LEGO Mario Kart is the best set since Rivendell. Change my mind

Brick Fanatics’ staffers are highlighting their favourite LEGO sets from the past 12 months as part of our look back over 2025. Here, Chris plants his flag firmly in the ground for the biggest Mario Kart set yet…

2025 has been a pretty mixed year for LEGO sets. For every Tudor Corner there’s been a Shire; for every K-2SO there’s been a Tropical Aquarium. But I’d say, on balance, this year has been better than 2024 – even if it’s for one reason only. Specifically, one racing plumber-shaped reason.

I’ve always quite liked the LEGO Super Mario direct-to-consumer sets – I’ve got the NES and Bowser on display still, while other sets since have been dismantled to make way for new arrivals – but they were never at the top of my list in any given year. Maybe it’s because I was a PlayStation kid and the first Nintendo console I had was a Wii. But more likely it’s because in their respective release years there was always something that caught my interest a little bit more.

Not so this time round. 72037 Mario & Standard Kart is unequivocally my number one set of 2025. (And it’s Brick Fanatics’ collective number two set of the year, so I feel a bit validated there.) That’s not necessarily thanks to a lack of viable contenders, either – I’ve also really enjoyed 10350 Tudor Corner, 76968 Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex and 75434 K-2SO.

But from the sets I’ve put together this year (around 35 in all), nothing has come close to matching 72037 Mario & Standard Kart. I drew a comparison to 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell in the title of this story for a reason: for me, those two sets exist on the same plane, elevated above the rest of the LEGO portfolio, and the 1,972-piece Mario Kart is the first set to reach those same dizzying heights since the Middle-earth set dropped in 2023.

In my experience, LEGO sets boil down to two essential criteria. Is it fun to build? And does it look good when finished? Some sets look pretty nice when all’s said and done but are an absolute chore to put together – 21332 The Globe is perhaps the least fun I’ve ever had building a set, for example – while others are interesting to assemble but don’t do much for me aesthetically.

I’m not saying 72037 Mario & Standard Kart is the first set to achieve both those aims since Rivendell, because obvs tonnes of sets have managed it since March 2023. But none have quite perfected both. 72037 uses LEGO bricks in ways you might never have thought possible, will constantly have you wondering how the designers could have possibly arrived at a certain solution, and like everyone’s first misguided attempt at Rainbow Road, never once lets up on the accelerator from start to finish.

I talked a little bit about some of the specific (and unusual) techniques in Mario Kart in my initial review, and I won’t get too much into the weeds with them here – partly because writing out techniques is pretty laborious (to read too), and partly so as not to spoil things if you haven’t yet built this one. There are moments of discovery all along the way that you really wouldn’t expect from a giant brick-built kart.

And then there’s Mario himself, who comes together in a similarly smart way and nails not only the Nintendo mascot’s proportions, but also his aesthetic and overall character. Buildable figures can be pretty hit and miss in LEGO in general, but I have literally no notes on Mario. (Okay, one note: he can’t stand independently of his kart, but oh well. He looks way better on it anyway.)

Like the best LEGO Super Mario 18+ sets, 72037 Mario & Standard Kart also has an ace up its sleeve that you might not necessarily appreciate from just looking at the official images. Bowser can move his limbs in a puppet-like way when you pick him up; the NES can accept cartridges just like the real thing (and its TV has an awesome side-scrolling function to replicate 2D Mario gameplay); and Mario Kart has a gyroscopic stand and cleverly-conceived axles to allow for more dynamism on display than you’d ever expect from a set like this.

I’d like to say I haven’t gotten to the best part yet, but really what I’m about to say is just the cherry on top (because who could single out a best part of a set like this?). 72037 Mario & Standard Kart retails for only £149.99 – already a pretty fair price – and is regularly available for only £99.99 at third-party retailers. For that price it’s a genuine steal, and one of the best-value LEGO sets you’ll ever buy. It’s like if Rivendell was suddenly discounted to £200. That’s the level I’m talking here – and for Mario Kart, it’s an easily attainable discount.

LEGO Super Mario as a theme rarely repeats the same idea twice (at least within its 18+ range), but I really hope it breaks that rule for Mario Kart. I’d love to see more characters and karts recreated at the same scale, even if it means sacrificing more sets to make room for them all on my shelves (Bowser’s reign can’t last forever). And there’s obviously plenty of mileage given these games encompass almost every major Mario character and plenty of other familiar Nintendo faces.

If I haven’t sold you on this set by now I probably never will, but if you’ve been considering it and have yet to take the plunge hopefully this has convinced you to put pedal to the metal and discover everything 72037 Mario & Standard Kart has to offer for yourself. You won’t regret it…

Check out more of our 2025 in review content – including Rachael, Jack and Matt’s favourite sets of 2025 – right here.

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