As one of the most prolific toy companies in the world, LEGO has expanded its brick building empire in partnership with several popular media properties from Disney to Star Wars to Harry Potter and more. With licensing partnerships, LEGO can occasionally dip into the gaming scene as well for inspiration. LEGO has partnered with Sega to create a Sonic Mania set, and the company has developed multiple sets around Minecraft.
After decades of successful video game properties, Nintendo has finally decided to seek a partnership with the toy brick company. With a LEGO version of the NES, and multiple sets inspired by Super Mario, Nintendo and LEGO fans were able to come together in 2020. Now that the LEGO Super Mario sets have become one of LEGO's most successful launches, Nintendo should be able to see that there is a huge audience for official Nintendo LEGO products. Looking to the future, there are multiple Nintendo IPs that the company should have turned into LEGO sets next.
The Legend of Zelda
It's no surprise that a Legend of Zelda LEGO product line is at the top of the list, as fans have been hoping for it for years. With the Zelda series celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2021, this would be a perfect time for Nintendo to finally make fans' dreams a reality. LEGO sets can often range in size, as there are smaller affordable sets, all the way up to huge, thousand-plus piece products. The Legend of Zelda would be a great addition that could have both small and premium LEGO creations.
There are numerous iconic locations from across the franchise that could be transformed into LEGOs, such as Hyrule Castle, Lon Lon Ranch, Zora's Domain, and more. There could even be a LEGO Temple of Time, which a fan's concept demonstrates, since the important location appears in multiple games. As LEGO Super Mario received multiple expansions, the same could be done for a LEGO Legend of Zelda, too.
While fans will be getting more news of the sequel to Breath of the Wild later this year, there is already so much content in Breath of the Wild and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity that Nintendo could push for an entire collection based on this part of the timeline. How cool would it be to be able to build various Shrines, a corrupted version of Hyrule Castle, or even Divine Beasts like Vah Ruta? Each of the Divine Beasts could compare in size to the Star Wars AT-AT set. With The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo and LEGO could hit a gold mine.
Splatoon
For one of Nintendo's newer properties, the Splatoon series has quickly turned into a popular franchise with high potential. Soon, fans will even get another installment in the series with Splatoon 3. Ideas for LEGO Splatoon sets could include versions of some of the game's stages, like Urchin Underpass or Hammerhead Bridge. The bright, neon colors that come from ink around the fields could also make for an eye-catching set. While Splatoon might not be the best choice for huge sprawling LEGO sets like The Legend of Zelda might, LEGO could still make some worthwhile products.
Metroid Prime
While Metroid Prime 4 is quietly in development, the Nintendo Switch doesn't have much going on for Metroid fans as an alternative. Fans of the Metroid series could use a little boost, and new LEGO sets inspired by the franchise could be a welcome option. As one of the games that helped defined the popular Metroidvania genre that's still around today, it would make sense for this to be one of the next LEGO video game partnerships.
A fan previously created a unique LEGO Metroid set featuring Samus Aran and her iconic ship, which can help fans visualize what LEGO Metroid might look like. There are many possible sci-fi scenarios that could inspire LEGO creations, as the bounty hunter regularly fights the Space Pirates. Fans could even see a LEGO version of Mother Brain, one of the series' villains.
Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing has become a hugely popular village-sim series, and recent iterations like New Leaf, Pocket Camp, and New Horizons have helped introduce millions of new players to the franchise. Animal Crossing: New Horizon keeps racking up sales even a year after its release, so it would makes sense to consider the series for a LEGO collection. A LEGO Animal Crossing could also have the benefit of being more freeform that others, as a huge part of the games is a player's own choices and style.
Someone had previously submitted an Animal Crossing LEGO concept to LEGO Ideas, but it didn't wasn't chosen at the time. Possible creations could include Nook's Cranny, the Museum, Pocket Camp's campsite, or the Dodo Airlines airport from New Horizons. There are numerous possibilities for a LEGO Animal Crossing, and they could be great options for kids as well.
Nintendo Consoles
The last big idea for more Nintendo-inspired LEGOs doesn't come from any games themselves, but from Nintendo's own consoles. The LEGO Nintendo Entertainment System was released last year, and was the first LEGO option available for Nintendo properties. The LEGO NES is incredibly unique and interactive, and the same idea could be transferred to other popular Nintendo devices. LEGO could make a version of the Nintendo DS, the Wii, and even the recent Nintendo Switch.
Some fans were upset with the price of the LEGO NES set already, so LEGO might not want to make something as highly-detailed for the other ones. However, if LEGO does make any more products based on Nintendo consoles, they definitely won't be super cheap. Who knows? One day there could even be a whole collection based just on Nintendo's main consoles.
In any case, there are plenty of options that Nintendo could consider if the company wanted to keep partnering with The LEGO Group. Most of these LEGO set ideas could also come with unique mini-figures, which is a big draw for certain LEGO sets. For example, The Legend of Zelda would obviously feature Link and Zelda, and Splatoon could feature multiple Octolings.
Many series that weren't written about here could still make interesting LEGO sets as well. Fans have made their own LEGO Pokemon creations before, but the iconic franchise could easily make a cool LEGO set. Hopefully, Nintendo fans will hear news sometime soon about whether or not Nintendo will be licensing any more LEGO sets. Even though Nintendo is notoriously strict with its licensing agreements, it can only be a net good for the company to keep working with LEGO.