Mario + Rabbids: A Pleasant Surprise

Don't judge a game by its weird, mutant rabbit sidekick

I don’t think I could’ve been any more negative towards Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle than I was pre-launch. I hated the Rabbids, and that leaked internal document was incredibly underwhelming. Then, we saw it at E3, and it looked better. Being a fan of strategy games myself, I was interested in the gameplay. But, the Rabbids were still a deal breaker for me. Then the reviews broke. There were 8s and 9s being thrown around all over the place, calling it one of Nintendo Switch’s best games. I just had to try it. Well, one thing led to another, and I cautiously bought it day one. As of right now, I’ve put in a few hours, completed the first world, and part of the second. Having played that, I can easily say it was worth the purchase.

The Rabbids have always been, and still are, very odd looking

Right from the start I knew that I misjudged Mario + Rabbids. It opens with a beautiful Pixar-esque cutscene that sets up the, admittedly thin and nearly nonsensical, plot and introduces the Rabbids. They really haven’t changed much since their outings on the Wii. I still think that they are hideously designed, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t laugh as they went about some of their antics. Yet, that doesn’t mean I'm completely on board with them, as the said humor can be rather hit or miss. When it works it really works, and when it doesn’t, well, it just comes off as annoying and childish. Rabbid Peach in particular is especially grating due to her obsession with taking selfies, and the humor during the Rabbid Kong fight is just annoying. Thankfully, being able to demolish them in battle is very satisfying. Put a pin in that though, before talking about the combat, I want to talk about the world itself.

There is a lot of visual diversity in Mario + Rabbids

The game takes place in a warped version of The Mushroom Kingdom. In Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, Mario’s world was deconstructed and fused with the Rabbids' world, due to the Rabbids being bumbling idiots. I’m glad they are though, because this spin on the Mushroom Kingdom is fantastic. The first world is a riff on the ‘plains’ theme that every Mario player knows all too well. However, this time, the recombination of the worlds have added visual diversity to the area making it feel fresh. Huge building blocks fall out of the sky to make a tower Mario has to ascend to hunt down Bowser Jr. and the Rabbids. DK barrels float down the river beside the battlefield. Huge cliffs and cannons add verticality to the world. Rabbids interact with the environment doing stupid but amusing things, such as gluing Goombas to walls. The game is thick with atmosphere and charm. This is compounded by Ubisoft’s engine that makes the colors really pop, and gives the whole world a sleek cartoon feel. I have seen a few dropped frames, but on the whole, the Snowdrop engine keeps everything in the over-world running smoothly.

The puzzles never get too hard, but are always enjoyable

Speaking of said over-world, a common complaint with the game is that the exploration sections between battles are too simple, and not fun. While I can see where people are coming from, I actually like these sections. Solving puzzles and marveling at the detail in the world provides a good break from the strategy heavy combat instances. The puzzles themselves range in both type and difficulty. There are blue coin and red coin mazes to unlock new items, sliding block and pipe puzzles for progression, and secret paths that lead to treasure chests. These are fun, and never last long enough to become a hassle. However, I’m not a big fan of the controls. Everything feels a bit slippery, making the timed blue coin mazes a bit of a pain. Overall, the world is just so pleasant that a few minutes spent solving a pipe maze is just fine by me.

Mario + Rabbids is much faster paced than Fire Emblem

The over-world exploration is just one piece to the overall game, as the real meat comes in the turn-based combat. I love strategy games, however, my only real exposure to the genre has been through Fire Emblem. While I’m familiar with X-Com, I’ve never played it myself. From what I’ve heard Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle is a lot like that series. I can’t confirm that, but I can confirm that Mario + Rabbids isn’t much like Fire Emblem. It’s in those differences that I find myself enjoying Kingdom Battle even more than Intelligent System’s games, and Awakening is one of my favorite 3DS titles. In Fire Emblem, movement is slow and the battles are much more deliberate affairs that usually involve simply overpowering the opposition. Kingdom Battle is the polar opposite, which is what makes it so special. There is an overwhelming emphasis on movement compared to straight combat.

Characters can move incredibly far in a single turn

The characters are incredibly fluid: able to move great distances, slide attack enemies for bonus damage, and jump off of each other to reach that far away piece of cover. Once I began working through the skill tree, my movement options expanded even farther to the point where Luigi can bounce off of two well placed teammates and get across the whole field. I found that this added mobility was essential due to Kingdom Battle’s great AI. Enemies seek out cover and move dynamically to flank Mario & Company, which forced me to constantly stay on my toes in order to keep all of my characters alive. Battles turn into chess matches with each side trying to outmaneuver and snipe down the opposing team across the game’s well designed maps. With destructible cover, high overlooks, and many interweaving pipes, one poor move can cause Mario to get surrounded.

Each character has five abilities on various cool-downs

While one bad decision can spell defeat, one carefully planned turn can clear out a tough enemy. Take a Rabbid Smasher for example. This hulking enemy has enormous amounts of HP, and can deal over 100 damage in a single hit. It can be exploited with a bit of careful planning however. See, when hit, it charges a few spaces towards its attacker. Take my current team: Mario, Luigi, and Rabbid Peach. Similar to in an MMO, each character has a hot bar of abilities. One special ability, one movement chain, and one attack can be performed by each character every turn. So, when I’m faced with a Smasher, here’s what I do: I’ll use Mario’s M-Power to buff my team’s damage by 20%. Then I’ll slide dash with him to do a bit of chip damage before returning to cover. With Luigi, I’ll get into position and use Steely Stare, which allows him to counter-attack an opponent on the move. Finally, I’ll bait him forward with a slide dash and blaster shot from Peach causing the Smasher to charge forward, triggering Luigi’s ability and launching a second burst of damage. Then, I’ll change the Smasher’s direction with a shot from Mario, and finish it off with a shot from Luigi. That all happens in one turn. That level of flexibility and mobility is why I love Mario + Rabbid’s combat system.

Each weapon has different stats and properties

I got lulled into a false sense of security at the beginning of Kingdom Battle, as it starts out rather easy. Thankfully as the game progresses, even just through the first world, the battles get quite difficult. To complement this difficulty curve is the ever expanding selection of weapons that are unlocked through the game. Swapping out weapons not only serves to make your characters more powerful, as there is no traditional level-up system, but also opens up new strategic possibilities. See, each weapon has a different special property ranging from honey, to ink, to bounce. These, when activated, affect the enemies in different ways. Honey, for example, binds the target in place for the following turn. While only temporary, when facing down a towering enemy, this can be the difference between escape, and a lost character.

Peach's Castle serves as the hub, and has a rockin' theme

I can’t wait to play more Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, and that’s the highest compliment I could give the game so far. Perhaps it drags towards the end, but as of now it is a blast. I love the turn-based combat, and the exploration sections serve as good breaks in the action. The music is fantastic too: that Peach’s Castle remix is probably my favorite Nintendo remix outside of The Lost Woods. I still find the Rabbids too childish in contrast to Mario’s timeless appeal, and the controls are a bit loose, but all in all this is a fantastic game. I’m so glad I decided to give it a chance, and I hope everyone else does as well.