Review: The Super Mario Bros Movie toys aren’t blowing smoke when it comes to quality

videogameschronicle.com:

A blockbuster family movie just isn’t worth its salt if it doesn’t have an accompanying toy line, and The Super Mario Bros Movie is certainly covered in that regard.

Luckily for Nintendo, it didn’t need to look too far to secure a toy deal – for nearly a decade the company has been licensing out its IP to toy manufacturer Jakks Pacific, which has been releasing a steady stream of action figures ever since its US-only World of Nintendo line (please re-release it in the UK, Jakks).

Given Jakks’ history with Nintendo and the fact it’s handled movie tie-ins before – the toymaker also has the Sonic licence and recently released action figures for the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie – it was a no-brainer that it would be the firm responsible for the Super Mario Bros Movie toys.

With the movie arriving this week, a range of toys are already available for parents and collectors, and we’ve taken a look at some of the most notable offerings to see if they’re worth getting, including one that actually promises to simulate ‘fire breathing’.

As anyone who’s seen the trailers for the movie will already know, one of the film’s highlights is an enormous kart race on Rainbow Road.

This looks like it’s set to be the Mario Movie equivalent of Star Wars Episode I’s pod racing scene, and naturally it’s been supported with toys so kids can re-enact what promises to be one of the most action-packed moments.

There are four Pull Back Racers available – Mario in a kart, Toad in a kart, Peach on a bike and a Koopa Troopa on a bike.

They act like you would expect normal pull-back cars to behave – pull it back until the wheels click then let go to make them zoom off.

There’s a decent amount of speed to these, and they even worked well on our carpet where smaller