Review: 72042 Prince Florian & Castle Bowser
Posted by SetToBuild,
“And now it's time for the epic–yes, the EPIC–Wonder I've been preparing! Feast your eyes on... BOWSER'S RAGE STAGE!”
Wowie zowie! Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s epic main antagonist, Castle Bowser, makes a dramatic entrance. Not only that, but the model transforms to play out ‘The Final Battle! Bowser's Rage Stage’ level of the game—read on to find out how!
Summary
72042 Prince Florian & Castle Bowser, 1,251 pieces.
£89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99 | 7.2p/8.0c/8.0c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Both a WONDERful display piece and an exciting end to your interactive LEGO Mario course
- Good value
- Great display piece
- Exciting play features
- Pink Yoshi (again)
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Box
LEGO are branching out from Super Mario World and Mario Kart with this first foray into the modern game Super Mario Bros. Wonder released in 2023. The spooky underworld atmosphere depicted on the front of the box hints at the game’s final battle setting, and another action-packed scene is on the rear. Within the tray-style box are 12 paper bags for the pieces and a printed light-brown paper sleeve for the instructions. There are no stickers in this set.
Characters
Prince Florian, not to be confused with the Disney Prince, is a Caterpillar companion that accompanies Mario on his adventure in this game. The green tile for his leaf-like hair has an unfortunate mould mark that is quite distracting from this otherwise cute face. A printed 2x2 jumper is used for his cheery expression, but he doesn’t have a pre-stickered barcode tile anywhere. Instead, it’s hidden within the castle. I like this approach much more since the barcodes aren’t sullying the characters themselves.
The flower inside Prince Florian’s crown is new in orange, while his feet are familiar-looking… I’ve got to say, it’s remarkable how this element suits so many characters in the Super Mario universe. If the shoe fits?
If the player selects one of four Yoshis (or Nabbit) as their character in Super Mario Wonder, they don’t take damage from enemies, thus essentially activating the game’s easy mode. However, Pink Yoshi isn’t among these!
Furthermore, pink is a common colour for these dino-pals—this is the fourth classic Pink Yoshi, joining one Baby Yoshi to now be tied as the second most common colour. The set could have more accurately featured a much rarer Red Yoshi, who hasn’t been seen since the 2022 CMF, or a Light-Blue (Dark Azure) Yoshi, who is currently available in a Mario Kart set.
It’s not all bad. With each version of Yoshi that releases, the front tile elements are getting more sophisticated. This one’s stomach is now made of one tile instead of two or three tiles. I’ll be swapping this new tile onto a Green Yoshi, so he can be the perfect specimen.
Wonder Bowser Jr. has got his hands on some evil magic, and has changed colour and received some new prints as a result! On the sides of his head, light nougat SNOT bricks that are used under quarter-tiles match his nose peeking out at the front. This simulates this scary mouth is still a mask tied on just like Bowser Jr.’s bib.
Thanks to the beloved and long-lost Roy finally arriving in 71435 Battle with Roy at Peach's Castle last year, the purple spiked Koopaling shell is available for Wonder Bowser Jr.’s weird and wonderful colour scheme. The LEGO colours match the game’s well. The barcode’s function is unchanged from Bowser Jr.’s previous appearance, triggering a five-scan stomp sequence.
Fiery Note Piranhas are only seen during Super Mario Wonder’s final battle. They shoot out of Wonder Bowser’s hands towards the player. Trans-orange elements make this enemy appear extra spicy.
Completed Model
The main build really dominates with its menacing presence. It’s built out chunkily in all directions, and over a foot tall!
The sculpting of the face is great. I love to see how designers improve upon prior designs with new releases—I was already impressed with 71411 The Mighty Bowser’s shaping, but this is more seamless and accurate to the newer game. The mouth is hinged for expressiveness, and the green horns are brilliantly shaped!
From behind, the model is still quite attractive overall, being smoothed and uniformly coloured. Fans of the ‘no studs’ look will continue to be satisfied by Nintendo LEGO sets! The only detraction is some technic axles and a little bit of mechanism behind Wonder Bowser’s hands.
Inside, this bulky model’s density is reduced due to its hollow structure, with a SNOT and technic frame to create the round shape and housing for a hidden feature that slots within.
The underside of Castle Bowser shows us the purple flames that power the structure. There are four curved macaroni ‘ledge’ elements that appear here for the first time in dark green. It was my first time encountering this element, so I thought it was new, but they’ve been out since 2024.
The attention to detail in providing the flames and finishing the underside is matched only by the clever ‘smoke’ base which is hollow to allow the flames to hide inside while the model is on display. This dual-function resting place is a hint of the ‘play and display’ approach that has clearly been taken to this set’s design.
From a distance, the printed green graphic on the curved dish really ties together the top of the Wonder Bowser section of the build, representing his swirling black and neon green striped hair. I’m always thankful when LEGO remembers that stickers on curved dishes are a terrible idea! Wonder Bowser’s hands are also curved and sculpted using large macaroni tubes now characteristic of large-scale LEGO Super Mario models.
The back side of this part is a bit plain, but its simplicity makes it easier to hold during play. The wrists being on Technic pins allow Wonder Bowser’s hands to sway back and forth when being swooshed around threateningly, creating a spooky and chaotic play experience.
A new-in-orange flower is included along with your standard array of extra pieces.
Play Sequence and Barcodes
At the time of writing, I wasn’t able to scan many of the barcodes since my app wouldn’t update in advance of the release of these sets. Instead, I will predict what each barcode activates based on my experience with these sets and knowledge of the game, as we go through a step-by-step look at one possible play sequence.
The Propeller Flower is a mode of transport in the game. Scan the barcode to float and collect coins. In the boss fight in the game, you don’t actually need this flower as there are bouncy platforms for Mario to spring off in time with Bowser’s sweet beat.
To begin the final battle, knock Wonder Bowser Jr. off of Castle Bowser so that your hero can access the boss barcode.
Lift Wonder Bowser from his pedestal to expose all three barcodes on the palms of his hands and the weak spot on the underside of his neck. You can fly him around and fire the flame missile with the button on the back to launch an attack on your interactive hero.
Once Wonder Bowser is defeated and can no longer protect the castle, remove Castle Bowser from the purple smoke base and place it on a surface.
Setting the castle down will extinguish the flames powering the structure by pushing them up within the model’s hollow core, which in turn will reveal a cage above. Prince Florian can now be rescued!
Conclusion
Although my adventure seemed brief, I loved Super Mario Wonder. The game’s magic puts a new spin on many of the characters and mechanics we know in the Mario universe, so there is a lot of set design inspiration in this title alone. More fun LEGO sets from this fantastical game could feature the Talking Flower characters, or find a graceful way to feature the Elephant power-up.
The build experience of 72042 Prince Florian & Castle Bowser was full of surprises—I hadn’t appreciated the nuances of the play features from the box art (the 9+ age rating should have been a clue!), so the extent of playability was revealed as I built it: from shooting and swiping to dramatically defeating the boss. Various phases of the final fight can be played out by one or multiple people, making it truly action-packed.
With over a thousand pieces, several characters and multiple components of the large build, the magnitude of this set feels like good value to me at £90. Not only that, but the dual success of both play and display feels like it is unrivalled.
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22 comments on this article
Are the eyes of the Pink Yoshi supposed to be white? If so, this might just be the worst print in Lego history....
@WizardOfOss said:
"Are the eyes of the Pink Yoshi supposed to be white? If so, this might just be the worst print in Lego history...."
Mercy would like to have a word. https://brickset.com/minifigs/ow012/mercy- (angela-ziegler)
Besides, it's okay that their eyes are a bit pink. The pollen count is probably pretty high in the Flower Kingdom.
@SetToBuild said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
"Are the eyes of the Pink Yoshi supposed to be white? If so, this might just be the worst print in Lego history...."
Mercy would like to have a word. https://brickset.com/minifigs/ow012/mercy- (angela-ziegler)
Besides, it's okay that their eyes are a bit pink. The pollen count is probably pretty high in the Flower Kingdom."
Both fair points xD
I appreciate the level of detail in these sets, but the act of playing with them always strikes me as a bit laboured.
This model is so cool. It's so well sculpted.
It's one of the best Mario sets we've gotten in a looong time... A cool one.
Mario Wonder is one of the easiest Mario-games I've played in a long time, and the series itself isn't exactly Soulslike in its difficulty. It is easily one of the most fun Mario-games I've played though.
It's also incredibly trippy, and as such, Yoshi's pink eyes make a lot of sense.
"Pollen". Right.
What am I looking at?
There's a Bowser, within a Bowser, within another Bowser? Sounds like it's time for a serious trip to the psychotherapy couch.
@StyleCounselor said:
"What am I looking at?
There's a Bowser, within a Bowser, within another Bowser? Sounds like it's time for a serious trip to the psychotherapy couch."
Super Mario Wonder makes no sense whatsoever, which is also why it’s so charming.
Love the "Lego Yoshi Colour Frequency" table.
I didn’t know jumper tiles could have prints. It looks great on Prince Florian, makes me wanna see it used more.
What a mess
Great review! This looks like a fantastic playset, capturing both the larger form of Castle Bowser that appears on the map as well as the smaller Wonder Bowser that you fight as a boss battle. The function that raises the castle/jail from the base when you take the build off the larger smoke plume stand and set it on the ground is great—simple but well executed.
Pink Yoshi's frequency compared to other colors is a bit of a shame, but I don't totally mind—Pink Yoshi has been my main in Smash Bros. since the GameCube era so I won't say no to another!
As someone who hasn't played or even heard of Super Mario Wonder, I don't quite get what this is supposed to be or how it's supposed to work. But I guess it probably makes sense if you know about its source material?
Edit: I looked up pictures. It's accurate but I still don't get it. Wonder bowser is stone?
I’m left with two takeaways:
1) I keep looking at this set and it’s like my mind can’t translate what I’m looking at. It just seems to boggle me.
2) Once again, a simply fantastic review. Though it’s a set that perplexes me from a theme that doesn’t speak to me, I found the review enjoyable and insightful.
@Binnekamp said:
"As someone who hasn't played or even heard of Super Mario Wonder, I don't quite get what this is supposed to be or how it's supposed to work. But I guess it probably makes sense if you know about its source material?
Edit: I looked up pictures. It's accurate but I still don't get it. Wonder bowser is stone?"
Bowser uses the magical macguffin of the game to reshape reality and merge himself with a castle / airship. Mario Wonder has a gimmick to each stage where it'll turn wacky when collecting the smaller macguffins, so pipes will come to life, levels will reshape, you'll become a goomba, etc.
Not sure WHY Bowser wanted this, but I won't judge.
@Nuclearxpotato said:
" @Binnekamp said:
"As someone who hasn't played or even heard of Super Mario Wonder, I don't quite get what this is supposed to be or how it's supposed to work. But I guess it probably makes sense if you know about its source material?
Edit: I looked up pictures. It's accurate but I still don't get it. Wonder bowser is stone?"
Bowser uses the magical macguffin of the game to reshape reality and merge himself with a castle / airship. Mario Wonder has a gimmick to each stage where it'll turn wacky when collecting the smaller macguffins, so pipes will come to life, levels will reshape, you'll become a goomba, etc.
Not sure WHY Bowser wanted this, but I won't judge."
You will unearth some hitherto undiscovered talents among Piranha Plants as well. You may find yourself actively trying to keep them alive, so as not to spoil the experience.
Not these Fire Piranhas, obviously. Fire Piranhas can go die in a... oh. Hm.
@Crux said:
" @Nuclearxpotato said:
" @Binnekamp said:
"As someone who hasn't played or even heard of Super Mario Wonder, I don't quite get what this is supposed to be or how it's supposed to work. But I guess it probably makes sense if you know about its source material?
Edit: I looked up pictures. It's accurate but I still don't get it. Wonder bowser is stone?"
Bowser uses the magical macguffin of the game to reshape reality and merge himself with a castle / airship. Mario Wonder has a gimmick to each stage where it'll turn wacky when collecting the smaller macguffins, so pipes will come to life, levels will reshape, you'll become a goomba, etc.
Not sure WHY Bowser wanted this, but I won't judge."
You will unearth some hitherto undiscovered talents among Piranha Plants as well. You may find yourself actively trying to keep them alive, so as not to spoil the experience.
Not these Fire Piranhas, obviously. Fire Piranhas can go die in a... oh. Hm."
I mean, they can, usually.
Great review! I'm super impressed with this set. It's definitely instantly recognizable and outstandingly well sculpted to create that spherical shape and Bowser's frightening face. Moreover, the way that the prison rises up when you set it down on a flat surface instead of on its "smoke plume" style stand is crazy cool.
Prince Florian's "action tile" not being on his body doesn't surprise me tbh, since that tends to be the case with "friendly" characters in these sets (since it makes more sense for Mario/Luigi/Peach interact with them by standing next to them rather than by jumping on them). He is impressively well constructed, though, especially considering his compact size (though he's obviously larger relative to characters like Yoshi than he is in the game).
As loudly as many people clamor for Mario minifigs, I think characters like Florian really exemplify why I prefer this upscaled, brick-built approach. At minifig scale, he and many other small, non-humanoid characters would be wholly reliant on specialized, character– and IP-specific creature molds, as opposed to a creative brick-built approach like that seen here.
Wonder Bowser Jr. is obviously less innovative, since it's mostly a palette swap of his base design, but he certainly looks great as well! And the Note Piranhas look fantastic, making good use of those new transparent 1x2 curves introduced this year.
If we get any future sets based on Super Mario Bros Wonder, some subjects I would love to see would include Poplins (the Toad-like citizens of the Flower Kingdom), Talking Flowers, Swirlypods (the cute snail enemies whose shells can be kicked just like Koopa Troopa shells), the roller-skating Rolla Koopas, and of course the Wonder Flower item!
@Studnotontop said:
"I didn’t know jumper tiles could have prints. It looks great on Prince Florian, makes me wanna see it used more."
I first noticed that with the Swoops (bat enemies) in the first wave of Super Mario sets! It's definitely super useful for brick-built characters like this.
@Aanchir said:
"I think characters like Florian really exemplify why I prefer this upscaled, brick-built approach. At minifig scale, he and many other small, non-humanoid characters would be wholly reliant on specialized, character– and IP-specific creature molds, as opposed to a creative brick-built approach like that seen here."
https://brickset.com/minifigs/sh0754
Still waiting for Daisy…
@Aanchir said:
" @Studnotontop said:
"I didn’t know jumper tiles could have prints. It looks great on Prince Florian, makes me wanna see it used more."
I first noticed that with the Swoops (bat enemies) in the first wave of Super Mario sets! It's definitely super useful for brick-built characters like this."
40650 is the first place I remember seeing it. I mean, I saw the Swoops, but didn't really pay any attention to them having printed jumper plates. The earlier 76897 also has printing on the smooth portions of 2x3 wedge plates, which is similar.