We’re fast approaching the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. this month, and while the creator of this latest fan project hasn’t confirmed whether or not this is a tribute to the plumber’s huge upcoming milestone, it’s certainly fitting that it uses both bookends of Mario’s legacy so far. Twitter user @r1ckp has combined the game that started it all, Super Mario Bros., with Mario’s latest big hit, the Lego Super Mario figure.
The self-professed hardware hacker has re-coded the game to support the Lego toy as a motion controller. In the video below, he tilts the figure left and right to make the onscreen Mario move in the respective direction, and quickly lifts it to make Mario jump.
Wrote some code to use the #legosupermario to play #SuperMario pic.twitter.com/LOuECESPgT
— Rick (@r1ckp) September 2, 2020
In a follow-up tweet, Rick says he has even implemented more functionality than he showed in the footage. He can make Mario shoot fireballs “by touching the figurine on a red tile,” and make descend down pipes “by putting [Lego] Mario into the pipe end that comes with the Lego Mario set.” For the experienced tech tweakers out there that would love to try this out, you’re in luck, and Rick also says he plans to share the code soon.
The Lego Mario sets have inspired a number of amazing fanmade projects, such as a real-life, interactive Paper Mario level and a Lego Blooper boss fight. If you’d like to learn more about the full range of Super Mario mini figures, be sure to check out Nintendo Wire’s Jason and Lauren assemble and look at them all in last month’s video.
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Written by Reece Heather
A lifelong Nintendo fan and a longtime editor at Zelda Universe, Reece will forever be grateful that he somehow dodged the Naughty List of Christmas 1998, when Santa delivered the life-changing gift of a Nintendo 64 with Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, and Mario Kart 64. When he's not playing games, Reece is usually reading Punisher comics, delving helplessly into the weirdest depths of anime and manga, or spending time with his cocker spaniel Gracie -- the goodest girl ever!
