Overview
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a turn-based tactics game developed by Ubisoft Milan and Ubisoft Paris and published by Ubisoft, released in 2017. I played it on Nintendo Switch.
As a fan of tactics games, someone who finds the Rabbids funny and who quite likes the Mario franchise, I have to admit this game caught my eye straight away, and it did not disappoint!
Story and world
The Rabbids land in the Mushroom Kingdom aboard a time-travelling washing machine, along with a headset that can merge objects together. The chaos that follows mixes the two universes, and Mario sets out to restore order, accompanied by Beep-0, a little robot.
There is a small storyline, which is mostly a pretext for the adventure, but it does the job.
Gameplay
Battles are played with a team of three characters, chosen from Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi and their Rabbid versions. Each turn, you move your characters on a grid, take cover behind obstacles and attack. You can also slide into enemies while moving or jump off a teammate to reach further, which sets the game apart from more classic tactics games.
There is a real sense of progression, with skill trees unique to each character and new weapons to unlock.
The game is well made, with a good difficulty spike.
Graphics and music
The game looks great, with superb level design: each battle map is built around cover and height.
The soundtrack is composed by Grant Kirkhope, known for his work on Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64.
Verdict
Well made, beautiful, with superb level design, a good difficulty spike and real progression thanks to the skill trees. Honestly, I loved it and I recommend it!