Lego's latest Mario collaboration is one big question mark block

Lego's latest Mario-themed set is a massive tribute to Super Mario 64, a giant question mark block that reveals four levels from the Nintendo 64 game: Peach's Castle; Bob-omb Battlefield; Cool, Cool Mountain; And the deadly lava trouble. The "Lego Super Mario 64? Block Set", to use its official title, is made up of over two thousand pieces and will cost $169.99 when it goes on sale in Lego's stores on October 1.

From the trailer released today, the set looks great: four blocky dioramas of a game that themselves look pretty blocky by modern standards. But I have to part hair and point out that, as far as I know, the question mark block never actually appears in Super Mario 64. Seriously, go back and check out the screenshots if you don't believe me! There are very few exclamation marks on those blocks, not question marks!

Along with the levels, you also find some figurines of characters from the original game, including Princess Peach, King Bob-omb, Chain Chomp, and of course, Mario himself. If you've maintained Lego's previous Mario sets, you'll be happy to hear that your existing Lego Mario and Luigi figurines will also work with the sets and unlock unique music and sounds when placed in levels.

The announcement of the new set suggests that Lego has no intention of ending its collaboration with Nintendo. The Danish toy company released its first Mario set last year and added a Luigi figurine to the mix in 2021, along with other expansion sets. It also produced a blocky replica of the original Nintendo Entertainment System console with a miniature retro TV.

Personally, though, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that these sets are popular enough to consider Lego some of the sets based on Nintendo's other major franchises, such as The Legend of Zelda or Metroid. Plumbers are great and all, but I find it very hard to resist a small Lego replica of Samus Aran's spaceship on my shelf. May be one day?