While LEGO has long been known for crossing over with popular franchises ranging from movies like Star Wars and Indiana Jones to video games like Minecraft, the unique LEGO Super Mario sets featuring a digitally enhanced Mario figure are popular. Luigi got his own LEGO figure with different sets nearly a year after the concept hit store shelves, and after that it should be no surprise to see the toy company capitalizing on the spookier side of the Mario universe.
LEGO Luigi's Mansion sets were announced today, just in time for Halloween - though the three sets revealed have no official release date. As a follow-up to Super Mario 64-themed LEGO sets announced earlier this year, Luigi's Mansion is a perfect subject for the season. However, it's also a telling move, as it shows LEGO and Nintendo are willing to break into more than just core Super Mario content. That means even if Luigi's Mansion is a great place to start, there are tons of other games with spooky content to adapt that would work for future Halloween announcements.
Mario Games With Great Halloween Content for LEGO Sets
The three Luigi's Mansion LEGO sets have plenty to offer fans, from a Poultergust that Luigi can equip to characters like Professor E. Gadd, King Boo trapping people in portraits, and even Bogmire - a more deep-cut boss from the original game. However, its characters and environments largely pull from that first game, which means there's always room for future releases to capitalize on the titular power source from Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon or environments from The Last Resort hotel in Luigi's Mansion 3.
Luigi's Mansion isn't the only series LEGO has to draw Halloween content from. Boos and Ghost Houses have been part of Super Mario games for a long time, and creepy aesthetics are one major facet of level design that developers frequently dip into. The Super Mario Galaxy duology has a few haunted galaxies with memorable bosses like Bouldergeist (who is already similar in design to Bogmire) or the skeletal Kingfin. Super Mario 64 also has untapped courses like Big Boo's Haunt that could be built inside a cage.
Smaller games and spin-offs also have plenty to offer. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins has Pumpkin Zone, a series of levels built inside an enormous pumpkin; meanwhile Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door has Twilight Town, under a swine curse set by Doopliss in the Creepy Steeple. LEGO could even pull inspiration from Mario Party Superstars' revival of Horror Land and make a set inspired by that or other boards such as Mario Party 8's Haunted Hideaway.
Other Holidays and Seasons Could be Celebrated by LEGO Super Mario
The other arguably great thing about the Luigi's Mansion LEGO announcement is it shows a general willingness to celebrate holidays using unique content. Halloween may be a popular time of year with a lot of spooky source material to utilize, but it isn't the only time of year that LEGO sets could play up.
December is home to a multitude of holidays like Christmas, Hannukah, and Kwanzaa, and in the United States especially the month comes alongside a winter aesthetic and state of mind. The Super Mario 64 crossover covers some of this with a set based on Cool, Cool Mountain, but any number of snowy levels could be added to the list. Meanwhile, specific holidays such as Valentine's Day could emphasize romantic affection by pulling from the emotional Super Princess Peach, or the Broodals from Super Mario Odyssey could be used in an Easter set.
The idea of seasonal content also makes Super Mario Sunshine an obvious contendor for unique LEGO sets. Hotel Delfino may be more suitable for Halloween thanks to its ghostly infestation, but everything from the chill Gelato Beach to the hyperactive Pinna Park could all sell summertime and a F.L.U.U.D. accessory for Mario. There are plenty of possibilities now that Luigi's Mansion-themed LEGO sets have opened the floodgates, so it's simply a matter of waiting to see what else crops up in the future.
LEGO Super Mario: Luigi's Mansion sets are coming soon.