Mario makes the jump to Lego with new interactive sets

Nintendo and Lego are teaming up to reveal Super Mario-themed sets that combine the traditional building blocks with digital technology, creating a new type of interactive playset somewhere between regular Lego and the iconic video games. While themed sets are extremely common at Lego — Star Wars, Harry Potter, Marvel, DC, Friends, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, and more have products — the new Super Mario sets take things a step further by trying to replicate the platforming video games in physical form. Described as “neither a video game nor a traditional Lego brick-based set,” the new Mario line will let kids (or child-at-heart adults) build Mario courses out of Lego, including adorable Lego Goombas, Piranha Plants, and Koopas. They can then play through them using a special Lego Mario minifig that features LED displays and what appears to be NFC-style technology to interact with special bricks to collect coins and progress through the level.

The Lego Super Mario sets are due to launch later this year, although details on what the actual sets will be, how much they’ll cost, or when they’ll be released have yet to be announced.