When the game was first teased, the first reaction most people had was "why?" and when the game was finally revealed at Ubisoft’s E3 conference, the game became yet-another highly anticipated Switch title.
The story of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle starts with a big fan of Mario who also happens to be a skilled inventor and her AI assistant Beep-O. After finishing a new invention, the SupaMerge Helmet, a helmet which has the ability to merges two independent objects together, she takes a short break. That’s when the Raving Rabbids show up. One of the Rabbids takes an interest in the helmet and causes a chain reaction which results in the world of Mario and the world of Rabbids being merged together. Now, Mario has to save the day alongside new found companions.
▍Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Launch Trailer – Nintendo Switch
▍Gameplay
To put it simply, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a combination of Super Mario World and XCOM, with Rabbid characters. Players explore different zones, each with a significantly different theme, collecting coins and progressing through the story. During combat, the game turns into XCOM. On the surface, the turn-based tactical combat is exactly what one could expect from XCOM, from the half cover and full covers to the skills and passives each character has, but as you progress further into the game, the flaws of the simplified tactical combat start to become more obvious.
In XCOM, whether or not a character’s shot lands depends on a variety of variables. Much of this is absent in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, with only 100% hit chance, 50% hit chance, and 0% hit chance, the game can easily become a game of luck. A series of lucky shots can easily become the make or break of each combat, which can become slightly annoying to players especially those who are aiming for perfect results.
At the end of each battle, players are graded depending on how many characters survived and the number of turns it took to finish the battle. The combat alone isn’t exactly hard, as players obtain more skills and weapons later into the game, but to get the perfect three-star rating for every battle can be more challenging as lucky shots can drastically change the tide of battle in a matter of turns.
Although the main frame of the combat is distinctively XCOM, Ubisoft does a great job in incorporating Super Mario themes into the combat as well as adding new elements to enrich the combat. One of the most notable features is the pipes that teleport characters from one place to another.
▍World and Characters
The art direction of Mario Rabbids is one of the best examples of the pleasantly surprising chemistry between Mario and Raving Rabbids. The world still retains the familiar Super Mario impression, but with an eccentric Raving Rabbid twist. The balance between the original Super Mario world and the craziness of Raving Rabbids encourages players to explore the world to find out what the newly combined world has to offer.
For characters, the balance is completely broken. Whilst the Rabbid-versions of Mario characters are incredibly entertaining to watch, the original Mario characters don’t have that charm at all. Despite not changing his look, in other games, Mario easily becomes a predominant character due to his never-changing features. However, this did not work well in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. When everything in the world has taken a crazy turn, it makes Mario stand out, not in a good way.
▍Story & Dialogue
As previously mentioned, the story starts when the Raving Rabbids act like they typically do and causes an accident which merged their world with Mario’s, so now Mario has to save the day. This is all quite typical in a game that involves Mario. Something goes bad and Mario has to come and save the day like he always does, but unlike other games, this time Mario is accompanied by unconventional companions which make the whole story a lot more enjoyable than it would have been with just Mario characters.
The surreal combination of Mario and Raving Rabbids has also opened up a more whimsical touch to the Mario name. From the witty dialogue to character’s interactions with their counterparts, the setting for Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battles is simply brilliant.
▍Thoughts
Personally, I found the game a real pleasant surprise. Ubisoft takes an iconic Nintendo IP and creates something that still has some of the Nintendo magic whilst adding a new perspective to the iconic IP. Although, arguably, the game doesn’t have full Nintendo magic from Nintendo-made games, being able to see significant changes to such an iconic name in the gaming industry is not necessarily a bad thing.
Although the gameplay itself isn’t anything entirely special on its own, the game shines in bringing contrasting and contradicting characters together in an engaging story. Some of the most entertaining moments in the game are not within the combat, but with unraveling the story, solving puzzles in the world, and watching how characters interact with other characters and in the new world.
Definitely recommend giving this game a try!