It’s a Lot More In-Depth Than You’d Think
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle looks like a game designed to appeal to a younger audience, but the tactical RPG gameplay is a lot more complex than you might initially think.
During my hands-on time with the game, I found that the battle arenas were full of verticality, tricky hiding spots, and shortcuts that you could use to flank your opponent. Your characters gain more accuracy with their guns by aiming at their opponents from high ground, and if your enemies choose to hide behind obstacles for a long period of time, you can even destroy those barricades by shooting them down.
I also got to fight the game’s first boss: a Rabbid who’d fused with a Piranha Plant in an utterly terrifying manner. Unlike most of the regular enemies who’d normally take cover behind obstacles, the Rabbid Piranha couldn’t do anything like that simply because it was too tall, leaving it completely open to shots. Your party members all have different skills to help them out in battle as well. Mario automatically shoots any enemy within range once his ability is activated, Rabbid Luigi can become invulnerable for a turn, and Rabbid Peach heals allies in her vicinity.
There’s an Equipment System
There will be some sort of equipment system in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. All throughout the game, you’ll occasionally stumble upon treasure chests that contain cards for valuable gear for your characters. Discovering these cards allows you to unlock them for purchase, which you can do by spending gold coins that you’ve picked up along the way.
I didn’t get to take an in-depth look at the gear system during my time with the game, but there will be a variety of weapons and equipment that you can discover along the way.
There are Puzzles In Between Battles
Aside from turn-based tactical gameplay, there are also simple puzzles that serve as a break between all the fights you’re getting into. I encountered two types of puzzles in the demo build that I played, the first being a simple maze puzzle where walls would pop up from the ground every time you headed in the wrong direction. Another environmental puzzle required me to turn a series of bridges around until I could finally forge a proper path that would let me cross a river.
During certain portions of the game, you’ll also occasionally run into puzzle rooms where you have to solve a timed puzzle in order to earn additional coins and possibly new equipment. These served as a nice distraction between the fights, and Ubisoft has promised that the final game will feature more of them.
Rabbids in the Mushroom Kingdom
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle has a simple story. The Mushroom Kingdom gets randomly invaded by the Rabbids one day, as seen by the insane spinning vortex in the sky, and it’s up to Mario to make things right in his world again. As such, Mario teams up with a few familiar friends to try to send the Rabbids back home.
As you explore the Mushroom Kingdom, you’ll receive prompts that allow Mario to stop for a while, and observe the behavior of the crazy Rabbids around him. These Rabbids can often be seen doing silly things, like running round and round on a wheel, thinking it’s a hamster, or even going a little crazy and beating each other up. Things in this game are pretty wild.
