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As a kid, there were few job titles more appealing than ‘Pokemon Trainer’. Thanks to Pikachu and pals, tufts of tall grass quickly became an all-consuming obsession for me in the ‘90s. Whether roaming the Essex countryside on family walks, or peering wistfully out of car windows, my synapses sparked with imagination whenever I saw flashes of foliage, picturing weird and wonderful creatures scuttling just out of sight. Yet, while I partially lived out that fantasy by battling monsters on my monochromatic Game Boy screen, I still secretly dreamed of one day befriending my very own Pokémon.
25 years later, Lego has made my childhood wish come true. Unlike the purely collectible adult-focused recent Kanto models (one of which made its way onto our list of the best Lego sets overall), the next wave of brick-tastic Pokémon sees the cutesy creatures roaring to life. Infused with Lego’s new Smart Brick, slotting one of the tech-stuffed bricks inside your chosen ‘mon - one of 19 - suddenly turns these static toys into gurgling creatures. As Pikachu greets me with an enthusiastic ‘Pika!’ before chowing down on a berry-shaped brick I place in front of him, it elicits an immediate grin from this grumpy 35 year old.
If you want a look at the entire Lego Pokemon range, you can check out all 15 current sets at Lego's official store.
When it was first unveiled in January, I struggled to understand what a Smart Brick actually did. It turns out, this shiny tech transforms your grandad’s Lego brick into a toy that detects motion, has flashing LEDs, and a speaker. Part Buzz Lightyear, part Tamagotchi, these build-able buddies respond whether you rub their belly or decide to train them for battle. However, I quickly discovered that Pikachu wasn’t mine to rope into adventures just yet - I’d have to catch him. After chucking a tiny lego Pokéball at a target built into the playset - hidden behind lego-made tall grass, of course - my yellow friend was ready to journey alongside me. Yet I’m surprised to learn that initially, forming this kind of bond with your Legomon wasn’t actually on the cards - until some kids steered Lego’s designers in the right direction.
“We spent a lot of time with children…they come in for play tests… and they give us input and feedback,” explains Siddharth Muthyala, Lego Pokémon designer, “The biggest thing they've been telling us about is about the Pokémon trainer journey, they want to catch Pokémon, they want to nurture them, train them, battle them. That's something we've heard over and over again. ”
Each Smart Brick recognises the individual Pokémon you've connected it to, embodying their unique personality. When you move Charizard through the air he soars with an authentic ‘wooshing’ sound. Place three Pokémon next to each other and they all begin to chat, vocalising enthusiastically in grin-inducing Poké gibberish. You can feed them either berries or sandwiches, with each ‘mon having their own meal time preferences. Place a Pokémon on their side and they even begin to snore in their own specific way. It’s a surprisingly fun magic trick,.
Still, this is Pokémon after all - and it wasn’t long before these creatures were made to do battle. Once you’ve got your new bricky buddy on side, you can have them hit a target built into the background of the Lego environment that comes with your chosen ‘mon, and their stats will slowly increase, making them stronger for their next battle.
While the triple pack with Charizard, Venusaur, and Blastoise is impressive and the Pikachu model is more iconic, our favorite of the current Lego Pokemon range would have to be Lego Eeevee.
Despite clearly being made for children, I’m surprised to learn that they’ve also catered to the Pokemon nerds out there. Each Pokémon’s stats are based on the video games, with Pokedex-accurate numbers powering their Lego counterparts, even using Type weaknesses to determine attack damage. I’m told that initially, each Pokémon’s digital criteria were far more basic, with this extra depth coming - once again - as a request from young trainers.
“We noticed the kids actually being very, very knowledgeable about the stats,” explains Mike Anderson, smart brick interaction design lead. “They had this social currency system going of 'I know a tonne about this, and I'm gonna tell you everything I know,' and that was really cool! So, we wanted to build that in. I would say it's not 100% one to one with the Pokédex, but we are very inspired by it and the video games.”
As my bricky ‘mon roars to life powered by a microchip, I can’t help but be reminded of yet another sacred artifact of my ‘90s childhood - Small Soldiers. Yet mercifully when Lego’s tech-powered toys do battle, nothing around me erupts into flames. Battling with these Lego ‘mon is simple, but super effective. To trigger a Pokémon battle, trainers need to shake two Smart Brick-powered Pokémon next to each other, and the classic Pokémon battle sound indicates the fight’s begun.
Players can then take on their foe with a fast attack or a charged attack (triggered by a small or large wobble) and then you can dodge and defend by pulling your ‘mon out of the reach of your foes’ attacks. Pokémon's strengths are derived from their stats in the games - meaning that if you have a Mewtwo you’re likely to wipe the floor with Pikachu. The exception is if players have trained the mon, with type weaknesses also being taken into account. As the battle escalates, led lights on their protruding smart bricks indicate their health via three colours. As I soon learn, If you over-shake your Pokemon while attempting to do a charged attack, it can also backfire, stunning your Pokémon and leaving them defenceless. It’s fun, silly stuff - but almost ends in tears. During my first battle, our two Pokemon accidentally collide, with several chunks of poor Pikachu sent flying during the ruckus.
“It’s why these sets are a bit more durable…” says Muthyala, “ the design team spends a lot of time stress-testing to ensure that if they do break, they break in chunks, so for kids it should always be fairly easy to put back together and get back to playing.”
It helps that Lego's second attempt at recreating these iconic creatures look far closer to their original designs. While the chunky, oddly square-looking previous set of Pokemon looked oddly uncanny - we’re looking at you, swollen Pikachu - these 21 new kid-focused bricks look a lot rounder and closer to their cutesy counterparts. Weirdly elongated Umbreon aside, the designs of this new range are far stronger.
The Smart Brick then, makes a great first impression. I’m told that its battery lasts for 45 minutes of intense play, with each stat boost from training reset after each play session, and that these smart bricks will be regularly updated, offering improvements- and potentially new features - in the future. An obvious update would of course be dual Pokémon battles. At launch, battles are limited to 1v1, but I’m told that this is not a technical limitation, but a current design choice.
Of course, this is Lego, and each toy can simply be played with, the old fashioned way. Squirtle comes with a water-projectile firing car, for example, and Gengar’s tongue can be waggled as he defends a spooky forest. Yet it’s the way that the analogue Lego of old and this new found tech collide that the company believes will really inspire a new generation of children.
“I think it's been amazing to see how for children, this smart tech is seamless,” says Muthyala, “ it's not a digital experience or an analogue experience, it's just 'yes, of course the toy comes to life'. For us unlocking that has been really fun…there's been no questions from kids of ‘why?’ it's more like, ‘what more can it do?’”
The tech and Pokémon are undoubtedly a perfect match, and if I had this when I was ten, you can better believe that I would have taken my Lego Pokémon with me absolutely everywhere.
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