Lego’s newly-released Mario Kart sets are going to be a problem for me. They’re just so dang delightful. In celebration of MAR10 DAY, aka “Mario Day” the folks over at Lego sent over the Standard Kart and Baby Peach & Grand Prix sets to build – and after several wonderful hours with them, I can feel myself dangling over an abyss. With clever design, colourful characters, and a theme that is entirely moreish, the temptation to host my own semi-official Lego Grand Prix is growing.
Let’s start with the Standard Kart – aka the Trojan Horse that’ll likely get your engines revving. It’s a small build, but a very clever and very cute one. It includes a standard kart with a Mario glider, a mechanic Toad, and a small mechanic station. Both the kart and the station have interactive chips, so if you’ve got the other Super Mario sets (and thankfully, I do), you can use these in tandem. If you don’t, there’s a hint and a nudge to go get them (although you can leave the chips aside if you want to stay strong.)
As with most Lego build, the instructions here lend themselves to a careful, rewarding build process. You begin with the the bottom slab of the kart, and slowly, brick by brick, build it up, flip it around, add more bricks, and eventually see the kart come together, front to back. There’s no real surprises in this build, but there are some rather clever inclusions.
I particularly liked the shell-firing device (which features on most karts in this set), and the way the flame pieces are used to represent engine ignition is very fun. The inclusion of a banana is also well-appreciated – these new Lego pieces are tiny and adorable.
The one quirk of this set I’ll call out is the glider sail. This is a plasticky inclusion that feels a bit flimsy – and I didn’t feel great about pulling it to fit the circular slots in its underlying framework. It almost felt like I was going to break it if I wanted a nice, flat look, and it was the most stressful part of the build. Still, it does look good – and it ties the whole kart together.
While the Toad included with this kit is technically meant to be on the mechanic side, I figured, since he came with the set, he should get first privileges of riding the Kart – so I set him up, and moved onto the Baby Peach & Grand Prix Set, which is the flagship for this particular series.
Not only is it the flashiest set of the bunch, it also features the most clever kart designs, as well as everything you need to give the Lego Mario Kart sets the proper sense of place and theming they deserve.
This particular set comes with three racers – Toad, Baby Peach, and Lemmy – on their respective karts, laneways and traffic lights, Lakitu on his cloud, a vending kart, a winner’s podium, question blocks, and a yellow brick start line.
I particularly enjoyed building the individual karts, as each has their own nifty quirks and unique pieces, but the start line, with its many stickers, also proved to be an engaging little challenge. The guide for this set starts with the karts, so I’ll also start there.
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Toad’s bike is a small and nifty build that comes together fairly quickly – although I did briefly get confused by an instruction for how to attack the front wheel (it’s a matter of placing parts in the right position, then inserting particular pins). Once I made sense of the diagram, Toad was up and running.
Lemmy’s ship-like build is far more satisfying, with new parts to create a spike cannon being particularly cool. This kart is essentially a bathtub, with lots of little details to give it a stylish pirate vibe. Lemmy is also great, with basic building pieces coming together to form a colourful mohawk.
Then, we get to Baby Peach’s Wiggler Kart. This was, hands-down, my favourite build of the two sets I was given. It’s just so fun. With orange and yellow pieces, you’ll build up this abstract kart, half wondering how on earth it’s going to coalesce – then you flip it around, add feet, eyes, a button nose, and a little flower at the top, and suddenly you’re facing down a very recognisable Wiggler. Paired with Baby Peach herself – who is very, very cute in Lego form – this is one of the best inclusions overall.
Add in that aforementioned start line, and those racer-adjacent accessories, and you’ve got an inventive set that lends itself well to future expansion. After all, you can’t have a proper Mario Kart race with only four racers, right? It simply wouldn’t sit right.
And when the rest of the set includes fan-favourite characters like Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, and more Toads, there’s plenty of slick racers to add to your collection. The funny part is I can see what Lego is doing. I can see how this set is clearly designed to be extremely collectible. Yet I can’t stop myself from wanting more.
The Mario Kart set, so far, is a moreish, well-designed new addition to the Lego lineup, and one that no doubt has a bright future ahead – in my own display cabinet, and in the wider world. Well played, Lego. You win this round.
And a happy MAR10 Day to those who celebrate.
A Lego Mario Kart Standard Kart and Baby Peach & Grand Prix Set was provided by Lego via Thrive PR to celebrate MAR10 Day, and for the purposes of this review.
