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If you're a Sonic the Hedgehog fan and a Lego fan then this kit - called Lego Ideas Sonic The Hedgehog Green Hill Zone - is going to blow you mind.
It certainly did mine, when the larger-than-anticipated box appeared on my doorstep. I couldn't wait to build it over a weekend - and it took quite some time, as this 18+ rated set contains 1,125 pieces all in.
The finished set measures about 35cm long, 18cm high, and 6cm deep if you're counting the protrusions. I'm yet to decide exactly where to keep it, but because the detail is so incredible it won't be positioned out of sight.
Here's a selection of photos I captured whilst building the Lego Sonic set. Enjoy!
Lego Sonic and all the bad guys to build
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Sonic the Hedghog with a ring in hand, which can be removed if you'd prefer. He's composed of three parts like any Minifig: head, torso, legs.
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
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Sonic the Hedghog with a ring in hand, which can be removed if you'd prefer. He's composed of three parts like any Minifig: head, torso, legs.
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
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This bad guy is composed from largely traditional Lego bricks, although those googly eyes are specially made (and not stickers)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
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Yup, there's seven Chaos Emeralds that come as part of the kit (I actually had 14 in the box for some reason, maybe they'll go missing...)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
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Angry or happy? There's a little bit of interactivity, which gives this bad guy extra character
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
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Dr Robotnik has some special bricks in his build - as you can see from the hands - yet still looks quintessentially 'Lego'
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
Sonic is a standard minifig construct, composed of head, body and legs in three parts - the ring is optional, seeing as it's so massive I've left it out of Sonic's hand.
Building the various mecha bad guys was one of my favourite things, though, especially as their use of reference Lego pieces is so amusing. See the minifig hands and megafones used as arms and exhausts? Brilliant.
Dr Robotnik is pretty massive, but his scale throughout the video games over the years has always been perplexing. His head is composed of a special piece, as are his hands, but it doesn't detract from a very Lego look overall. He can freely stand, if you'd prefer to not have him flying around - but I rather enjoy his floating craft.
In addition to lots of classic Lego bricks, there are a batch of stickers that you'll need to carefully add on - I'm notoriously poor at this - to give that loop-da-loop full Green Hill Zone texture.
Lego Sonic: It's interactive once built
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I've not finished the build in this shot, but you can see how the trigger fires the launch pad
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
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I've not finished the build in this shot, but you can see how the trigger fires the launch pad
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
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One of the many details, this one is a sticker that you'll need to manually put on
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
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Fast Boots for me, please - but you can choose from various other faces
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
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As you can see here: extra life, invincibility, shield, rings - there's so much detail that's referent the original video games
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
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I like the special bricks in this set, but appreciate more how the classic Lego bricks are used very inventively
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
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Most of the detail is actual bricks, but this part of the loop-da-loop uses stickers - I struggle to line these up particularly well
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
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Some more of the special bricks from one of the six main bags on bricks that comes within the box - there are 1,125 pieces in the build all-in
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
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A cheeky shot of the top of Robotnik's head, which I find rather amusing
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
I never expected it to be a feature, but even during the build process it becomes clear there are some moving parts: principally that big red launch pad, which hides a little tap trigger behind it, the idea being you can launch Sonic (or whatever) to 'catch' those three rings above. It doesn't work especially well, but it's entertaining nonetheless.
It's the other details that I appreciate more, especially as a life-long Sonic fan who's been playing the games since the 1990s. Those TVs with 10 rings and Fast Boots? Yeah, you can change the faces of those - the set also includes a Sonic extra life, invincibility, and a shield. Just pop the panel off and change as you please.
Even the bug-like bad guy has two face options: I left him looking sombre, but there's an angry face option instead.
And if you don't want Sonic in the actual Green Hill Zone, er, zone? There's a Chaos Crystals stand that comes as part of the set, so you can suspend him above all seven of those instead.
Even the manual is the perfect homage to the Sonic games
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The manual took me right back to the 90s - the cover, with its 16-bit quality, really took me back to playing the first game
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
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The manual took me right back to the 90s - the cover, with its 16-bit quality, really took me back to playing the first game
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
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There's lots of great text up front, before you get into the pages detailing the construction - all 189 of them!
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
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Yes, Sonic is 30 years old. I'm older. But at least Lego is even older than me...
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
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Gotta catch 'em all (oh, wait, that's another game). I never got all seven Chaos Emeralds in the game, but this Lego set helped put that pain to bed
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
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I love the entertaining details on the Sonic 'progress bar' throughout the build
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
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That's a wrap - The End - I loved every minute of building the Lego Ideas Sonic the Hedgehog Green Hill Zone set. It took around 3 hours for me
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
The manual isn't your typical from Lego - when I first saw it in the box it took me right back to the Megadrive era (read Genesis, my American friends) first game. Yes, I was playing it in 1991 - yes, I'm old.
There's some spectacular little details in the manual too. From the Sonic progress bar at the bottom, in which he sometimes gets hit by a bad guy and loses his rings, to the foreword on how this whole set came to be.
Flip the manual over and that's it: Dr Robotnik is there crushing the 'End' credits.
But I don't think this is the last we'll see of Lego Ideas' Sonic sets, not by a long shot, as the far-end of the set contains two open-ended clips that, well, will surely spell an attachment possibility for a future Marble Zone set?
I'd totally buy that (although, really, Chemical Plant Zone from Sonic 2 was always my favourite just for the music alone).
As the Tech Editor at T3, Mike handles all things tech - from phones, tablets and laptops, to gaming and computing. Everything that's geeky yet cool. He's been working as a consumer technology journalist for the best part of 15 years, travelling the globe to attend all manner of industry events. You'll always find him setting up a new mobile phone or planning his next get-away.
