Lego Sonic vs. Dr. Eggman's Death Egg Robot (76993) review: "Laser-targeted at kids who want to play and get creative"

Lego's entire Sonic range is a beautiful dose of nostalgia for so many, and the little touches of detail in this action-focused Lego Sonic vs. Dr. Eggman's Death Egg Robot set will tick a lot of fan boxes. From the tiny little creatures that 'turn into' robots, to the towering Death Egg Robot itself, this set has a lot of personality - and kicks serious butt. 

Whether you'll be happy with your younger Lego builders wielding this set unsupervised is certainly a question I'm not qualified to answer. It isn't one of the best Lego sets of all time, either. But it's certainly going to create some fun storylines as you put Sonic up against his age-old nemesis Dr. Eggman in this set. 

Features & design

• Features a robot, minifigs, & accessories
• Relatively small in size
• Fun interactive touches

The Lego Sonic vs. Dr. Eggman's Death Egg Robot set is only 615 pieces but feels like a lot more because you're building lots of smaller elements to round out this imaginative set. I personally find the fact it's not contained within one build a bit frustrating purely for display purposes, but this set is laser-targeted at kids who are going to play and get creative with this set. 

There are so many little nods to the original Sonic games with this set, from the little lab where animals can be turned into Dr. Eggman's bots to the golden ring floating on a see-through plinth, that this makes for a great set for the entire family to enjoy too. Not necessarily one of the best Lego sets, but fun nonetheless.

Lego Sonic vs. Dr. Eggman's Death Egg Robot (76993) build

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• Takes around 2.5 hours
• Fairly straightforward build
• Some more complex elements

Because there are so many smaller elements of the Lego Sonic vs. Dr. Eggman's Death Egg Robot set to build alongside the larger, more complex Death Egg Robot, it makes this a wonderfully varied build. I particularly liked that there's a variety in pace to proceedings, starting with the smaller bits as almost a warm-up to the main event, which is definitely the mech itself. 

What's interesting about that part of the build though is the fact you build smaller sections at a time and then click them onto the mech. It keeps things feeling fun, and keeps you guessing as to how it's all going to fit together. The working weaponry is also fascinating from a mechanical point of view too.

I'm still not entirely sure how successful the middle portion of the mech actually is though. The build book outlines that you should be able to slam the back portion in to cause the front panel to fly off and ideally into the incoming Sonic, but no matter how hard I try (and I even got my partner involved) that front section isn't budging for me. I've even ensured that I've actually put everything together correctly and rebuilt it again, but to no avail. If I'm not strong enough - or potentially smart enough - to figure it out then I doubt little builders will have any chance. 

One other odd little quirk was that the build instructions stated the turtle and second bird were in bag three, but were actually in bag five. That's not a huge deal, but I did worry that they'd been lost as I emptied the bags onto my coffee table. 

Design

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• Plenty of interactive elements
• No way to cohesively store all the elements
• Mech is seriously cool

I was delighted to discover how many little characters you get with the Lego Sonic vs. Dr. Eggman's Death Egg Robot set. The Sonic minifig is an excellent rendition of the Blue Blur, but then you also get the heavily mustachioed Dr. Eggman, and there's also the surprise addition of building a quirky robot minion for him too. The trio of critters makes for cute bonus friends for this set as well.

The best thing about the Lego Sonic vs. Dr. Eggman's Death Egg Robot set is how creative you can get with the storytelling. Sonic in his speed sphere can be launched directly at Dr. Eggman in his robot mech suit, via the spikes and ramps that are also included as part of the build. Then the Death Egg Robot itself is armed to the teeth, with a working minigun-esque arm that fires out studs with alarming speed and range. Seriously, they could take an eye out, which may well be a concern for parents. It does work impressively well though, and certainly adds to the drama of the boss battle this set creates. 

As mentioned before, the Death Egg Robot also comes with a mechanism that lets you push away incoming attacks, but despite it all being built correctly, I just can't get it to function properly, which is frustrating – and would no doubt be more so for kids. 

Of course, there are also the added extras with this set outside of Sonic and Dr. Eggman. There's also a little sciencey montage where you can let Dr. Eggman turn Sonic's little pals - an adorable turtle and duo of birds - into robots. Or you could, of course, let Sonic turn them back into critters again. All those features, plus the added elements, including a gold ring, make this set really interactive and I could imagine kids having hours of fun building a story around the battle that's about to ensue. 

Should you buy Lego Sonic vs. Dr. Eggman's Death Egg Robot (76993)?

Lego Sonic vs. Dr. Eggman's Death Egg Robot set ticks a lot of boxes. It's a nostalgic build for the whole family. The attention to detail is a fantastic celebration for Sonic fans, while the interactivity makes it a great joy for all kinds of Lego enthusiasts to enjoy. It might not be the most display-worthy set in full, but there's something for everyone with this action-packed build.

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How we tested Lego Sonic vs. Dr. Eggman's Death Egg Robot (76993)

I built the Lego Sonic vs. Dr. Eggman's Death Egg Robot set on one rainy Saturday afternoon watching the Handmaid's Tale - I know, what a juxtaposition. I assessed the ease of the build, how straightforward the instructions were, and how satisfying the build was overall to complete.

For more information on our process, check out our guide on how we test products.