Back when LEGO first announced their Super Mario line of sets, I was admittedly quite excited about many of them. That being said, there was one element of the new line that was definitely not interested in - the Power-Up Packs (basically a change of clothes for the Mario figure).
Flash forward a couple of years later and now my son is super into playing with the LEGO Mario sets. He saw an ad for one of the Power-Up Packs and asked me if I'd get him one. The good news is that I was able to turn today's Power-Up Pack into a reward for good behavior (or maybe good eating, who can remember with a toddler)? Anyhow, thanks to my son I've got a Power-Up Pack to review...and you've been warned that I'm coming into this review with the assumption that this set isn't for me at all.
The Fire Mario "set" comes with a mere 11 pieces. There's not much to the set itself - you get a new hat for Mario along with new pants plus a couple of small plates to store everything on (useful for putting the Fire Mario power-up somewhere in a large LEGO level)!
The gray masonry brick is appreciated, if nothing else. The LEGO Mario figure itself (sold separately) has a sensor that can determine what pants the Mario figure is wearing. If Mario has the white "fire Mario" pants on, then he gains "fire power." Basically, he makes a different sound if you tilt him (as if he's shooting fireballs). This allows Mario to pick up additional coins throughout the level. It's cute for minute but ultimately the fireballs are all in your imagination so your mileage may vary on how neat or useful this is to you!
Admittedly, when Mario puts his new pants on and lets out a little excited cheer you can't help but smile...and if a dad can smile then I guess this set isn't so bad after all!
As for my son, he loves this set. He finds it fun to mix and match Mario's outfits (changing the pants but not the hats or vice-versa). He thinks it's great to gain the fire power-up partway through a level as well. In short, this little set has brought him a ton of joy and happiness...way more than I expected!
The Bottom Line (out of 10):
Fun: 3
Play Value: 3
Kid Value: 8
Adult Value: 1
Overall: 3
The LEGO Fire Mario Power-Up set is saved from the dreaded 1 ranking because of how much son loves it. As an adult collector, this set doesn't offer much at all - basically a change of clothes for Mario (but then you've got his regular blue pants lying around which is kind of weird). That said, clearly this set is aimed at kids and kids love this kind of stuff apparently! Kudos to LEGO (and Nintendo) for hitting their target demographic so well here (at least, I assume young kids are the target demo for stuff like this).
I've been ranking all of the various Mario expansion sets that I've built (and played with) but it doesn't feel right to include the Power-Up set in that ranking seeing as how it's a totally different sort of set. I'll start a new ranking for the Power-Up outfits...mostly because after I saw how much my son loved the Fire Mario outfit and I was able to pick up a couple of other outfits on sale (more on those at a later date when I build them)!
Best LEGO Super Mario Expansions:
- Reznor Knockdown (review link, 9/10)
- Whomp's Lava Trouble (review link, 9/10)
- Boomer Bill Barrage (review link, 3/10)
- Chain Chomp Jungle Encounter (review link, 2/10)
Best LEGO Mario Power-Up Outfits:
- Fire Mario (3/10)
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