In 2017, Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle was released by Ubisoft; a crossover game of Nintendo's Mario and Ubisoft's Raving Rabbids. I remember being impressed with what I saw when it was revealed as Mario had not had a game like it before. Not only was it a different game from the usual, but it also included the not-so-beloved Rabbids.
Forward to this year, I decided to finally purchase the game and play it. I was astounded! The game looked so beautiful and crisp on the Switch and on the bigger screen. While the presentation was very good, the gameplay was even better. Admittedly, I had low expectations of the gameplay during the first stages, but as I progressed and defeated more of the corrupted Rabbids, I saw a wonderful progression of depth.
In the overworld, the player can navigate through small alleyways and hidden paths to discover collectibles and weapons. The complexity of the puzzles surprised me as I didn't expect more than a linear corridor from one stage to another. The overworld of this game hearkens to 3D Mario exploration.
The game shines in its battles. Beautiful graphics with fitting music accompanies a wonderful combat system. Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle is a tactical RPG with the likes of XCOM -- which I played for a while in the past. The mobility of the characters on screen is genius. The player can dash, stomp, double dash, or double jump depending on the character they are controlling. The tip screen is right; doing a dash is like an extra attack!
The game goes out of its way to make each playable character unique: Mario is an average Joe, Rabbid Peach is a tank healer, Luigi is a glass cannon -- a sniper, among eight playable characters. It was fun experimenting with combinations of characters as the game only allowed three on a map.
The player is also given the ability to grow the eight playable characters the way he/she wants. Each character has a unique skill tree to further improve their strengths and battle capabilities. Personally, I improved the movement and jump ranges of my Mario and Rabbids cast as soon as possible, so I can dominate the map even without buying stronger weapons.
There are four worlds in the main campaign with secret chapters and challenges, increasing replayability by a ton. The player also gets to have more varied interaction with the overworld during exploration as Beep-0 is upgraded after the completion of a world.
At the end of the fourth world, I put down my Switch and said to myself: "That was really great". Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle is a standout title on the Switch and one I would recommend for Mario, Rabbids, and tactical RPG fans alike. Now, excuse me while I conquer the game to 100%.
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