Nintendo Lego sets: two childhood titans slot together perfectly

Digital and analogue modes of play combine in a new nostalgia-infused toy collection that will have all generations entranced

If there are two things that defined my 1990s childhood (apart from Disney) they would be Nintendo and Lego. Like many millennials I have never entirely grown out of either. In a cabinet in my spare room sits a perfect Lego Simpsons house, miniature cityscapes of Berlin and London, and a blocky Mini. As for the video games, well, I've turned them into a career; I've been a games journalist and critic for more than 15 years, and own more Mario games than I'm comfortable admitting.

All of which means I am an absolute sucker for the Nintendo-themed Lego sets that came out this month. Aimed at younger Lego fans, the Super Mario sets (a starter set is 49.99, with an eye-wateringly expensive array of expansions, from 3.49 character packs to an 80 Bowser's Castle) offer bright bricks that can be combined to make real-world Mario levels, and an electronic Mario toy who comes to life to jump around them.