Adventures with Luigi: LEGO 71387 - REVIEW

Awhile back, I reviewed the Adventures with Mario LEGO set.  Today, I have the companion set Adventures with Luigi to take a closer look at.

The Adventures with Luigi set (#71387) comes with 280 pieces including the main star, the Bluetooth-enabled Luigi figure.  Interestingly enough, the Luigi set contains about 50 more pieces than the similarly priced Mario set (which had 231 pieces).  

Much like his brother Mario, Luigi can connect to a supported device to provide interactive fun.  He has a scanner on the bottom of him to interact with various special bricks in a "Mario level" type set-up (stomping bad guys, hitting coin blocks, etc.).  In addition, Luigi's cap and overalls can be removed so that he, too, can "power up" and get different abilities (sold separately, of course - see here for one such Power Up set).

The Luigi set is meant to be a starter set for play so it comes with a number of fun elements and critters.  Of those included critters, two are of the "bad guy" variety:

That's a Bone Goomba and Boom Boom.  I love the comically oversized hands of Boom Boom!  I also applaud LEGO for including a rather unique version of a Goomba here rather than the usual brown Goombas that are present in so many other LEGO Mario sets.

In addition to the bad guys, Luigi also gets a friendly face in this set:

Yep, Pink Yoshi is here!  As you can see, Pink Yoshi comes with a tile that Luigi can interact with.  Unfortunately, Luigi can't actually ride on Yoshi like in the video games but Yoshi is still a good looking model.

The rest of the pieces in the set go to making a variety of obstacles for Luigi to traverse.  

The main attraction has to be this tower and see-saw build where a little manual dexterity can have Luigi knock Boom Boom off of his high perch.  In my play experience, this particular bit of the model worked quite well, but you definitely needed to have a rather deliberate touch to make it all work seemlessly.  My son struggled at first but he also was able to get it with a bit of practice.  

After building a fair number of the LEGO Mario sets, I have to applaud the designers for finding yet another way to make a fun (yet sturdy) dexterity element for play - and it fits wonderfully within the Mario aesthetic!

The see-saw tower build is the star of the level but there are a few other things as well for Luigi to traverse, mostly small hills plus a question block for him to hit.  Because this is a starter set, you do get the titular start pipe as well as a finish flag.  You truly can make fun levels with this one set (but, of course, the real joy is combining a starter set with any number of Mario expansion sets for a bigger, badder level)!

Although unnecessary, I also have to give a special shoutout to this little cactus build in the sand.  

Overall, this is a good starter set that comes complete with a couple of rather unique bad guys plus a Pink Yoshi.  Unfortunately, there's really only one true obstacle included in the set but at least it's interactive (and a bit more challenging than many of the other expansion obstacles).  You can definitely make an enjoyable level out of the box, though I don't think it'll take long before you'll be itching to add something else to your layout!

The Bottom Line (out of 10):

Fun:  10

Play Value:  10

Kid Value:  8

Adult Value:  3*

Overall:  9

*the "parent value" is much higher but for adult-only collectors there isn't a ton that's unique here.

In the end, I gave this a slightly higher adult value score than the similar Adventures with Mario set for two reasons.  First, you get about 50 more pieces here for the same retail price and second, I think I prefer the combination of Boom Boom and Bone Goomba here as opposed to Bowser Jr. and a regular Goomba in the Mario starter set.  

For those who are on the fence between the two sets, I'd unequivocally give the nod to the Adventures with Luigi set.  It's a better build from start to finish with better enemies and more pieces.  Sure, most people would probably prefer the Mario figure (if they only can get one) but I think it's still worth giving Mario's brother a try instead (after all, both figures are basically the same except for color)!