You probably remember the first time you saw them. Those blocky, wide-eyed figures that look like they swallowed a small computer. Well, they basically did. LEGO Mario and LEGO Luigi aren't just plastic toys you stick on a shelf to collect dust alongside your old Star Wars sets. They’re weird. They’re loud. Honestly, they’re one of the most ambitious things LEGO has ever tried because they bridge that awkward gap between physical bricks and a Nintendo Switch screen.
If you grew up building pirate ships or castle walls, the idea of a battery-powered plumber might feel like a gimmick. It isn't. When Nintendo and LEGO announced this partnership back in 2020, people expected a standard Minifigure set. Instead, we got these chunky, electronic units with LCD eyes and a chest screen that reacts to color. It was a risk.
What’s Actually Happening Inside LEGO Mario and LEGO Luigi?
The tech is surprisingly sophisticated for something meant to be tossed around by an eight-year-old. Each figure—whether you’ve got Mario, Luigi, or even Peach—uses an optical sensor. It’s tucked away at the bottom. This sensor reads specific "Action Bricks," which are basically barcodes printed on tiles.
But it’s more than just barcodes.
The figures also have an accelerometer and a gyroscope. This means if you make Mario "jump," he makes that iconic boing sound. If you lay him on his back, his eyes start to droop and he eventually falls asleep, snoring through his tiny speaker. It’s charming, if a little creepy when it happens in a dark room at 2 AM.
LEGO Luigi arrived a bit later, in 2021, and he brought something the original set desperately needed: multiplayer. Before Luigi showed up, you were just a person playing by yourself, chasing high scores in a vacuum. Once you sync Mario and Luigi via Bluetooth, the game changes. They can interact. They earn extra coins for synchronized actions like walking, flipping, or defeating enemies together. It turns a solitary building experience into a cooperative game.
The Bluetooth Secret
Connecting the two brothers is usually pretty seamless. You press the Bluetooth button on their backs, wait for the chime, and they "bond." You'll see a little scarf icon on their chest screens. It’s a small detail, but it makes the digital-physical hybrid feel intentional rather than tacked on.
Building a Level vs. Building a Set
Here is where a lot of people get frustrated. If you buy a standard LEGO Star Wars X-Wing, you follow the manual, you build the ship, and you’re done. LEGO Mario and LEGO Luigi don't work like that. The "Starter Courses" give you the basic components—the Start Pipe, the Goal Pole, some enemies like Goombas or Bowser Jr., and the hero figure.
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The rest? That’s on you.
The LEGO Super Mario app is the "manual," but it’s really more of a suggestion. You are encouraged to build "levels," not sets. You have 60 seconds (usually) to get from the start to the finish, scanning as many Action Bricks as possible to rack up coins. It’s essentially a physical version of Super Mario Maker.
Some people hate this. They want a structured build. But for the kids—and the adults who still have a creative spark—it’s an infinite sandbox. You can integrate your old bricks from the 90s. Want Mario to climb a tower made of gray castle bricks from 1994? The sensor doesn't care. It’ll still count his jumps.
Color Sensing 101
The optical sensor doesn't just read barcodes; it reads colors.
- Green tiles are treated as grass. Mario walks safely.
- Blue tiles are water. He "swims."
- Red tiles are lava. If he stays on red too long, he gets "hurt," his eyes turn to Xs, and he’s out of commission for a few seconds.
- Yellow is sand.
This color-sensing tech is what makes the "creative" part of the build actually functional. You can use any red bricks you own to create a lava pit. You don't need the official Super Mario branded red plates. That’s a level of compatibility that feels very "old-school LEGO," despite the high-tech guts of the figures.
The Luigi's Mansion Expansion Was a Turning Point
If you’re looking for the best way to experience these toys, the Luigi’s Mansion sets are widely considered the peak of the line. Why? Because they introduced actual mechanics beyond just "hit the enemy."
In these sets, LEGO Luigi gets to use the Poltergust (the vacuum). You have to "catch" ghosts by moving the figure in a specific way. It felt less like a random toy and more like a structured game. It also leaned into the personality of the characters. Luigi’s expressions are different from Mario’s; he’s more hesitant, his voice is higher, and he looks genuinely terrified when he scans a ghost tile.
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Nintendo’s influence is heavy here. They are protective of their IP, and it shows in the sound design. Every sound effect is pulled directly from the games. When you pick up a Fire Flower, the music changes. When you hit the Goal Pole, you get the classic level-clear theme. It triggers a dopamine hit for anyone who spent their childhood glued to an NES or SNES.
Why People Think It’s a Flop (And Why They’re Wrong)
You’ll see a lot of "LEGO Mario is too expensive" or "It’s just a glorified app" talk on Reddit.
Sure, the price adds up. A Starter Course is around $60, and if you want the cool expansions like Bowser’s Castle or the Diddy Kong mine cart, you’re looking at another $100+. But calling it a flop ignores the sales data. Since 2020, this has been one of LEGO’s most successful themes. It’s not for the "Adult Fan of LEGO" (AFOL) who wants a display piece like the Titanic. It’s for the generation of kids who find a static toy boring.
The "app-dependency" is a valid criticism, though. You need the app to see the building instructions. There is no paper manual in the box. LEGO claims this is for environmental reasons and to allow for 3D rotation of the steps, but let’s be real: it’s to keep you in their ecosystem. If the app ever disappears from the App Store, you’ve got a very expensive paperweight.
The Battery Life Situation
Powering these guys requires two AAA batteries. They last a decent amount of time, but if you leave them on, they’ll drain. It’s annoying. You'll be in the middle of a high-score run and Luigi will just... die. Always keep a pack of Eneloops or other rechargeables nearby.
Pro Tips for Managing Your LEGO Mario and LEGO Luigi Collection
If you're diving into this, or if you're a parent trying to make sense of the pile of bricks on the floor, here are some hard-earned truths.
1. Update the Firmware Immediately
The moment you take Mario or Luigi out of the box, connect them to the app. They almost certainly need a firmware update. If you don't do this, the newer expansion sets won't work. The figure will just show a "Bluetooth" or "Update" icon and refuse to play.
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2. The "Mute" Trick
These things are loud. There is a volume setting in the app, but honestly, sometimes you just want them to shut up. You can actually play with them without the sound, but you lose the feedback of whether you actually hit the barcode.
3. Organize by Action Bricks
Don't worry about the specific sets. Group your pieces by what they do. Keep all your "interactables" (chests, power-ups, enemies) in one bin. Use your "filler" bricks (the plates and connectors) in another. It makes building a new "level" way faster than hunting through a giant pile for that one 2x2 barcode tile.
4. Watch the Eyes
The LCD screens are surprisingly durable, but they can scratch. If the "eyes" get too scratched, the figure looks a bit haunted. Store them upright or in a dedicated case if you’re a collector.
The Future of the Brick-Built Mushroom Kingdom
We’ve seen Mario, Luigi, and Peach. We’ve seen the 18+ sets like the NES console, the Question Mark Block, and the massive Bowser. But what’s next? Rumors always swirl about Zelda or Donkey Kong (who eventually got his own sub-theme).
The real magic happens when you stop following the instructions. The best "levels" I’ve seen aren't the ones on the box. They’re the ones where people have built massive, room-spanning gauntlets using books, pillows, and LEGO. That’s where the value is. It’s a bridge between the physical world and the digital world that actually works, provided you have enough AAA batteries to keep the lights on.
The integration of Luigi was the turning point. It proved that this wasn't just a one-off experiment but a platform. By allowing the two figures to talk to each other, LEGO solved the biggest problem with the original Mario: the "watch me play" factor. Now, it’s "play with me."
Actionable Steps for New Players
- Start with the Luigi Starter Course if you only buy one. He’s arguably a more interesting character, and his sets (like the Mansion series) are better designed.
- Don't buy every expansion. Focus on the ones that offer unique "biomes" like the desert or the jungle. These give Mario and Luigi different reactions and coin-earning potentials.
- Check the barcodes. If a figure isn't reading a tile, wipe the sensor on the bottom with a microfiber cloth. Dust is the enemy of the optical scanner.
- Mix in your own bricks. The sensor reads colors. Use your existing stash to build out the world and save money on the "official" expansion plates.
- Use the "Challenge" mode in the app. It gives you specific goals that force you to build more creatively rather than just running in a straight line.
LEGO Mario and LEGO Luigi are a weird experiment that succeeded. They aren't perfect, and they certainly aren't cheap, but they offer a way to play that didn't exist ten years ago. Just remember to turn them off before you go to bed, or the "Mamma Mia!" from the toy box will definitely give you a heart attack.