There are a few things that make playing Mario Kart Fun: one is beating the computer powered racers around the track. Another is thwarting the efforts of your families and friends by throwing bananas and shells at them. The Standard Kart was missing any form of Power-up. Today we look at the 72031 Yoshi Bike. With a Brick-built Yoshi, Yoshi themed cycle, and a new Mario Kart ‘?’ Brick, it has the potential to make the race a bit more fun. How will it turn out? Is it worth adding this $AUD19.99/USD14.99/€14.99/ £12.99 set to grid?

Lets take a look. We will explore the build, look at the power-up – use it in a single-player time trial and a two-player race, and see how the experience pans out for us. We shall also see how legacy powerups (Yellow ? blocks, POW, Time Bonus, Star Power and Super Mushroom) work in this setting.

Here are the elements: we have a few printed parts for the Yoshi figure, as well as some tiles printed with Yoshi’s egg, and a dish with green spots on it.

We see some of the new ‘Mario Kart standard wheels, as well as the new shell and banana elements.

In the first bag, we construct the figure (there is no action tag associated with the blue yoshi.), and add some witch’s hats for the bike to swerve between. Ther is an action stage on the ? Block.

The bike is a relatively simple to construct. we start up with a pair of forts and some securing plates; some arches, and a 4×4 green rounded plate for the seat. The ‘Start’ action tile goes on top of the seat, which is then covered in read plates.

We add in the wheels, handlebars and windscreen, and add a shell launcher on the tail end of the back. The printed dishes only go onto the left side of the bike – it looks a little strange going in the other direction. It feels like a decision to meet a price point was made here…

I also found that the front end of the bike, as well as the shell launcher, were included to fall off with rough play.

Yoshi can ride on the bike, for some zoomy fun, or you can balance an interactive brick on the back.

The Mario Kart Q Block.

The original Q block is like a 5 in one mystery box: Extra time, Star Power, 5 coins and 10 coins. The choice of the 4 options is made randomly, and once used, each item is replaced by a single coin.

The new Q block contains another 4 options: Blue Shell, Banana, Bullet Bill and Golden Mushroom.

Mario rotates through a coloured pattern on his chest screen colours on his chest, followed by the selected option.

The Bullet Bill earns 12 coins

The Golden Mushroom Scores 4 coins

The Blue Shell Gives you 12 coins

The Banana gives you 4 coins

If you are playing in dual player mode,being hit by the Blue shell or banana the other player into a ‘no coin state’

Lets Get Interactive I: Single Player Race.

Using the Yoshi Cycle, I started the race, by swivelling the bike back and forth, and hopping onto the ?Brick as often as I could. Jumping onto the brick as often as I could, I was able to get 5 bonuses during a 60 second race.

Dual racers.

After exchanging pleasantries(and connecting them via Bluetooth – see their yellow scarfs – Mario and Peach get into their respective vehicles. When Peach jumps onto the bike, Yoshi’s egg appears on her screen. Oddly, Mario just gets an exclamation mark when he enters the Kart. (Is this something needed to be updated in software)

We start the race by swivelling Peach’s bike back and forth. Along the way, we take turns to scan the ?-Brick. Take a look:

A few things are apparent:

• When rolling a ?-brick selection, the brick cannot be scanned by either player until
• Neither player can scan while the one is performing an action (sending a banana or blue shell), riding a Bullet Bill or Growing a golden Mushroom.
• The a figure in a ‘No coin State’ Cannot scan anything. The other player can.
• the no coin state is longer after being hit by a blue shell than with a banana.
• The leading player displays a crown on their chest screen.

I love the way the characters apologise to each other, and enquire after their welfare just after they throw the missile at the other player.

Legacy Powerups

I reviewed the effect of the legacy powerups in this article several years ago. The trial and error is dull to watch: suffice to say I arrived at a few conclusions.

Using the Time Brick

• Adds 30 seconds to the duration of the Race

Star Power Brick:

• No invulnerability
• NO Double Points
• Does extend time. Both players torsos show star power at the same time.

Super Mushroom

Super Mushroom will often save Mario from a no coin state in the case of a fall, in the standard game. It does save the brick from a no coin state in the event of a fall from the kart or bike, but not from the band or blue shell. (the clutch power on the character bricks is not strong. This allows easy movement from one place to another.), but not from a banana or blue shell.

Using the Yellow ?-Brick:

• Coins are the same
• 15 second time bonus gets added to the game
• Star Power: time is extended BUT there are no double points AND NO Invulnerability
• Super Mushroom – strength against simple falls

POW Brick:

In the video game, activating a POW in the face of an incoming blue shell will repel it. In this game, it offers no protection. It does, however, allow Mario to smite a multi-strike enemy with a single blow.

End Tile

The interactive brick can finish the race by landing here ahead of the finish time. Unlike the normal Mario Game, there does not appear to be a bonus for landing here before the clock runs out. In a two player game the race continues for the remaining player

What about enemies?

If you choose to jump off your bike and smash a few Goombas, you can do that – scanning them for a coin works as normal. The star power seems to works ‘normally’ when attacking enemies (double points). I have not tested this with every enemy – particularly those that have ‘unique’ properties such as ghosts, Amp or Freezie.

In conclusion

The addition of the scannable Mario Kart Q-brick included in greatly enhances the game play for LEGO Mario Kart, compared to the standard kart (72032) alone.

I recommend this set for value for money, although I recognise there have been a few compromises in its final design- particularly only two printed dishes over the wheels, as well as intrinsic weakness with enthusiastic handling in play. Still, the interactive features do make it fun, and it doubled the fun to be had with the standard Kart. I look forward to investigating other sets in the Mario Kart Range in the future.

You can find the LEGO Super Mario/Mario Kart sets out now at LEGO.com

The Yoshi Bike has 171 pieces and has a retail price of $AUD19.99/USD14.99/€14.99/ £12.99