Lego has announced its latest collaboration with Nintendo at San Diego Comic-Con: a pixelated recreation of Mario and Yoshi from the 16-bit Super Nintendo classic, Super Mario World. Like Lego’s Art sets, it’s a 2D creation meant for display but also includes hidden moving mechanisms, bringing Yoshi to life.
The 1,215-piece set stands over 15 inches tall when assembled and features a yellow-caped Mario riding Yoshi atop a grass-covered hill. The front of the set is assembled from Lego tiles and looks to be a very accurate recreation of the 16-bit sprites used in Super Mario World.
But when you turn the set around, it becomes very obvious why Lego is positioning this as a display piece. Lego’s designers incorporated a pair of mechanisms to recreate the game’s sprite animations. Turning a crank attached to the base makes Yoshi’s legs run in an endless loop, while a knob on the back opens the dinosaur’s mouth and makes his bright red tongue pop in and out.
