Review: 77003 Super Shadow vs Biolizard
Posted by SetToBuild,
Super Sonic and Super Shadow team up to fight the monstrous Biolizard in this attention-grabbing set. The unique form of the lizard makes for a really exciting addition to the Sonic the Hedgehog theme. Warning: this review will contain spoilers for the 2001 game Sonic Adventure 2—continue at your own risk if you’re being very patient completing this game!
Summary
77003 Super Shadow vs. Biolizard, 419 pieces.
£39.99 / $44.99 / €44.99 | 9.5p/10.7c/10.7c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Super Sonic and Super Shadow take on the fearsome Biolizard in this obscure battle scene.
- Mid-range size and price
- Super-fans might love the chance to get this iconic enemy in LEGO
- Super-fans might not like the inaccuracies
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Lore
In the conclusion of Sonic Adventure 2, the player meets the Biolizard twice in two forms as the final boss battles. Shadow initially defeats the lizard, but it returns fused to the outside of the Space Colony ARK space station. At this point Sonic and Shadow join forces for the first time, turning into their respective Super forms (which we now have as minifigures!) to defeat the lizard before the Colony collides with Earth.
In later games, we learn that the Biolizard was in fact the prototype to Shadow himself—Shadow the Hedgehog being an artificially created ‘Ultimate Life-form’ by antagonist Eggman's Grandfather some 50 years before the events of the games. The Biolizard was deemed flawed and dangerous, and was locked away after Shadow’s successful creation, but then resurfaced to threaten the Earth.
Fun fact: The Biolizard also makes a cheeky appearance as a vintage movie Monster in Sonic Movie 3, in a Flashback of Shadow and Maria watching TV!
Minifigures
This set comes with not one but two special figures, the first of which being Super Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog’s super state transformation) who was released last year in 76999 Super Sonic vs. Egg Drillster. The figure is completely unchanged as far as I can tell, but the set is about half the price of the one he first arrived in!
Super Sonic has his own specialised head mould that is exclusive to this form, not a recolour of Sonic’s standard head mould. Although the graphic is simple, the legs are both dual moulded and side printed to give additional shoe detail.
Super Shadow is new and exclusive to this set. He’s similar to Super Sonic, but subtly different. The use of cool yellow rather than standard yellow suits the creamy off-white colour of Super Shadow in the games, contrasted by the more golden or solid yellow colour of Super Sonic.
The head mould here appears to be the same as that used in normal Shadow’s normal form, and is complete with the same red pattern.
This yellow version of the running effect pod (called the ‘speed sphere’ by LEGO) suits both of the yellow figures in this set, having been introduced last year with Super Sonic in 76999 Super Sonic vs. Egg Drillster.
Completed Model
The ‘slammer’ pod launcher common to most sets in this theme allows one of our protagonists to rush at the side of the lizard. In this wave of sets, the printed star has been lost and the ‘button’ is plain yellow instead.
The Biolizard in this form actually doesn’t fight Super Sonic and Super Shadow. It does later once it’s fused to the Ark space station, but it’s obvious that that would be much harder to make into a successful play set so the creative license is reasonable.
The package on the Biolizard’s back is a life support system, permanently connected to various parts of its body. This is also its weak spot in the games, making the set’s action feature of knocking this off to disable the creature very appropriate.
Hitting the black vents on either side of the lizard’s body pushes up a lever which forces the life support pod up and out of its housing. With enough force from the speed sphere, this can be quite dramatic!
As well as the interconnected life support pack, the Biolizard also have several robotic implants, with eyes that look like gun turrets, and various vents and pipes depicted on the printed head slope. The head shape looks quite sharp and vicious here, which matches the lizard’s later comic book appearances, but in the games his salamander origins show through more with rounded and smiley-looking features.
The stud shooters on each side of this pack on the back of the Biolizard shoot pink 1x1 trans-pink studs, which represent the pink spheres it can summon from its body and shoot towards enemies. It was therefore a slightly odd choice to put these on the removable mechanical life support pack rather than the body itself.
The lizard’s tail is highly articulated, allowing it to be posed as if powerfully whipping around to knock out one of our heroes. Interestingly, the tail tip piece (a tapered slope with soft rubbery tip) was recoloured in this dark orange/orange arrangement last year in 10333 The Lord of the Rings: Barad-dûr.
The beefy back legs (which are almost stumps) use the 3x3 giant macaroni tubes in orange tapered with stacked cones. The underside of the lizard is pretty plain, using very common inverted slopes typically used for small boat hulls.
The front feet however are more detailed, with a smooth angle from more macaroni tubes (2x2 versions this time) and cleverly splayed cheese slopes for the toes. These orange tubes are technically a new piece, since the last time this piece came in orange in 2023 it was actually the previous slightly shorter mould.
Visible just behind the head is another giant macaroni tube for the lizard’s neck—but in front of that is a resurrection of a nearly 20-year old piece, the technic pulley wheel in orange. I wonder if the designers are deliberately targeting Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) fans who owned Exo-force sets in 2006?!
The pile of spare parts seems surprisingly small; perhaps due to the chunky build of the lizard with many large pieces.
Conclusion
The proportions of this large brick-built creature are a little off when compared to most of the source material, as the Biolizard should be a little larger in comparison to the minifigures. One source describes it as “two hundred feet long[…], about one hundred feet wide, and about sixty feet tall”. Overall however, it’s a good representation for play purposes and obviously impractical to build to a larger scale!
Given this set’s very interesting and nowadays quite obscure subject matter, I wonder if it was made by fans for fans—I’d love to ask the designers what drew them to the project.
The price isn’t too unreasonable considering the playability and the sturdy iconic creature. Fans old enough to have played the game in 2001 might feel some of the parts budget was wasted on the ‘speed sphere’ launcher gimmick, but then again, they might have their own children by now who will enjoy playing with it!
Many thanks to ASkywalker91 who helped with some of the deep Biolizard lore.
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25 comments on this article
To be honest, I feel like the LEGO Sonic theme is hitting the sweet spot for licensed models at the moment. Printed elements, a good mix of characters and price points that aren’t silly. I grabbed this after seeing Sonic 3 in the cinema, so I’ve got a reasonably fond attitude towards it.
I can't get over how PERFECT cool yellow is for Super Shadow
LEGO is killing it with the minifigure selection for their Sonic sets!
The important question is whether you start hearing Live and Learn in your head every time you look at it.
The comment about obscurity would be more fitting if it didn't get prominence as the first boss in Shadow Generations last year. I assume that the Biolizard's appearance in that game (alongside the Cyclone's appearance in the Sonic Frontiers expansion) made the January sets more readily greenlit than they would have been otherwise.
Having this set in hand, the scale doesn't bother me too much, you can still play-grind on the pipes, but it's dubious that the life support system has the white Chaos Emerald while both Hedgehogs are super.
Honestly my biggest complaint is Super Sonic's head sculpt - there's a handful of molds in the theme I'm not a fan of, and Super Sonic's quills don't spread outward enough, they are pulled way too together. Honestly if they wanted game accuracy to SA2 they'd recolor Shadow's head in solid yellow, but I understand that not being the case and choosing to go with the Heroes-onward design for Super Sonic for brand consistency.
@WolfpackBricksStudios said:
"I can't get over how PERFECT cool yellow is for Super Shadow"
Came here to say this same thing! I'm always dismayed that other Sonic figures can never get his color exactly right and always make him a more saturated yellow closer to Super Sonic. Very happy that Lego nailed it here.
@Andrusi said:
"The important question is whether you start hearing Live and Learn in your head every time you look at it."
I do! XD
The Sonic sets have been quite impressive lately.
I'm impressed: when the theme first surfaced I made a mental list of things possibly well enough known to warrant a Lego set, and this didn't feature anywhere near it. The scale doesn't bother me and the minifigs are great—even if Sonic's head looks too narrow to my eye. He doesn't look so much super as like he's had his finger in a plug socket. Decently priced too. A success all in all.
I like that sonic has yellow-red dual moulded legs. Is this the first time we get them like this? I know we have red-yellow ones. I’d like to have a few unprinted ones for iron man
I don't care for Sonic but this is literally a perfect set. I want Lego Superheroes to be more like this. Less Hulk Truck, less Spider-Man mech, and more villainous creatures and heinous contraptions that our hero needs to defeat!
Zap to the extreme!
Man I love that lizard!! what a great looking creature. I only don't like the hind legs.
@Brickodillo said:
"I like that sonic has yellow-red dual moulded legs. Is this the first time we get them like this? I know we have red-yellow ones. I’d like to have a few unprinted ones for iron man"
I thought they existed, but can't find any listing for them. The only other dual-molded yellow w/ boots legs I can even find are light-bley boots from TLBM's Raging Bat in 70909.
@PurpleDave said:
" @Brickodillo said:
"I like that sonic has yellow-red dual moulded legs. Is this the first time we get them like this? I know we have red-yellow ones. I’d like to have a few unprinted ones for iron man"
I thought they existed, but can't find any listing for them. The only other dual-molded yellow w/ boots legs I can even find are light-bley boots from TLBM's Raging Bat in 70909 ."
71018-2 has yellow with black boots too.
@TotalMaddness said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Brickodillo said:
"I like that sonic has yellow-red dual moulded legs. Is this the first time we get them like this? I know we have red-yellow ones. I’d like to have a few unprinted ones for iron man"
I thought they existed, but can't find any listing for them. The only other dual-molded yellow w/ boots legs I can even find are light-bley boots from TLBM's Raging Bat in 70909 ."
71018-2 has yellow with black boots too."
Ah, I see what happened there. Legs are yellow w/ black boots, yes, but the hips are bright-light-orange. Obviously, you can simply swap hips for yellow, but the fact that you need to makes it harder to search for them, since BL stopped inventorying leg assemblies.
Close enough to a Charizard
Spoilers for a 24 year old video game? Shocking. That'd be like spoiling Super Mario Bros to someone in 2009.
@TotalMaddness said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Brickodillo said:
"I like that sonic has yellow-red dual moulded legs. Is this the first time we get them like this? I know we have red-yellow ones. I’d like to have a few unprinted ones for iron man"
I thought they existed, but can't find any listing for them. The only other dual-molded yellow w/ boots legs I can even find are light-bley boots from TLBM's Raging Bat in 70909 ."
71018-2 has yellow with black boots too."
They never came unprinted, right? Also very welcome addition for creating some superhero figs
Best cinematic dap up!
Sets like these give me a slither of hope that they'll make a Perfect Chaos set...
I was gonna say "LIKE THATS EVER GONNA HAPPEN!" but honestly I don't even know anymore ¯\_(?)_/¯
@transamman6585 said:
"Spoilers for a 24 year old video game? Shocking. That'd be like spoiling Super Mario Bros to someone in 2009."
Or mentioning that Samus is a girl.
@Ridgeheart said:
" @transamman6585 said:
"Spoilers for a 24 year old video game? Shocking. That'd be like spoiling Super Mario Bros to someone in 2009."
I'll give it a try: when Bowser invaded the Mushroom Kingdom in the first Super Mario Bros. game, he used dark magic to transform most of its people into bricks and grass. The only one who can transform them back, is Princess Peach. That information was readily available in the instruction-manual for SMB, but it's gone unmentioned since.
Shh, hey. Hey, it's okay. You didn't know, and you needed coins for... reasons. I'm sure you didn't mean to shatter all those people for all of these decades over all of those games. And Peach, she'll get around to uncursing her people... any day now, I'm sure. I'm sure of it. Shhh."
This is actually a misconception! It's the most obvious interpretation of the *first* reference in the manual to Toads being turned into bricks, but there's another mention later on that clarifies that this is actually the lore explanation for hidden powerup blocks--if you hit a brick and it gives you an item instead of breaking, then that brick is a person and they're rewarding you for finding them. (How they're able to do this when they've been turned into bricks isn't explained.)
@Brickodillo said:
" @TotalMaddness said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Brickodillo said:
"I like that sonic has yellow-red dual moulded legs. Is this the first time we get them like this? I know we have red-yellow ones. I’d like to have a few unprinted ones for iron man"
I thought they existed, but can't find any listing for them. The only other dual-molded yellow w/ boots legs I can even find are light-bley boots from TLBM's Raging Bat in 70909 ."
71018-2 has yellow with black boots too."
They never came unprinted, right? Also very welcome addition for creating some superhero figs
"
Doesn't appear so, no. I may be misremembering based on the fact that I've _wanted_ yellow legs with red boots, so I can make Reverse Flash match all my yellow-booted Flash minifigs.
"I wonder if the designers are deliberately targeting Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) fans who owned Exo-force sets in 2006?!"
It's me, hi, I'm the target demographic it's me
As a kid who loved Exo-force and who's first console was the Dreamcast, this thing is right up my alley