There is no stopping Ubisoft and its plan to allow its Rabbids to conquer the world. Not content with giving these wacky creatures their own games, Ubisoft has also convinced Nintendo to get Mario and his gang to team up with the Rabbids. But will Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle result in a successful collaboration between both companies?
First of all, it’s important to start off by stating that this isn’t a typical platform title. Instead, Ubisoft decided to go for a turn based affair. Although initially it seems like a simpler version of the XCOM titles, it does in fact feel more similar to strategy titles played on mobile devices. This is due to how the actual fighting is done when facing against the many hordes of enemies that the title seems to enjoy throwing at player.
These encounters with enemies are marked by flags visible from afar, so that players can prepare in advance, before trying to take on these fights. Unusually, it seemed necessary to taken on every fight or at least that was the case during the demonstration.
At least the combat system was an enjoyable affair, even if it felt like one that had quite possibly been simplified for the sake of the typical Rabbids fan. The idea as expected in a turn based strategy title is to take cover and attack enemies when it’s the turn of one of the characters controlled by players. Some of the attacks were quite interesting given how they were executed. Even the sight of Mario and his Mushroom Kingdom gang using actual guns didn’t seem unusual. One such attack consisted of using one character to literally throw another one. It was also possible to perform a fancy slide attack where characters hit enemies and then went back to a safe spot.
One of the best aspects of the fights is that most covers can be destroyed. This resulted in a less stagnant affair given that characters had to move around to ensure that they wouldn’t be left wide open to attacks, if the current cover was destroyed or looked like it was well on the way to being destroyed. There are also various objects, such as explosives, scattered in sections fights take place in that can be fired on and used to gain an advantage over the enemies.
Surprisingly enough, despite the fairly simple controls found in the demonstration, it was still enjoyable to take on the different types of enemies. It was clear that each enemy type was weaker when using certain abilities and attacks. It did feel like the user interface could have been more clear, since it was necessary to do a lot of experimentation in order to learn how to efficiently make use of some of the abilities. Seeing lots of stats for weapons/abilities on the screen isn’t particularly helpful if players are not sure how they function without trying them. Hopefully the retail version of the title will make it easier to get to grips with everything that the title has to offer both in and out of battles.
Each of the characters has special abilities, known as skills, to make use of in battle. It’s also possible to purchase new weapons and unlock new skills or enhance these skills when not fighting.
A large portion of the demonstration consisted of fights, so it felt like a nice fresh breath of air to get a small insight of what else to expect from the title. One such section consisted of a simple puzzle where players had to move the characters around a maze until finding the exit. The twist was that walls kept popping up in front of characters until the right path was found. Despite not being a particularly difficult challenge, at least it provided a welcome break from all the fighting.
Visually, this adventure feels more like it belongs in the domain of the Rabbids. The various places that characters explore, as they make their way in an unusually orderly line, look as stable as the deranged Rabbids. In fact, there are various Rabbids to be found throughout the area explored that are just lounging about as the world around them goes to hell. A couple of jokes are cracked by these loony characters during the demonstration that makes it clear that this isn’t Mario typical adventure. The plumber is definitely not in his version of the Mushroom Kingdom.
Whilst the title may not have come across as a particularly groundbreaking take on the turn based strategy genre, there is no denying that it still felt like a surprisingly competent one. It’s certainly possible that Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle could end up being the ideal title for those who find the more advanced turn based strategy titles daunting and one that is simple enough to make it possible to fully take advantage of the handheld nature of the Nintendo Switch.
