Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
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 Mario AND Rabbids, together? And it actually works??? Get outta here!
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Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is an action-adventure turn-based tactics game developed and published by Ubisoft for the Nintendo Switch. It is a crossover of the Mario and Rayman Raving Rabbids franchises.
A DLC expansion known as Donkey Kong Adventure was released in June 2018, which is based on the Donkey Kong Country series, as well as a special-edition rerelease of the game that had both the base game and Donkey Kong Adventures pre-installed.
A sequel, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, was announced on June 12, 2021 during Ubisoft's 2021 Ubisoft Forward Event and released on October 20, 2022.
Why Mario and Rabbids Come Together
- Despite how ridiculous the premise may seem, Mario and the Rabbids work very well together and compliment each other nicely as well. The Rabbids add a lot of humor to Mario's universe, while the latter gives the normally one-dimensional Rabbids more personality and charm while also toning down their annoying traits.
- Even cooler, the playable Rabbids cosplay as Mario characters!
- The graphics are stunningly beautiful, colorful and cartoony for early Nintendo Switch standards, resembling a fun mix of the Fire Emblem series, Super Mario 3D World and some elements from Code Name: S.T.E.A.M..
- Colorful Mario visuals and silly Rabbids aesthetics combine to make the visuals pop even more, with various background events the Rabbids do.
- The character models for the Mario characters were made from scratch by Ubisoft without any assistance from Nintendo, something that Shigeru Miyamoto himself was impressed with.
- The core battle mechanics are easy to learn and accessible while still having enough depth to be engaging yet challenging at the same time, being similar to a combination of Fire Emblem and Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.
- Prior to using an attack or ability, you can dash into enemies, use pipes to travel long distances and perform Team Jumps by having one character boost another into the sky so they can reach further areas.
- The Mario characters can use an Overwatch-type ability to counterattack moving enemies (Hero Gaze/Steely Stare/Royal Gaze/Egg Beater/Hairy Eye), except this one does not rely on any sort of energy for use, instead using an ability with a cooldown timer. Be careful, as some enemies can use it on you as well!
- There are eight different characters to play as on your teams, with an additional two added to increase the total to ten.
- Mario: Balanced Class - He focuses on mid-range combat and powering up his teammates. In typical Mario fashion, he can still stomp on enemies after a Team Jump to deal extra damage and add an extra jump.
- Rabbid Mario: Brawler Class - He specializes in close-range combat and damaging multiple enemies at once, but he is also likely to deal friendly fire to his allies as well.
- Luigi: Range Class - He is excellent for long-range attacks and mobility, but has poor HP. These qualities make him a "Fragile Speedster" character.
- Rabbid Luigi: Defense Class - He can inflict Vamp status onto any enemy he dashes into, can weaken enemies' attack power and has a better chance of inflicting critical hits.
- Princess Peach: Tank Class - She is the "Mighty Glacier" of the crew, having the most HP of all characters, the ability to absorb hits from other teammates and a Healing Team Jump that can heal herself and others, but has poor mobility.
- Rabbid Peach: Support Class - She is a healer and can bring up a shield to protect herself, but has low attack power.
- Yoshi: Balanced Class - He can do his signature Ground Pound to damage enemies after a Team Jump and is able to guarantee critical hits.
- Rabbid Yoshi: Range Class - He can do more Dash Attacks than any other character and has an excellent shield ability as well.
- Donkey Kong: Brawler Class (only in Donkey Kong Adventure) - He can pick up and throw enemies and heavy objects, use his signature Hand Slap move and throws a Bwahnanarang that can hit multiple enemies at once.
- Rabbid Cranky: Range Class (only in Donkey Kong Adventure) - He relies on long-range attacks, can Freeze enemies with his jump and can put enemies to sleep by telling stories.
- Each character has Skill Trees that can be customized to one's liking, and they can always be reset with no penalties.
- Beep-0 is a hilarious character: despite being a robot, he speaks and acts like a human being.
- He also utilizes four unlockable abilities after completing each world: Move (which allows him to push blocks; this is also his only ability in Donkey Kong Adventure), Lift (which allows him to lift Rabbid Statues and place them on pedestals), Smash (which allows him to break cracked blocks) and Dig (which allows him to dig into certain holes to create new paths).
- If you are having trouble with battles, you can always give your characters extra health before a battle begins. This is completely optional, so players who prefer a traditional experience don't have to use it.
- Good locations, which include Ancient Gardens (a grassland), Sherbet Desert (a desert/ice level), Spooky Trails (a haunted graveyard) and Lava Pit (Bowser's fiery lair).
- Donkey Kong Adventure adds the Banana Lagoon, Reef, Jungle and Dungeon locales.
- Good soundtrack composed by Grant Kirkhope (of Banjo-Kazooie fame).
- Creative boss fights which often utilize the environment well, including Rabbid Kong, the Phantom of the Bwahpera, Bwario and Bwaluigi, Mecha Jr. and of course, the final fight against MegaDragonBowser.
- After beating each world, ten Mega Challenges are unlocked, and four Special Missions are unlocked after beating the game once.
- This is one of the few games prior to The Super Mario Bros. Movie where Peach doesn't get kidnapped; rather, she becomes playable after beating Icicle Golem.
- Also, Mario does not try to save Peach in the opening cutscene first; rather, he tries to save Luigi. This shows brotherly love at its finest.
- Just like Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Bowser is not intentionally the villain of this game due to being on vacation; instead, the MegaBug takes this role, and it even manages to hijack Bowser's body and transform him into MegaDragonBowser, similarly to how Cackletta transformed him into Bowletta.
- Decent replay value.
- A DLC side story, Donkey Kong Adventure, was released in 2018, which adds a whole new layer of content to an already-rich game. It also takes place between Chapters 1 and 2 of the main game.
- Great local co-op gameplay, where you are able to take on missions together or against each other.
Bad Qualities
- You must always be playing as Mario and at least one Rabbit character in Story Mode, which severely hampers your choices in team creation. Luckily, Sparks of Hope fixes this.
- The local co-op maps are rather limited.
- There are several difficulty spikes in some areas, particularly Ultimate Challenges.
- Blizzy and Sandy are notorious for their brutal difficulty, due to their constant inflicting of Burn and following up with an Overwatch attack.
- Similarly, while the Phantom's boss fight is memorable, it is also very difficult.
- Donkey Kong is overpowered in Donkey Kong Adventure.
Reception
When the game was initially leaked, most were skeptical about the very concept of Mario and the Rabbids crossing over due to the poor reception the latter received, and did not think it would work. However, when the game was officially revealed at E3 2017, it received a more positive reception than anticipated and upon its release, it was praised by both critics and gamers (receiving an 85/100 on Metacritic) for its strategic and challenging gameplay, excellent presentation, and surprisingly good use of both franchises without being annoying.
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