Review: 76998 Knuckles and the Master Emerald Shrine
Posted by SetToBuild,
Knuckles’ story continues in the LEGO Sonic the Hedgehog theme, and without the need of a lock-on cartridge! It’s nice to get another version of Knuckles, but despite the great enemy design and fun details, something is missing…
Summary
76998 Knuckles and the Master Emerald Shrine, 325 pieces.
£29.99 / $34.99 / €34.99 | 9.2p / 10.8c / 10.8c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
The Master Emerald has vanished from Angel Island!
- Great enemy design
- Decent price
- New Knuckles expression
- No Master Emerald
- No Chao or other new characters
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minifigures
Knuckles’ minifig has been updated with a new, more determined, facial expression. I’m glad they bothered to print his tail on the back of the figure. He’s instantly recognisable and an overall well-designed figure.
His body including the ‘glove’ pieces is unchanged from his first appearance in 76996 Knuckles' Guardian Mech. Since he has those gloves, he can’t hold any other accessories.
Amy Rose appears again in her standard form as introduced last year. Since the other characters in this wave are getting new expressions, it would have been nice to get Amy’s figure updated too!
The Piko Piko Hammer design is the same construction as its first appearance in 76994 Sonic's Green Hill Zone Loop Challenge. The design and colour scheme is a great representation of the classic Japanese children’s toy of the same name.
Of the enemies seen in the LEGO Sonic the Hedgehog sets, the Eggrobo is one of the better-eggsecuted designs. His design has been fairly consistent within games and comics over the years, which I’m sure has helped in translating to its LEGO form. I do have a couple of minor gripes: the feet can’t be flat on the ground, and the head doesn’t completely shut.
The use of the ball joints gives the Eggrobo a lot of articulation and expression. Interestingly, the fist element has only been seen once before in 71407 Cat Peach Suit and Frozen Tower. The eight 3x3 plates are efficiently used to form the arms and legs; their curvature gives a good sense of motion and personality to the poses. To attach the jetpack, two new 1x3 Technic bricks (6494104) are used.
Author's note: A link will be added once the 1x3 Technic brick is added to the database.
This Badnik’s critter-storage spot is more secure than we saw in 76997 Tails' Adventure Boat, and it amusingly feels a little like Picky the Pig is piloting an Eggrobo mech. The 1x1 round tile prints are a nice touch too. They could have easily just been black, but getting a printed detail is even better! I could see these being used as screw heads in a few different scales of MOC.
Picky the Pig is this set’s vulnerable critter. It’s an interesting re-use of the well-established Friends puppy mould, but nothing new—he was introduced in 76992 Amy's Animal Rescue Island.
The Completed Model
The shrine structure is a good size for the price point and the play features add to that value. You’ll see that there seems to be something missing from a set named “The Master Emerald Shrine.” To acquire the Master Emerald itself, you’ll need to locate 76996 Knuckles' Guardian Mech released earlier this year. However, that set also came with Knuckles, reducing the value for money for fans who want to buy both sets to complete the shrine.
As the guardian of the shrine, Knuckles also calls this place home. There is an easily detachable bed, a can of Chaos Cola, and his prized lava lamp. I would have liked to see some Chao in this set since they are seen around the shrine in games like Sonic Adventure—and they are painfully adorable!
Knuckles’ favourite snack is grapes, and there are plenty to go around! They can be picked from the trellis near the shrine and put in the catapult to be launched at the Eggrobo with Amy’s hammer. The design is simple, but a nice added play feature.
Another amenity of the shrine is Knuckles’ punching bag. By rotating the turntable side to side, you can give the bag a good wallop. Good on Amy for cheering on her friends!
The shrine itself is a satisfying build for the size and price of the set, and I’m pleased that it includes some extra play features. Plus, the structure is tall enough for Knuckles to perform his signature glide from!
A chaos emerald, printed screw head, and can top are amongst the expected extra pieces.
Conclusion
The Master Emerald being in a different set could have been an interesting way to connect the two, but the pairing is weak, as Knuckles features in both. Ultimately, I feel this set should have contained a Master Emerald, regardless of its inclusion anywhere else.
There’s also a missed opportunity in repeating Amy here. Perhaps this brings the price point down, but, like the introduction of Rouge in 76996 Knuckles' Guardian Mech, the summer wave could have brought us Silver the Hedgehog, Blaze the Cat, or Tikal.
Overall, this set offers much better value for money than others in the wave, sacrificing big action features or pod launchers for a more detail-oriented build and small moments of play.
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29 comments on this article
It still makes me cringe that they make these, every time I see them. Too many years online has rendered anything Sonic adjacent completely repulsive.
The Technic brick 1 x 3 goes to the list "Parts that took way too long to exist"
Pretty decent set overall, and finally a decent badnik design. I can't stand most of the badniks in these sets thanks to their extremely dumbed-down designs compared to the LEGO Ideas Sonic set. It definitely would have been nice to have gotten a more accurate shrine though, and I don't think it would have increased the price by much. Sonic movie aside, Knuckles' love of grapes is a pretty deep cut, I approve. working in a little sleeping area for Knuckles under the shrine is pretty nice too and possibly a nod to all of Knuckles' secret tunnels running through Angel Island. I think it would have been nice though to have this be a slightly larger/more expensive set and include a second Eggrobo, and possibly have the two being led by an all new minifig of Metal Sonic.
Based on recent mech design, it feels like Niek van Slagmaat have personally requested that new technic brick.
1x3 technic brick, 1x3 technic brick, 1X3 TECHNIC BRICK!
There’s something impressive in how utterly unremarkable the builds in these Sonic sets are. Why they didn’t continue to build off the Ideas set, I’ll never know.
Thanks for the review! I was just building with some old technic bricks yesterday, and wishing for a 1x3. I guess I have two wishes left….
@Klinton77 said:
"It still makes me cringe that they make these, every time I see them. Too many years online has rendered anything Sonic adjacent completely repulsive. "
I’ve been online for too many years and have no idea what you’re talking about. Don’t blame the internet for your issues
@Klinton77 said:
"It still makes me cringe that they make these, every time I see them. Too many years online has rendered anything Sonic adjacent completely repulsive. "
This seems like an odd sentiment to me. Too many years online could render basically anything repulsive. I think most people have seen something worse than the standard "weird Sonic" category everyone likes to drum up like it's a new topic. Kids love Sonic, kids love LEGO - it's a pretty easy combination to see. Rest assured, LEGO makes more cringe-worthy things.
Not the biggest Sonic fan myself, so I've been hesitant to buy many of these sets. I'm also just not the demographic - heavy play themes with these Sonic sets, and I'm more of a display girl myself these days. The minifigures are definitely appealing - though as this review kind of gets at, this set seems a bit at odds with itself conceptually. Kind of designed to be purchased in tandem with the Knuckles Mech, but overlaps with it at the same time. I definitely prefer the set of figures in the first set. At the same time, the concept is good. I like location sets, and a few little Badniks around populates the theme well. $35 isn't a bad price either for what you get.
Kind of hyped for that 1x3 technic brick though: looks like it'll be super useful for building. Anyone remember how basically every 2006 EXO-FORCE set desperately wanted one of these for their torso connections? Maybe these'll get me to work on a revamp MOC some day.
@Klinton77 said:
"It still makes me cringe that they make these, every time I see them. Too many years online has rendered anything Sonic adjacent completely repulsive. "
"Too many years spent in the WRONG CORNERS OF THE 'NET has rendered anything Sonic adjacent completely repulsive."
Fixed that for ya!
While I agree the internet has ruined many things, and I don't necessarily feel its done great things for society as a whole, you're not likely to stumble across Sonic-ruining content on an average day, you've got to venture off the path a little, and make the choice to do so repeatedly if this was a feeling accumulated over "years". ;)
@Johnnyred - The grapes aren't that deep of a cut, anymore. It was in the trailer for the Knuckles tv series that was airing constantly a few months. Only way I would have been familiar with/got the grapes reference.
@ullemulle said:
"Based on recent mech design, it feels like Niek van Slagmaat have personally requested that new technic brick. "
Can you explain for the uninitiated what you mean?
@Klinton77 said:
"It still makes me cringe that they make these, every time I see them. Too many years online has rendered anything Sonic adjacent completely repulsive. "
Sounds like a personal problem.
Honestly they should have merged the two Master Emerald sets and ditched the mech for a flat $40 set, which would have made for a much more appealing set for both kids and adults, and instead have the winter Knuckles set be a small Mushroom Hill playset with a Sonic; lean into the "Sonic & Knuckles" idea.
As a side note, it's quite frustrating that we're this far into the theme and the environments have been centralized in Green Hill. The few exceptions are the two Angel Island sets, the nonspecific spacebase in the upcoming Super Sonic set, and sorta Radical Highway in the Shadow set. The nonspecific Tails Workshop is given Green Hill graphic design and not Mystic Ruins so it doesn't count. Heck, the Jakks Spacific toy playsets provide more unique locations, Flying Battery, Studiopolis, Death Egg mk. 2...
I'd think they're saving all of their creativity for Movie 3 sets, but there definitely would have been leaks for such sets if they were coming by now.
@saltytbone said:
" @Klinton77 said:
"It still makes me cringe that they make these, every time I see them. Too many years online has rendered anything Sonic adjacent completely repulsive. "
I’ve been online for too many years and have no idea what you’re talking about. Don’t blame the internet for your issues
"
They've clearly seen some Sonic videos online that aren't easily available.
@ao_ka said:
"The Technic brick 1 x 3 goes to the list "Parts that took way too long to exist""
Definitely! I had to do a double-take when I saw it! :D
@ForestMenOfEndor said:
"Thanks for the review! I was just building with some old technic bricks yesterday, and wishing for a 1x3. I guess I have two wishes left…."
Excellent! Do you have two parts in mind for those wishes? Inverted cheese slopes are high on my list!
I do think it's frustrating that Lego is only sticking to a Classic Era aesthetic for the environments and most of the characters. Even though Sega is doing more Sonic Adventure references nowadays, it looks like they're still rather nervous to fully commit to it.
There's also the problem the Sonic sets share with the Mario sets in that they almost always have a "generic" style instead of doing sets based on specific games. I would love sets based on specific levels like Speed Highway, Meteor Heard, Crisis City, Windmill Isle, and Aquarium Park, but all the sets we've gotten are instead based on the standard Green Hill aesthetic.
Same thing with the enemies. We've only ever seen Classic era badniks, and no enemies from newer games like Egg Pawns or Egg Fighters. And we'll almost certainly never get enemies like Iblis spawn or Dark Gaia minions, which would suck because they have neat designs that would look great in Lego.
All in all, a lot of untapped potential, just like the Mario sets. Too much generic theming, and nothing really game specific.
@Alia_of_AGL said:
"As a side note, it's quite frustrating that we're this far into the theme and the environments have been centralized in Green Hill. The few exceptions are the two Angel Island sets, the nonspecific spacebase in the upcoming Super Sonic set, and sorta Radical Highway in the Shadow set. The nonspecific Tails Workshop is given Green Hill graphic design and not Mystic Ruins so it doesn't count. Heck, the Jakks Spacific toy playsets provide more unique locations, Flying Battery, Studiopolis, Death Egg mk. 2...
I'd think they're saving all of their creativity for Movie 3 sets, but there definitely would have been leaks for such sets if they were coming by now."
I'm glad you also noticed the "nonspecific spacebase" in 76999! I am curious if the next wave will have more movie tie-ins.
@Adrianucho said:
"1x3 technic brick, 1x3 technic brick, 1X3 TECHNIC BRICK!"
LOUDER!!! 1X3 TECHNIC BRICK!!!! \o/
It's literally just a DLC pack for 76996, and not even a good DLC at that.
This isn't a bad set on the face of it - I'm a big fan of the buildable Eggrobo - but it feels underwhelmingly simple for such an important location (it reminds me a lot of last year's Yavin IV set) and making it so you have to buy another set at the same price point to get the Master Emerald is downright despicable. If I have to spend $70 to get a complete Master Emerald Shrine, I'd rather they have just canned the mech set and made this set a $70 Shrine, with the size and level of detail upgraded to match.
Also, am I the only person a bit disappointed that there isn't a Knuckles speed Sphere this year? It feels like an obvious choice to tie in with his and Sonic's well-known rivalry, and getting a red Sphere (probably with an emerald-themed launch button) would certainly have added some nice additional value.
@AverageChimaEnjoyer 76996 is an easy pass but the build is game/lore accurate here so this one appeals to me way more.
But where are the Whipples?
"Of the enemies seen in the LEGO Sonic the Hedgehog sets, the Eggrobo is one of the better-eggsecuted designs." I love it when a reviewer cracks a yolk like that.
@Metroidman97 said:
"Same thing with the enemies. We've only ever seen Classic era badniks, and no enemies from newer games like Egg Pawns or Egg Fighters. And we'll almost certainly never get enemies like Iblis spawn or Dark Gaia minions, which would suck because they have neat designs that would look great in Lego. "
76999 has an Egg Pawn and a GUN robot whose specific subtype name I can't remember off the top of my head, and there's a Kiki polybag (30676).
Surely if I edit this comment enough times eventually I'll get it right.
@Andrusi said:
"76999 has an Egg Pawn and a GUN robot whose specific subtype name I can't remember off the top of my head,"
I'm only realizing now from double-checking the images that the Egg Pawn is... red, for some reason. If standard Lego orange was too light, we *did* just introduce a reddish orange to do the trick...
Why wasn’t the combination of the two sets shown? Seems like something people would want to see in a review
@Emmafofemma said:
"Why wasn’t the combination of the two sets shown? Seems like something people would want to see in a review"
That would have been a nice inclusion, but I don't own the other set. I'll probably pick up Rouge and the parts to make the Master Emerald off of Bricklink at some point though!
I think this is one of the better ones. The EggRobo is definitely the best Badnik so far. Probably because it's one of the best designs. But yes, it's in desperate need of a Master Emerald, and perhaps some water-effect tiles.
@Klinton77 said:
"It still makes me cringe that they make these, every time I see them. Too many years online has rendered anything Sonic adjacent completely repulsive. "
Has ChrisChan ever reviewed a Sonic LEGO set?