Boomer Bill Barrage

One of the iconic characters from the Mario Games have to be the Bullet Bills and this kit features the large versions which are apparently are called Boomer Bills. Every day is a school day it seems. This is a more flexible kit as there are more sections included that mean you can genuinely mess about with how it looks and how it fits with your other kits. The main feature is the Boomer Bills that circle round for you to defeat and then you have the little guy to defeat as well. The build itself was fairly standard for Lego builds but I still enjoyed it despite not really liking the small kits. The big downside for me was that you have no build instructions in the kit it all has to be downloaded through the app. Make sure your device has full battery before you start, especially if you are building multiple sets in the series at the same time or else you can get in the situation I was in where 2 bags from the end my battery died. Number of Pieces: 132 Approximate Price Per Piece: £0.19 Build Time: 30 Minutes more less

This expansion pack adds a fun way for Mario to engage with the environment, as well as providing a variety of difficulties for different players. I enjoyed activating the spinning mechanism, and find it quite challenging, when Mario is placed on the tile of the swing bridge. It is not quite as challenging in the game as the Power Slide, but in my non-playing time, I find myself more likely to engage with the Boomer Bill Barrage. If I were to choose between the two, I would probably opt for the 71365 Piranha Plant Power Slide. But that's just me. more less

The clumsy renaming of a character aside, the set does a great job of replicating the motion of the Bullet Bills. It was tricky to decide where to place them in order to give LEGO Mario at least a chance to make it to the other side intact. The movement created by the splat gears means that depending on how forceful you are when spinning the central platform, will dictate the speed of the Bullet Bills rotation. I have to say the little Super Shroom is my favourite part of the entire build, so simple but so cool looking. The Shy Guy is also expertly done and matches, not only the style of LEGO Mario but the games as well. There are certainly better expansion sets than this one, but the various unique enemies make it a decent set to own should you wish to have all the iconic characters and enemies. more less

The gameplay is a lot of fun and since you don't only earn points by getting across, but also by staying on the platform (a little) longer, it can become a fun challenge to find the right balance between speed and skill. more less

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