The brand new LEGO 72051 Donkey Kong Arcade set is on the show floor at San Diego Comic-Con, giving us a first glimpse at its mechanism in action.
Unveiled earlier today for the first time (officially speaking), 72051 Donkey Kong Arcade recreates one of Nintendo’s most iconic arcade machines in a similar format to the retiring 10323 PAC-MAN Arcade. This one comes in a bit smaller and cheaper at 1,367 pieces for £149.99 / $199.99 / €169.99, but it still manages to pack in plenty of functionality.
Push a button on the front of the cabinet and you’ll release a barrel down the pink scaffolding. You can then toggle the joystick to move Jumpman (who would eventually become Super Mario) side to side and up and down, hopping over the barrels. Check it out in action at SDCC courtesy of Beyond the Brick.
In terms of lifelike functionality, this sits somewhere between 10323 PAC-MAN Arcade and 11374 Arcade Pinball Machine. It’s not fully playable to the same degree as the original arcade cabinet, as Jumpman only has a limited range of movement – you can’t take him from the bottom all the way up to the top – but there’s a little more agency than in PAC-MAN’s simulated gameplay.
There's no chance of failing to clear the barrels, though, as they technically pass behind Jumpman on a different track. So what you're really doing is mimicking the visuals of the gameplay rather than attempting something with any degree of challenge, as in 11374 Arcade Pinball Machine.
It’ll be interesting to see if anyone in the community manages to modify 72051 Donkey Kong Arcade and make it fully playable, even if it’s at the expense of the stability or aesthetics (two areas in which the LEGO designers won’t have wanted to compromise for the retail model).
72051 Donkey Kong Arcade is available to pre-order now in some regions ahead of its August 1 launch. Keep an eye out for our hands-on review very soon.
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