Review: 60354 Mars Spacecraft Exploration Missions
Posted by benbacardi,
Recently, Huw reviewed the first of the three City Missions sets that are new this year, which focus less on instruction-led building and more on guided free-form play to construct imaginative solutions to a series of problems (or missions) posed by an app.
The age range on the box is 6+, and although Huw does fall into that category, it's clear that the sets aren't particularly aimed at AFOLs! To that end, he passed the other two sets, 60354 Mars Spacecraft Exploration Missions and 60355 Water Police Detective Missions, to me, to play through with my children and review it from their perspective.
We started by taking a look at the Mars missions, so read on to see how we got on!
Summary
60354 Mars Spacecraft Exploration Missions, 298 pieces.
£24.99 / $39.99 / €29.99 | 8.4p/13.4c/10.1c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
A fun interactive play set for the target audience that makes the set building experience last longer than usual.
- Good opportunities for creativity
- A fun interactive mechanic
- Reasonably priced
- The app is large and can be slow
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
I sat down with my son, who is actually just below the target age, and opened the box. He pulled out all the bags, while I scanned the QR code and waited (and waited) for the app to load. Eventually, we were in!
Get Ready, Astronaut!
A short video introduced us to Lieutenants Riviera and Jamie, the prime crew for a mission to Mars. Apparently, we're their backup crew to take over should anything happen to one of them before launch. Ominous…
After putting together our helmets, we needed to pick our outfit and choose some useful astronaut tools (or a banana and drumstick, it's up to you).
This is the way my son put them together, and equipped them. I'd have swapped the legs, but there are no right or wrong answers here!
Both the blue flight suit and the white spacesuit prints are new this year, appearing in other City Space sets released since January. There are two heads to choose from. Both are single-sided, but the print with glasses is unique to this set.
Next came the first "play" aspect of the set: it was time for us to test our suits and gear in zero gravity! Each of the free build or play stages has one or more "hint" buttons you can tap, revealing photos of the designer's ideas on how to get started.
With that, we've completed Mission 1! My son was eager to carry on (admittedly, we haven't actually done much yet), so it was time to meet Dr Wexler, and progress to Mission 2: Shuttle Building.
The head engineer is here to guide us through building the core of the shuttle, so we're thrown into instructions mode again and told to open Supply Bag 2. After following the steps (like a traditional LEGO set), we've built the shuttle, as shown here. There's room inside for two astronaut figures we built earlier, and the cockpit roof hinges from either end to provide access.
Once more it's play time! As we built the shuttle, we get the honour of taking it for its test flight. I was disappointed to see no hint buttons this time round—how am I supposed to know what to do?!—but my son had no problem running around the room flying the basic shuttle and making engine noises!
Mission 2 complete! That took us significantly longer than the first mission, but most of that was me patiently helping my son follow the instructions.
But there's a problem. Lieutenant Riviera accidentally over-boosted the engines, and now we need to fix and upgrade them. Mission 3 tasks us with designing and building a new engine system from the variety of parts provided by the next bag - and introduces "the Wexler super powerful separator" as a means to remove the old engines before we can start.
The third (and final) figure in the set is also introduced - the aforementioned Lieutenant Jamie needs a hand getting into his orange flight suit. Instructions-led, this time - not that there's any other way to put a minifigure together without a choice of parts!
Once again, the flight suit is new this year in the rest of the City Space sets. Jamie's head is double-printed, with the second expression looking decidedly unwell for an astronaut! Perhaps he's never been to space before.
My son decided to use all the available parts to upgrade the engine system on the shuttle, and after a few minutes of messing around, this is what he came up with:
To complete the mission, the final play stage is to lift off from Earth and head towards Mars. Turns out, Lieutenant Riveria broke her leg and as backup crew we get to go instead! Lift off in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…
All in all, there are eight missions to play through, and they all follow a similar format: animated videos explaining the scenario, interspersed with instruction-led building, free building, and play time.
I won't go into the full details of the rest of the missions here, but they range from upgrading the shuttle's wings to avoiding asteroids and landing successfully on Mars. At each step, my son was engrossed by the videos, meticulously followed the instructions, and came up with some very weird but definitely creative solutions in the free build time!
There are a few ancillary builds along the way, such as asteroids, a robot dog assistant, a fire extinguisher, and a part of the red planet itself for you to plant your flag on:
My son's final shuttle design looked like this (the black parts covering the cockpit are asteroid shields, in case you're wondering):
Parts
As a quick aside, the set contains a few unique parts, some recolours, and prints. Take a look through the inventory. Among others, there's two new prints of the updated Classic Space logo (the flag, shown above, and a 1x2 roof piece), a recoloured parabolic reflector and pentagonal tile, and a new version of the recent small rock crystal.
The official photos for each set include a picture of all the parts that are used during the free build sections in the app:
Conclusion
My son and I got a good few hours of build and play out of this set. We didn't complete it all in one sitting, and had come back the next day, although the app wasn't working properly the second time we tried - nothing other than the instruction-led build sections would load. We tried multiple devices, asked a few friends to check their apps, but it appeared to be a server-side problem. For a set like this, that was actually a large frustration, because we couldn't continue until it was sorted a few days later.
That said, we both had a lot of fun. The eight missions provided entertainment and a hook to keep my son interested, and the pacing of the free build, play, and instructions seemed well thought out to provide variety. For some children, instructions are important and it's how they like to play, and a large pile of bricks with no guidance can feel intimidating. For others, the freedom of unbounded creativity is where they excel, and instructions are just dull. These new City Missions sets combine both, within a story-led framework, and should prove interesting for all kinds of children.
60354 Mars Spacecraft Exploration Missions is available from LEGO.com for £24.99 / $39.99 / €29.99.
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34 comments on this article
As a parts kit this is still a decent value (not great but let's be fair there are worse priced sets). My biggest complaint is the white windshield piece, the two clips it attaches to don't have studs on top and seem to lack the clutch power to stay attached while articulating the windshield. It's annoying and limits the use of the part as anything other than an airfoil.
I may have to try this with the two of my kids in this age range, especially the one who prefers Classic Space! When the price is down and the app functions better.. Or, if…
That engine upgrade is far better than anything I could've come up with at that age. It seriously rivals what one might see in 8+ or 9+ Star Wars sets. Bravo to your son!
Pretty disappointing to hear that a lot of the content appears to be server-side with no offline fallback, though. I can understand it being server-side so that it can be updated seamlessly, but offline mode would have been great. Enough people here have (IMO more than necessary) misgivings about the fact that an app is used at all; now add to that the fact that a lot of it requires an Internet connection!
@LegoSonicBoy said:
"That engine upgrade is far better than anything I could've come up with at that age. It seriously rivals what one might see in 8+ or 9+ Star Wars sets. Bravo to your son!
Pretty disappointing to hear that a lot of the content appears to be server-side with no offline fallback, though. I can understand it being server-side so that it can be updated seamlessly, but offline mode would have been great. Enough people here have (IMO more than necessary) misgivings about the fact that an app is used at all; now add to that the fact that a lot of it requires an Internet connection!"
I'll echo the engines comments and add in the shields are brilliant! Very well done!
@Murdoch17 said:
" @LegoSonicBoy said:
"That engine upgrade is far better than anything I could've come up with at that age. It seriously rivals what one might see in 8+ or 9+ Star Wars sets. Bravo to your son!
Pretty disappointing to hear that a lot of the content appears to be server-side with no offline fallback, though. I can understand it being server-side so that it can be updated seamlessly, but offline mode would have been great. Enough people here have (IMO more than necessary) misgivings about the fact that an app is used at all; now add to that the fact that a lot of it requires an Internet connection!"
I'll echo the engines comments and add in the shields are brilliant! Very well done!"
Yes! They remind me of smoke deflectors on steam locomotives. Except this time they deflect entire chunks of solid rock.
I'm tempted to get this set just for the pieces printed with the Classic Space logo. If I see a really good sale, I may just do that.
The App uses Amazon MP3 for the movoe streams, which can crash on older devices (like my 3+ years old Sony Xperia). In that case you're left with the instructions only and no space adventure. Also, it isn't guaranteed that the streams will work properly next time you start the app.
At least, the mini-films are cute =)
As someone deeply interested in preservation and archival, sets like this always worry me.
It's a serious risk of becoming lost media in a few years. While Lego is often good at archiving its products, those archives are not always public.
How long will this set remain functional?
5 years? 10 years? Surely Lego doesn't plan on supporting it forever.
I can't abide by a significant portion of a product's function being out of the hands of the consumer.
I would have loved this as a kid. I'm not the kind of person whose imagination works will with little guidance. Guided creativity is right in my wheel house. Don't like the US dollar price, though. So this will likely be a pass for me until it goes on sale.
Target audience?
Im 34 and I had a blast with Aninal rescue set.
Only thing I didnt like is that they dont specify what bricks to use and you can end up winning a prize you already used.
@NatureBricks said:
"Reasonably priced.... in Europe. Yet again the USA gets screwed."
I guess you haven't paid attention to the fact that the vast majority of sets are cheaper in the US than anywhere else (or you are aware but just like to complain). Almost all sets from 2022 cost the same in Euros and Dollars which after taking into account the exchange rate means they are a cheaper in the US. It's an even more dramatic savings when comparing the US to the UK.
I truly do not understand Lego. This is not a highly immersive simulation with all sorts of shading and complex rendering. Why not developing it on the worst ever - still working OS. That way, you know that most people will be able to run it without much problems - that's called using the most common denominator. Maybe that be would be too UN-Lego to make something 'technological' works properly. One can always dream...
Nice review! This one not for me but might get the animal rescue.
@krysto2002 said:
"
How long will this set remain functional?
5 years? 10 years? Surely Lego doesn't plan on supporting it forever.
I can't abide by a significant portion of a product's function being out of the hands of the consumer."
I understand where you're coming from, but let's not overstate the replayability of this concept; most kids will do the app adventure once or twice after buying the set and won't care much for it after that, let alone in five to ten years.
Then at least they're left with a nice selection of parts to do their own things; prettymuch what each set is about in my book.
@NatureBricks said:
"Reasonably priced.... in Europe. Yet again the USA gets screwed."
I was gonna say that, I’ve learned to just cope with 40% higher prices for City sets at this point, although I don’t buy them regardless so maybe I’m not someone to go to for advice. That and I’ve kind of gotten over app sets at this point, so even if the price is proportionately better than the majority of City sets in America I’m most likely not gonna get it… why do I even comment at this point, I never get LEGO anymore. :P
Also, Huw isn’t in the 6+ age range? Baby. :)
@dtobin123 Almost all of the upcoming sets I’ve glimpsed cost more in America than Europe or the United Kingdom, that was true a few years ago but unless I’m missing something it’s not anymore.
@YanVanLan said:
" @krysto2002 said:
"
How long will this set remain functional?
5 years? 10 years? Surely Lego doesn't plan on supporting it forever.
I can't abide by a significant portion of a product's function being out of the hands of the consumer."
I understand where you're coming from, but let's not overstate the replayability of this concept; most kids will do the app adventure once or twice after buying the set and won't care much for it after that, let alone in five to ten years.
Then at least they're left with a nice selection of parts to do their own things; prettymuch what each set is about in my book."
But what about the main core of the builds? Are those instructions just going to be lost forever?
It's true that the target audience won't mind, but wouldn't it be a waste to not even have stuff available digitally?
@krysto2002 said:
"As someone deeply interested in preservation and archival, sets like this always worry me.
It's a serious risk of becoming lost media in a few years. While Lego is often good at archiving its products, those archives are not always public.
How long will this set remain functional?
5 years? 10 years? Surely Lego doesn't plan on supporting it forever.
I can't abide by a significant portion of a product's function being out of the hands of the consumer."
If they are willing and able to put the resources towards it, a repository similar to their downloadable PDF instructions seems like a solution. At least for the videos available via the app.
I'm guessing the cost of the app development might be a contributing factor to the steep price point on these Mission sets.
LEGO's past attempts to "digitize" or otherwise modernize their appeal have often been subpar, but this seems like it comes closest to retaining the core principle of building play and even works to introduce little builders to the concept that you are not limited to what the instructions tell you to do. In that sense, I like it.
And, of course, Classic [Mars] Space! :)
I love those cockpit shields!
I got one today Tesco Slovakia has them on sale already for €19.99 totaly worth it :D
Great parts but horribly ugly set
@Binnekamp said:
" @YanVanLan said:
" @krysto2002 said:
"...
How long will this set remain functional?
..."
I understand where you're coming from, but let's not overstate the replayability of this concept; ..."
But what about the main core of the builds? Are those instructions just going to be lost forever?
It's true that the target audience won't mind, but wouldn't it be a waste to not even have stuff available digitally?"
Ok, I get the urge to conserve, I'm a historian.
But let's take a step back and look at what we're trying to keep here.
I could understand it if we were talking about a X400,- UCS set, but this set doesn't even have a complete main model; you get a core of a spaceship.
Great for encouraging imaginative play, as the review points out, but that's about it.
If we look at it from a MOC, AFOL or collector's perspective, what are we really losing here? Instructions for a half decent, half finished ship; I'm guessing I can live without them...
Also: don't be fooled by the Space logo, this set may be good, but it's not an instant Classic!
Ok, all jokes aside; I plan to buy all these 'City Missions' sets (not a big deal, of course, since I live in Europe where LEGO sets are really cheap or so I've been told) and I promise to replicate the builds in stud.io (maybe I'll even make instructions for 'em if I'm in a really good mood) and make them available (via rebrickable or something similar) to anyone who otherwise might not be able to get another decent night's sleep for the next five to ten years ;-)
My kids have loved these sets. The way they play with them remind me of how I was a young boy with my Lego sets. I hope they keep coming out with things like this.
@YanVanLan said:
" @krysto2002 said:
"
How long will this set remain functional?
5 years? 10 years? Surely Lego doesn't plan on supporting it forever.
I can't abide by a significant portion of a product's function being out of the hands of the consumer."
I understand where you're coming from, but let's not overstate the replayability of this concept; most kids will do the app adventure once or twice after buying the set and won't care much for it after that, let alone in five to ten years.
Then at least they're left with a nice selection of parts to do their own things; prettymuch what each set is about in my book."
I also seriously doubt the child this was initially purchased for is going to play with the set more than once or twice - but my concern is about future children.
Maybe the child, now an adult, wants to experience these sets with *their* children? Maybe they just want to relive some childhood nostalgia - I can definitely relate to that. They may find that the core of the product's experience is no longer available. That's more or less my concern here. At a certain point, this product may no longer function as intended outside of just being a pile of miscellaneous parts, whereas a book or a CD will continue to work and can be backed up.
Nice build! Love the thrusters!?
My son bought this set the other day with his allowance and he absolutely ADORES it. He's been swooshing his ship for days and he can't wait to get another Mission set this weekend with the remainder of his money. It's especially great how his finished model looks so largely different from your son's version; it's given my boy such a sense of pride in having used his imagination so much whilst still having the foundations to a solid professional build (his MOCs often fell apart too easily sadly). He then took a few 'greebling' parts from our spares box to increase his ships features (a large tub of computer panels, pipes etc. that I usually use to 'dad mod' his Star Wars sets to a more movie-like level at his request) having only asked me for one tiny bit of help; requesting I install a retractable landing gear. Was a slightly daunting task at first but without too much issue was mission accomplished thanks to all our extra parts and now he loves it even more, but other than that it was all him. Great range and hope they keep it going for a long while, haven't seen my son so enthralled with a Lego set in a fair while.
@NatureBricks said:
"Reasonably priced.... in Europe. Yet again the USA gets screwed."
Try being in New Zealand.. exchange rate is punishing
Like the 'Idea'/Set, not sure about the 'execution'/application...oh, the irony of the term. It's got good parts, and figures; designs are ok (that ship does need refining...). Maybe on discount...
@NatureBricks said:
" @dtobin123 said:
" @NatureBricks said:
"Reasonably priced.... in Europe. Yet again the USA gets screwed."
I guess you haven't paid attention to the fact that the vast majority of sets are cheaper in the US than anywhere else
"
That's misinformation."
No it isn't.
First of all, in some parts of the US you don't pay any sales tax at all. I know it's not many places, but there are. No such thing over here.
And even where there is sales tax, it's laughably low (like under 10% in most states).
City sets may be the exception, but many themes and sets are so much cheaper at RRP in the US that even the small effect of sales tax doesn't make them more expensive than in Europe.
The only thing that seems to be better over here on some sets are larger discounts (without which those sets just wouldn't sell at all).
Lucky I bought this for the parts as the App sounds extremely painful for me as a 47 year old
Such an amazing set for parts, especially now that 10497 is coming, the engine parts and such will be great for some modern classic reimaginations.
@YoureOnlyYoungTwice said:
"My son bought this set the other day with his allowance and he absolutely ADORES it. He's been swooshing his ship for days and he can't wait to get another Mission set this weekend with the remainder of his money. It's especially great how his finished model looks so largely different from your son's version; it's given my boy such a sense of pride in having used his imagination so much whilst still having the foundations to a solid professional build (his MOCs often fell apart too easily sadly). He then took a few 'greebling' parts from our spares box to increase his ships features (a large tub of computer panels, pipes etc. that I usually use to 'dad mod' his Star Wars sets to a more movie-like level at his request) having only asked me for one tiny bit of help; requesting I install a retractable landing gear. Was a slightly daunting task at first but without too much issue was mission accomplished thanks to all our extra parts and now he loves it even more, but other than that it was all him. Great range and hope they keep it going for a long while, haven't seen my son so enthralled with a Lego set in a fair while."
Love the term "dad mod".
I really love the idea of "build prompts" to encourage imagination and improvisation. There are a bunch of first- and second-party books that offer text+visual prompts, but having acquired several for my kids, they just don't connect the way they did with me when I was their age. I can see why an immersive pseudo-game would work better: it provides not just the germ of an idea, but also immersion and motivation.
Instead of "here's something cool, why don't you try it?", which works for anyone who's already inclined to build experimentally, you're pulled into a situation and problem that gives you an extrinsic reason to build. Over time you might develop a love of the intrinsic qualities of building and experimenting -- or not. But you've given it a chance.
I like this direction for Lego's digital engagement efforts and hope they keep plowing in this direction, instead of "gamifying" the bricks as if the only thing they learned from Dimensions was they were late to the party, not that the idea was unsound for their brand.
I didn't have time to finish all the missions yet, but the app is just terrible. Not in how it looks or how the missions are designed, no. That is OK, there is even an inventory list. But it is trying to burn my phone, literally. The phone is a few years old, true, but after about two first missions i got the info that the device is overheating. OK, it was connected to the charger at the moment, so I took a break, let it cool, fully charged it, disconnected and started to play again. After a mission with wings got the overheating info again. This time I took a longer break, about two weeks, seriously disgusted. I'm an adult and would like to decide myself how long to play with my bricks ;)
So, is this the "range" with an accompanying app for 2022? Is it reasonable to compare it to Nexo Knights/Hidden Side/Vidiyo in that regard?
They obviously want to have some sort digital presence... I wish they'd get a better idea of why...
@philip_dt said:
"So, is this the "range" with an accompanying app for 2022? Is it reasonable to compare it to Nexo Knights/Hidden Side/Vidiyo in that regard?
They obviously want to have some sort digital presence... I wish they'd get a better idea of why..."
I think it's better comparable to Super Mario in that regard, an app for instructions mainly.
Nexo, Hidden Side, Vidiyo could be built 100% independent of any app.