Sonic and Mario have shown that LEGO and video game mascots are a perfect match. While Sony Playstation doesn’t have a definitive mascot, there was a time when Crash Bandicoot nearly took the honors. DW_Builds pays tribute to the dashing hero with a model so apeeling it could only have been created for the New Elementary “Mind that Banana” contest. The builder takes advantage of the new banana colors found in the Botanicals Chrysanthemum set for Crash’s wild hair and comically gaping mouth. Jumbo macaroni tubes make up Crash’s curved torso and loping legs, while minifig arms serve as expressive eyebrows. These days Crash is more of a retro mascot than a vital part of gaming culture, but given the success of gaming IP in cinemas lately, maybe Sony will try and bring him into the live-action world with American-French actor Timothée Chalamet
providing mocap and Jack Black phoning it in as Dr. Neo Cortex.
Tag Archives: Video Games
Link’s legendary LEGO sword that seals the darkness
Throughout The Legend of Zelda series, earning the Master Sword marks Link’s transition into a worthy hero. Builder Dylan Mievis has created many memorable video game tributes in the past and definitely proves worthy with this LEGO model of the Master Sword as seen in Breath of the Wild. Coming in at 110 cm in length, the replica is life-size (insomuch as a video game prop can be) and painstakingly faithful to the original design, down to the embossed Triforce at the base of the blade. Dylan depicts the sword as Link finds it, embedded in a pedestal, just like in LEGO The Legend of Zelda 77092 Great Deku Tree. Even more game-accurate, Dylan pairs the sword with a beautiful Silent Princess flower. Go ahead and try to draw the sword if you think you have the courage (and enough heart containers!).
New machines and a new ally for Aloy! LEGO reveals new Horizon Adventures set [News]
Hot on the heels of the LEGO Horizon Adventures video game, LEGO has announced a new playset in the Horizon universe: HORIZON ADVENTURES ALOY & VARL VS. SHELL-WALKER & SAWTOOTH (77037 ). The set follows 2022’s LEGO Horizon 76989 Tallneck and lets fans assemble new machine beasts with added play features. While the Tallneck set was designed for builders aged 18+, the new set is rated for ages 9+ and, like the new video game, should be accessible to younger fans while still looking great alongside the older model. Containing 768 pieces, it offers one of the highest piece-to-price ratios from a licensed set. ALOY & VARL VS. SHELL-WALKER & SAWTOOTH is available on March 1, 2025 and can be pre-ordered now for US $44.99 | CAN $59.99 | UK £39.99.
Steady your bow and read on for more details on the machine beasts from the Horizon world!
I think this spaceship knows which way to go
You can play, read about, and make video games every day and still it’s impossible to keep up with everything coming out. Case in point, I had never heard of space flight sim Flight of Nova until seeing this LEGO version of the game’s CF2 shuttle from builder cixpack. In the game, the VTOL CF2 is simple to fly, but creating these angles in LEGO is no easy task! The ship design feels very NASA adjacent, resembling proposed space planes that could be bringing Astronauts home within our lifetimes. Somehow cixpack’s sci-fi builds have flown under our radars for years, but they’re definitely worthy of your attention.
You have OneShot to appreciate this LEGO Niko
You don’t have to have played the cult hit indie game OneShot to appreciate this LEGO tribute to starring cat Niko by Dylan Mievis. It’s a great character model with a flat face in the style of chibi builds, with great shaping of the cat-kid’s oversized coat and scarf. If you’ve played the game, then you’ll know that keeping Niko safe is the player’s near-impossible duty, and Dylan captures the character’s vulnerability perfectly in brick form. Those big eyes borrowed from the Nightmare Shark Ship definitely help.
Dylan is no stranger to indie gaming builds, having shared amzing tributes to Hollow Knight and Shovel Knight. And as a shameless plug: getting back into building, I recently paid tribute to my favorite indie game of the moment, Tactical Breach Wizards!
The trees are dead and dried out, wait for something brick-built
It’s funny how a LEGO build can have you thinking of different things. Even moreso when it’s one so clearly based on existing source material, like this chilling collaborative build from First Order LEGO and BrickManStudios. As the logo in the corner suggests, this is a location from the video game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Trouble is, I’ve never played that game. Instead, I’m reminded of an album by a tech metal band called Sikth, hence this article’s title. You got that reference, right, reader? OK, so pop-culture references are maybe not my forte. But I can still appreciate the craftsmanship in this build! The tentacled tree is the centrepiece, naturally, but the landscaping is great too. It feels suitably overgrown – the perfect counterpoint to the dead, dried out tree.
LEGO Radahn packs phenomenal cosmic power on an itty-bitty horse
Elden Ring boss Starscourge Radahn is peak character design: giant swords, ornate armor, and an imposing profile you can spot a mile away. Seeing this beast of a demi-god teetering atop a tiny horse would make you stop and laugh if Radahn couldn’t one-shot kill you from across the map. poodooMOCs nails the absurdity of Radahn in LEGO at minifig scale. The builder employs great parts usage to build out Radahn’s hulking body. I especially like the use of Ninjago lion shields on the legs and the red bush for the Starscurge’s wild hair. As impressive as LEGO Radahn is, can someone please take down this boss so the poor horse can have a break?
Dr. Robotnik sends Sonic scrambling with his epic Eggscruciator mech
After multiple waves of LEGO Sonic playsets, poor Dr. Robotnik must be getting pretty sick of the blue hedgehog and his pals smashing his ingenious machines. With an epic assist from builder Zane Houston, Robotnik is back with a towering LEGO spider mech guaranteed to stop the blue blur in his tracks. Revealed at Brickworld Chicago, where it was awarded Best Mecha Creation, Zane’s Eggscruciator mech was assembled over 7 months and hundreds of hours from many thousands of bricks (including three Rock Raider drills!). It’s an incredible accomplishment, not just for the character design, but for the pixel-perfect 16 bit terrain.
Grab a gold ring and spin dash under the fold for more pics and designer insights!
Well, shoot! That’s a big gun
Anyone who grew up on first-person shooters like Doom or Quake should recognize a few things in Steve Marsh AKA Rubblemaker’s LEGO build: the industrialized aesthetic, the glimpse of some otherworldly monster just waiting to be riddled full of bullets, and of course the giant minigun.
Tell the monster to wait a second while you inspect the build a little more.
A saintly LEGO interlude in Venice
Barthezz Brick returns to Venice and the world of Assassin’s Creed 2 with another epic diorama of Renaissance life in LEGO. Last time, Barthezz created markets, military towers, and a bustling harbor out of 250,000 bricks. For this epic encore, Barthezz focuses on a single building, but what a heavenly building it is. And of course, the diorama is bursting with character moments and amazing details.
The centerpiece church looks great with a white marble foundation and grey accents. Boomerangs and hockey sticks make for unexpected details in the church’s ornate stonework. In front of the church stands an angelic fountain, one of a handful of elements that Barthezz brought over from the last build. I love the mosaic under the fountain, incorporating cut-out tiles. We can also start to appreciate the many stories transpiring beneath the assassin’s watchful eyes, like the out-of-work builder who is about to lose his lunch to a hungry gull and a pig herder, leaving behind some stinky surprises.
Synchronize with the Animus to explore more of Renaissance Venice!
The Zero Suit Samus of Eero’s DREAMZzz
Legendary LEGO character builder Eero Okkonen has a new side hustle reviewing sets for New Elementary where he puts new parts through the paces in a companion MOC. Hot on the bright light orange heels of his Simba-based Keetongu, Eero celebrates shades of blue with an amazing Zero Suit Samus from Metroid: Other M. The seed parts this time come from a pair of DREAMZzz sets, specifically the 3×3 maxi macaroni tubes in blue found in 71480 Logan the Mighty Panda.
Eero’s goal was to integrate the tubes into larger shapes, and he definitely succeeded, with a curvy torso that makes you forget you’re looking at LEGO. Samus’ fingers also come from Mighty Panda; the reversed trigger finger looks exceptionally cool. Eero is not a fan of building guns, but for Samus’ sidearm, he makes an exception, beautifully integrating Power Miner armor into the barrel. As we’ve come to expect from Eero’s models, the color blocking is second to none (I love the tiniest hint of blue in the eyes). Longtime fans of Eero’s work might remember his earlier takes on Zero Suit Samus using Bionicle parts, first in 2013 and later in 2015, as well as Samus in her iconic Power Suit. While still impressive in their own way, it’s amazing to see what a decade of practice and a wider palette of bricks makes possible for an artist and Masterpiece Gallery alumn like Eero.
Fallout boys create Panic! at the vault door
Fallout wrapped its first season on TV, and a Fallout 5 game is still years off, but the post-apocalyptic world of Vault Dwellers and Nuka Cola lives on thanks to fans like Cube Brick who spent 8 months bringing the beloved universe to life in LEGO. The scene depicts a Raider camp built on the doorstep of Vault 27 in the Mojave Wasteland from wood scraps and rusty refuse. Cube Brick’s diorama is packed to the ghouls with incredible details lifted from recent games, while also sporting some innovative techniques to bring the wasteland to life.
Suit up and venture into the Wasteland for a close-up look and more surprises!