recreates the iconic moment when the hero Link receives the sword in The Legend of Zelda. This build looks like you just ripped it right out of the video game! The 2D, top-down side-scrolling appearance is achieved through clever SNOT and side-ways techniques. It allows the build to stand up and gives some unique layering to get in all the details from the 8-bit classic. I didn’t grow up with this particular Zelda title, but the build makes me nostalgic all the same! I can hear the discovery music upon getting the sword, a sound any Zelda player will recognize across the series. Remember: if you’re going to adventure in Hyrule, take a sword. If you’re going to adventure in LEGO, I recommend taking a brick separator.

Magical LEGO Mario Mosaic

Interactive LEGO experiences aren’t the norm for the average set builder but public events can often feature large mosaics such as this. Builder Hans Demol designed this awesome Mario & Friends mosaic for LEGO fans to build as a group during an event. Each person would get a 16×16 plate to fill in and add to the picture, filling it in frame by frame until all 49 plates were done. LEGO has made bank on their Mosaic sets and it’s easy to emulate their method in stud or brick form. After all, you’re basically just working with pixel art, which is wildly popular on its own thanks to the Minecraft and classic gaming fanbase. As such, there are pixelating programs you can use to roughly design models like this but it’s also fun to try to freehand your own. It’s great to blend with regular models too. For example, I once used it to make a screen for drive-in theater!

Speaking from personal experience, I can say pieces like this can be wildly popular with builders of all levels and ages. Little hands might struggle with 1×1 plates but bricks look the same from above and those are a lot easier for them to handle. Hans did an awesome job shaping and shading each character which means there are definitely going to be people searching for certain sections to complete. Those super colorful sections are super fun but can also be super confusing for little ones. It’d be awesome to see this completed in real life though!

LEGO Super Mario 71411 The Mighty Bowser – A boss of a build [Review]

Pretty much everyone who hasn’t been living under a rock is acquainted with Nintendo and the Super Mario franchise. Indeed, the little guy and his troupe of friends and enemies are a pop culture icon, and a marriage between LEGO and Nintendo was always inevitable. Whether you’re playing or displaying, there are sets for everyone, even if you’re not a diehard nostalgic fan. The latest addition, Mario’s arch enemy, is certainly no exception. LEGO Super Mario 71411 The Mighty Bowser (which will be available October 1st and retail for US $269.99 | CAN $349.99 | UK £229.99) might just put a smile on the faces of even decidedly uninterested builders. Come with us as we take a closer look at this 2807-piece supervillain.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Click to see if he wins the day!