Super Mario

Guarded Fortress Expansion Set

A tiny toy fortress with five different ways to make LEGO Mario earn his flag pole.

Brick Rated Score

3.5/5

Set 71362 · 2020

Pieces468

Minifigsn/a

Year2020

Set number71362

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The verdict

I built this expecting a castle and got something closer to an obstacle course, and honestly, once I stopped comparing it to a normal LEGO set it clicked for me.

The five Action Bricks, hidden in the Bob-omb, on the Koopa Troopa's back, inside the pipe with the Piranha Plant, on the catapult, and the POW Block itself, give a kid actual choices about how to attack the fortress, and that variety is the whole point of an expansion set. But at 468 pieces for the money, a good chunk of this build is plates clipped onto big preformed platform pieces, so if you're judging it purely as a building experience you'll finish faster than you'd like. This is a set for a household that already owns the Starter Course and wants more game to play, not a display piece for a shelf.

Best for: Kids already running the Adventures with Mario Starter Course who want more enemies and route choices to add to it

The full review

This is an expansion set through and through, meant to bolt onto the Adventures with Mario Starter Course rather than stand alone, and once I saw it in that context it made a lot more sense to me. You get a squat fortress tower, a catapult, a stretch of brick built lava, some stepping stones over water, and three toy figures for LEGO Mario to take down: a Bob-omb, a Koopa Troopa, and a Piranha Plant hiding in its pipe. Each one hides its own Action Brick, so depending on which enemy your kid defeats first, the game responds differently before they land on the POW Block that finally pops the fortress door open.

I'll be straight with you about the build itself. A good portion of this is snapping thin plates onto big preformed platform and tower pieces rather than the satisfying brick-by-brick stacking you get in most LEGO sets, so if you're building it as a parent for the engineering, it's over quickly. A few reviewers also ran into confusing steps in the instructions along the way, though everything does line up in the end. And at its original 49.99 dollar price for 468 pieces, it lands in that familiar Super Mario theme problem where the play value is strong but the piece count to price ratio isn't going to wow anyone used to regular System sets.

Get this one if you already have the Starter Course and your kid is asking for more enemies, more routes, and more reasons to keep tapping that little LEGO Mario figure on bricks. Skip it if you're shopping for a display build or want maximum bricks for your dollar, because this is a toy first and a model second, and it plays best as part of the bigger interactive system rather than on its own.

The flag pole moment at the end is a small detail that a lot of reviewers singled out, and I get why. It's such a simple hinge mechanism, but watching it snap upright when Mario knocks it really does feel like clearing a level, and it's the kind of touch that should have shipped with the Starter Course itself rather than being tucked into an expansion.

What works

Five separate Action Bricks give real choice in how you approach the fortress, not just one fixed path
The hinged flag pole at the end genuinely captures the level-clear moment from the games, snapping upright when Mario hits it
Works as a physical expansion to the interactive app-based Super Mario system, adding new challenges without needing a new starter set

Worth knowing

A lot of the build is clipping flat plates onto oversized preformed pieces rather than proper brick-by-brick construction
Several reviewers found the printed and digital instructions confusing in spots even though the final model comes together fine
Like most Super Mario expansions, it feels pricey for the piece count next to a standard System set

Sold? Grab it.

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The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

Building this one is fast and modular rather than technical. You're mostly assembling a low tower, a stepping stone path over a thin water section, a stretch of orange and red lava studs, and a simple catapult arm, then clipping flat plates onto the big preformed platform pieces that make up most of the footprint. It's the kind of build a younger kid can mostly handle solo, which fits the theme's audience, but it won't scratch an itch for complex brick engineering.

The standout pieces here aren't structural, they're the toy figures. The Bob-omb, Koopa Troopa, and Piranha Plant are all specialty molded pieces unique to the Super Mario line, each hiding a spring-loaded or rotating Action Brick that the interactive Mario figure reads through its sensor. The POW Block itself is a nice bit of game logic made physical, since striking it first lets a single hit finish off enemies that normally need two or three. None of it is rare or valuable the way a printed minifig part might be, but for fans of the games these molds are the real reason to own the set.

There are no traditional minifigures in this set, since the whole system runs on the electronic LEGO Mario or Luigi figure sold separately, so collectors chasing minifig value should look elsewhere in the theme.

Fun facts

01The set was designed purely as an expansion, meaning it requires an Adventures with Mario or Adventures with Luigi Starter Course to actually play with it, since it has no electronics of its own.
02Striking the POW Block before fighting a tougher enemy like Whomp or Thwomp lets LEGO Mario defeat them in a single hit instead of the usual two or three, mirroring the classic power-up logic from the video games.
0371362 was retired around December 2021, a little over a year after its 2020 release, which is a fairly typical lifespan for sets in the Super Mario theme.
04The hinged goal flag at the end of the fortress path was called out by multiple reviewers as one of the set's best details, since it physically snaps upright to mimic the flag-pole finish from the games.