Continuing our survey of LEGO® Super Mario Expansion sets, today we look at one that is a little different: 71367 Mario’s House and Yoshi. Compared to the sets we have otherwise looked at, this one offers a change of pace: it provides not so much a place for action in the game, but rather a place for Mario to rest in-between. Mario’s house adds to the scenery, but does give us a place to conceal a power-up, and comes with a superstar. It also brings us Mario’s friend, Yoshi.

As with other Expansion sets, the front of the box demonstrates ‘What you get in the pack’ and reminds the purchaser that Lego Mario is not included. The back off the box shows a layout incorporating the start and end gates from the starter set, as well as examples of the play features included in the set.

The Elements.

Our first bag of elements includes the parts to build Yoshi. You access the instructions through the App – after building Yoshi, you scan the tile on his back and unlock the rest of the instructions for the set.

Yoshi features a number of lime green elements, including SNOT Bricks, a brick with this eyes printed on the side, and and orange 2×2 leg element. He has arms which plug into the holes in some technic bricks.

The next bag contains the elements for Mario’s House itself. We have an 8×8 landscape plate in bricght green, as well as several 2×12 plates. We have a 3×4 tile with rounded ends ( a new mould for this theme) and several other printed elements: the Suprer star brick, as well as the scannable tile which goes on top of it. The house is predominantly a bright yellowish orange with a red roof. The door is a typical castle style door, with a printed lock tile.

Our final bag builds a tree, as well as a hammock – incorporating a new fabric element, striped white and bright yellowish orange.. We also have a Goomba, with a new face print compared to those we have seen in other packs.

The Characters

We have two buildable characters in this expansion set: Yoshi – built in Bright yellowish green, looks very much like Mario’s friend from the video game. As is the way for Mario’s friends, Yoshi’s scannable tile site on the landscape, rather than on his back.

The Goomba included in this set (on the right in the picture) has his mouth partly open, scowling rather than just looking grumpy. He has the same scan box on his back as the other Goombas in the theme. I appreciate the new print here, and am glad to see some variety in these common or garden foes.

Landscape:

There are several aspects of the build in this set: Mario’s House, the Tree and Hammock and the paths in between.

The roof of Mario’s house opens up to reveal a concealed Super Star – more about that later. Unfortunately, the Mario Brick does not fit through the door, and can barely stand under the roof. He can, however, jump on the roof and open the panels up – which you can see in the video later.

Mario’s hammock is strung up between a tree, which shares design cues with the Mushroom Village, and a stump. The tree stump can be gently rotated from side to side, and Mario will go to sleep. He cannot sleep during a game, but can at other times he is switched on.

The paths to and from the house feature a small letter box, a fence and also a printed sign.

Action Bricks.

There are three action bricks to scan in this expansion pack.

Yoshi’s scannable code is on the ground in front of him. Each time Mario lands on it, he says a greeting ‘Hello’, ‘It’s-a me’ ‘hello again’, and has a heart appear on his chest.

We have the Goomba’s scannable tile (1 coin per scan)

And then, hidden in the roof of Mario’s House, we have the Super Star box.

As you might know from the video games, the Super Star conveys a number of abilities to Mario.

In LEGO Super Mario, star power gives Mario:

• Invulnerability: he is not stunned if he falls off a slider or swing platform
• Double coin rewards when scanning enemies
• The ability to defeat ghosts

While star power in activated, there is distinctive music, which you will recognise from the Mario Video Games.

Mario’s House does not, in itself, add a lot to game play, but it does add a few features that people will find appealing: Mario’s House itself is sweet in a cartoonish kind of a way, this is the only way to get fan favourite character Yoshi, although this does not add special powers to Mario (unlike the game).

From the Design Lead – Jonathan Bennink:

From the start, LEGO and the Nintendo team really wanted Mario to have a home. A place where he can get some naps in, in between all the running and jumping that he does. So, we have created Mario’s House. And in Mario’s house we have his best buddy Yoshi, who he can talk to, and get some coins from. There’s a little hammock here, beneath the tree, and you can slowly gently rock him to sleep. And of course, he can go into his little house as well.

Personally, I an not convinced of Mario’s ability to enter the house: certainly not through the door, while standing up… but he certainly has somewhere to rest, with little peril along the way.

This set is one of two that contain the Superstar power block: the other is in 71377 King Boo and the Haunted Yard. The super star boxes are a great way to get invincibility from dangers like lava, or falling down, and getting stunned. To say nothing about being essential for defeating ghosts. Things that would otherwise leave you unable to score coins for a few seconds. It is also possible to get a period of star power from the question mark box -found in the starter set, as well as 71369 Bowser’s Castle Boss Battle. You can access both in a single game: a Star block, and Question mark block.

This is also the only way to get the fan favorite Yoshi character. At 29,99 USD EUR – $AU49.99/$NZ59.99, and only 205 pieces, I think there are some features of this set that will make it desirable to diehard fans, but I am not convinced that it adds lots to the game play.

What do you think of this set? Is it one for you? Why not leave your comments below, and until next time,

Play Well.

This set was provided by the LEGO group for Review Purposes. All opinions are my own