Gamers have wondered "what if Mario had a gun?" for untold eons. There were even cave drawings of our favorite mustachioed plumber clutching a 9mm. For obvious reasons, we figured Nintendo would never let it happen. Finally, a visionary team at Ubisoft did the impossible and gave the man a gun (well a blaster of sorts.) What were the results, you may ask? An absurdly fun, addictive, turn-based, tactical RPG called Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle.
Kingdom Battle is a crossover between the Mario franchise and Ubisoft's Rabbids franchise, which was initially a spin-off of the Rayman series. Having a tactics game starring the Mario characters is incredible. The Rabbids though? I'll get ahead of the grotesque, gap-toothed elephant in the room early and say this, I cannot stand the Rabbids. They are hideous, annoying creatures and remind me of the Minions in the worst possible way. France has waged artistic warfare on pop culture for decades now, and I feel like it has to be violating the Geneva Conventions in some way or another.
Given my distaste for the Rabbids, I essentially played Kingdom Battle as a Mario-themed tactics game, though I would occasionally have to grab a Rabbid character for a mission. You have at your disposal Mario, Luigi, Peach and Yoshi, and then four Rabbids who are themed around each of those Mario characters. Each playable character fills a distinct role, and unfortunately some of the Rabbids were wildly effective to have on your team. Luigi is a proficient sniper and has insane mobility, and was seriously one of the most critical members of my team; as he could dole out enormous damage on enemies and stay far away from the action. Yoshi is also a long range specialist, but is more of a heavy weapons type, which is visually hilarious. Rabbid Peach is the premier healer on your roster, so she was a very helpful character to have in my line-up. The other characters have various offensive and defensive specialties that make them valuable assets to whichever playstyle you're trying for.
There are also class customizations available by way of RPG-esque talent trees. It was so fun building out my favorite characters and unlocking their true potential through these talents. A lot of the talent selections are passive buffs and boons to your abilities, while others unlock new mechanics. Some of these unlockable skills are incredibly helpful. I remember using Rabbid Luigi and unlocking an ability where he could run through an enemy and drain their health and refill his own, which gave that character some major survivability. Kingdom Battle gives you a lot of substance to experiment with and play how you want, though some characters are definitely more functional than others. The game can get quite difficult at times too, so you'll really want to fiddle around with your team composition to find what works.
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| Image Credit: Gamereactor |
There's also a fun Donkey Kong-themed DLC pack that I greatly enjoyed. I would've reviewed it separately, but it really wasn't sizeable enough to warrant a whole review to itself. Simply titled, "Donkey Kong Adventure," this expansion centers around the titular gorilla that we all know and love. There aren't any noteworthy gameplay improvements or changes here, but it was very fun getting to play as D.K., and it made me wish he was available in the core game. The level design in the core game was already really beautiful and well done, and the jungle-set stages in Donkey Kong Adventure were a real treat. There's basically another world's worth of content packed into this DLC, and it took me a few hours to complete.
Ultimately, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a superb package, and I'd say probably the ideal starting place for someone interested in the tactics genre. There's a great balance here between fun, creativity and challenge. While the Rabbids were a grating, ghoulish presence throughout the game, the gameplay was so solid and addicting that I'm willing to forgive the French for their crimes against God and humanity. If you pick up the game, I definitely recommend grabbing the DK expansion as well, as it's often discounted and totally worth your time.
VERDICT: Recommended
Reviewed on Nintendo Switch
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