I started Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (MRKB) years ago and fell off, but I recently came back to the game and finished the main story mode. While MRKB may not scream “Mo game”, it’s certainly a solid turn-based tactics game with plenty to enjoy.
Nostalgia Factor: Low. Everyone loves Mario, but I have no experience with Rabbids.
Difficulty: Medium. Some surprising difficulty spikes in the mid-game unless you take the extra health.
I’m not sure why I nearly bounced off this game (with no intention of completing it until my daughters became obsessed with it), because I do enjoy tactical games like Final Fantasy Tactics, Advance Wars, and Ogre Battle 64 to name a few. There are a few problem areas I struggled with.
The game starts very simply, which makes it a great “baby’s first tactical game”, but as they slowly introduce more characters and new game mechanics, you find by the mid or late game that there’s just not quite the same level of strategic depth that a game like Final Fantasy Tactics has. I’m not a tactics game super nerd by any means, but I did find myself losing interest a bit by the beginning of world four. Levels started to feel repetitive and a bit like a chore for me.
I had some fun with the variety of weapons and skill tree upgrades, but in order to take full advantage of that variety, you have to spend a lot of time grinding coins and orbs by replaying old levels. I had no interest in doing that whatsoever, so I mostly stuck with the same three characters the entire game — Mario, Peach, and Rabbid Luigi. If you want to use more than a few characters, you have to grind for coins and orbs in order to upgrade those other characters to a usable level.
Again, I have no interest in replaying old levels (I barely managed to play through the game’s 36 levels once), so I was not able to employ the entire cast of characters to help me complete the story mode. This certainly would’ve helped add some strategic depth to my experience. I would’ve loved to use Luigi more on certain levels, because he is a long-range specialist, but I only ever had enough coins to keep my main squad’s primary and secondary weapons upgraded as more powerful options became available.
The difficulty may be a point of contention for some. The game starts fairly easy if you understand basic tactical gameplay, but by world three, there are some significantly challenging levels. You eventually reach a point where it seems that your characters just don’t have enough health, and they don’t do enough damage. I can only assume they’ve designed the game with the intention of pushing you back to replay old levels in order to grind up coins and orbs. Alternatively, you can press “Y” at the beginning of each level to activate “easy mode”, which gives your squad 50% more health, a massive bonus. Perhaps they added this feature after feedback from frustrated playtesters.
I have mixed feelings about the optional extra health bonus. While it allows you to get past tricky levels without grinding for coins and orbs, it feels like cheating. “Aww, you poor thing. You can’t beat this level? Here, have an outrageous amount of bonus health.” It reminds me of the white tanooki power-up from Super Mario 3D World which appears after you die in the same level five times in a row. “Wow, you're really bad at this game. Here, have a power up that makes you completely invincible. Is that better? Sheesh.” It feels like a slap in the face.
The bonus health in MRKB is overkill. It doesn’t just give you a little boost to get over a difficulty spike, it completely overpowers you. So, your options are, do some grinding to beef up your team, or, take the bonus health and effortlessly cruise through the level. I’d rather they just balance the game to not require grinding. I’m not against an easy mode, casual mode, story mode, whatever you want to call it, but perhaps they could reduce the bonus a bit. Start by giving the players a 25% health bonus, then increase the bonus to 50% after a failed attempt. And, of course, there’s always the option that some of you may be thinking right now, “just git gud, n00b.” Interestingly, Ubisoft seem to have swung the pendulum too far in the opposite direction with Sparks of Hope, as the main criticism seems to be that the game is just too easy.
Aside from the game’s strategic simplicity and some balancing issues, MRKB is still a solid tactical experience. I enjoyed thinking through my turns and maximizing my damage output while trying to take as little damage as possible. Rabbid Luigi’s vamp dash is the real MVP, and Peach’s heal came in clutch for me so many times. It’s also incredibly satisfying using Mario or Rabbid Mario’s melee hammer.
There are some very clever boss battles that help to break up any repetitive monotony in the gameplay, and a few of the later puzzles in between levels really stumped me. I had to check a guide on YouTube for at least two. How did they come up with some of these puzzles? If you’re not a fan of puzzles, you may find them to be more irritating than fun.
The visuals are a strength of the game, especially for a Switch title that came out during it’s launch year. Performance was solid, except for some FPS dips in some of the icy world three levels. The cute animations and story sequences are really where this game shines. This is also why my daughters are obsessed with this game. They absolutely adore the goofy noises and crazy antics of the Rabbids. I had no prior experience with Rabbids before this game, and I didn’t initially see the appeal, but seeing my daughters laugh and giggle after each animated sequence helps me to understand a bit more.
The paths between each level are mostly linear, so exploring isn’t really a strong feature here, but there are some fun sights and scenes to discover as you work your way towards the next level. There’s never a shortage of goofy Rabbid antics along the way.
Initially, I thought the story was much too convoluted. Even though I was very impressed with the animated opening sequence, this game’s premise is laughably absurd. SupaMerge? Space-time anomalies? A benefactor from the future? And yet, Ubisoft are able to pull it off. Spawny in particular was a really cute piece of the story. In very Nintendo fashion, the story is really just a means to an end. It’s tongue-in-cheek, not meant to be taken too seriously, and it serves its purpose to carry you from level to level.
I was surprised to find that Grant Kirkhope composed the soundtrack. This Rare legend is known for giving us classic scores from games like Goldeneye 007, Perfect Dark, and Banjo-Kazooie. While I didn’t find MRKB’s soundtrack to be particularly memorable, it’s a solid score, and there are some nice whimsical themes throughout.
Overall, I finished MRKB’s main story mode on a positive note. In spite of a mid to late game slump, where I grew a bit weary of the repetitive battles, I’m still glad I played through to the end credits. The final boss sequence is well executed and worth the effort to get there. If you like Mario, or Rabbids, or turn-based tactical games, or all of the above, you’ll probably have a good time with Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle.
Have you played this one? What did you think?
