After months of hypothesis and a few persistent leaks, the Lego Group has introduced its newest online game collaboration: Lego Sonic the Hedgehog.
Sonic has appeared in Lego kind earlier than, after all – first within the Lego Dimensions toys-to-life online game, and later in an excellent Lego Concepts set depicting Inexperienced Hill Zone. Not like that set, nonetheless, the new official Sonic range is squarely geared toward youngsters. Correctly.
The Lego Concepts set was extra appropriate for grown-up followers of Sonic and nineties youngsters in want of a dose of nostalgia. Arrange as a diorama of a traditional Sonic stage, it wasn’t all that ‘playable’. It even shipped in a black field, which is Lego’s sign that they think about the set an 18+ product. The brand new units are the alternative, with prompt age brackets starting from 6+ for the fundamental set as much as 8+ for probably the most intricate.
As a grown up who ought to know higher who nonetheless spends effectively into 4 figures on Lego yearly, I can’t assist however be ever-so-slightly dissatisfied. And but, in my coronary heart, I do know that that is the proper path. Sonic is for teenagers, in any case, and these units look good.
It’s an identical path to that taken by Lego for its Tremendous Mario sequence, however with one key distinction. The Mario units aimed to gamify the Lego expertise by that includes bluetooth-compatible figures of Mario, Luigi, and Peach, and scannable codes on bricks. This allowed you to arrange Lego layouts, file them within the cellular app, and actively rack up excessive scores in a form of bridge expertise between Mario video video games and Mario toys. You possibly can even play it co-op. Sonic takes it again to fundamentals.
These are Sonic units, however they’re strictly toys. Sonic could be made to sprint up ramps and thru loop-de-loops by placing his minifigure in a form of Lego hamster ball after which placing it inside a launcher that’s cutely been adorned like one in every of Sonic’s iconic carnival springs. Load him into the ball after which slam your fist down on the launcher to ship Sonic flying.
Two of the 4 revealed units recreate sections of the Inexperienced Hill Zone, full with brick-built badniks, custom-molded Flickies, and power-up TVs. The bigger of those units – the largest of the bunch – additionally consists of Robotnik/Eggman himself, in a brand new minifigure kind primarily based on his trendy period design.
The units are then rounded out with a Tails’ Workshop set together with the enduring Twister biplane, and ‘Amy’s Animal Rescue Island’, a cutesy play set that has Amy taking care of a number of of the small animals that come out of defeated badniks.
With figures of Sonic, Tails, Amy, Eggman, and a spread of Flickies and Badniks, there’s clearly scope left for Lego to increase. Knuckles is probably the most notable absence, after all – however then there’s Shadow and past.
The units begin at £24.99 and vary as much as £94.99. The costs are most likely the worst of it, in truth – a part of a basic squeeze that has seen Lego costs leap just a few instances through the pandemic. However the allure of the units is plain, and it’s nice to see one other gaming icon get a brick-built run-out.
It’s price noting that the leak pegged 5 units within the Lego Sonic sequence, so it appears there’s one lacking. The set numbers vary from #76990 by #76994 – however #76993, which was on the leak, is lacking. The leak pointed to that as a mid-high vary set, across the £55-60 mark. That might be a set for adults, or it might be one other extra intricate play set – within the reveal trailer for the Sonic vary, there’s a glimpse of a brick-built Dying Egg Robotic, from Sonic 2 & Mania, at 48 seconds in. That might be the lacking set, or only a promo video unique.
Regardless, although, it feels good to see Sonic get love on this manner. He’s an ideal match for Lego, and it’s proper and correct that these units are constructed for chaotic youngsters play – sending Sonic skittering throughout the carpet, smashing into brick-built badniks who’ll dutifully explode. It’s franchise-appropriate.
As for us would-be pensioners, us 90s youngsters? Effectively, I’ll most likely be shopping for these anyway – however it’s not unreasonable to suppose Lego will most likely throw us a bone in the end. Lego Tremendous Mario is squarely geared toward kids, however to date Lego has launched one 18+ Nintendo set a 12 months within the type of issues just like the Lego NES, the Mighty Bowser, and the Mario 64 Query Mark Block diorama. Leaks additionally inform us an 18+ Zelda set could be very probably on the way in which.
Right here’s hoping we get the identical for Sega. Brick-built Mega Drive, anybody?
