7. Mario + Rabbids
Have you ever looked at your favorite mascot and thought to yourself, ‘he would be much better if he had a gun’? …No? Well, the people at Ubisoft sure did, and thankfully it ended up a lot better than the travesty that was Shadow the Hedgehog and his damn FOURTH Chaos Emerald.
The unlikely pairing of the Mario universe with the fun-loving Rabbids works like a charm, and the X-COM style gameplay creates an experience unlike any other for either franchise. At its surface, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle appears to be a cuddly clone of the strategy series, complete with bright colors and the fabulous Rabbid Peach. Once you progress further however, you will discover that this game has the blackened heart of a beast.
Put simply, it’s unforgiving in its latter stages, and it will chew you up and spit you out. This unexpected level of difficulty really encapsulates just how wonderfully out of left field Mario + Rabbids is; expectations were not terribly high upon its initial reveal, but if you just give it a shot, you will be more than glad you did. You may even be keen enough to obtain the Collector’s Edition with the Rabbid Mario statue – good luck finding an appropriate place to display that bad boy.