I don't think anyone expected a Mario and Rabbid crossover to be a good idea, yet here we are, Mario + Rabbids:Kingdom Battle is a highlight in gaming for 2017. While the game could've easily been a party game, reflecting the style found in Rabbids games, the developers chose something different, which I applaud them for, instead this is a strategy game. It's simple, yet complex, which makes planning moves out fun, yet infuriating when you're too late on realizing your mistake. With a total of eight playable characters (four from the Mario side, four Rabbid mirror versions), the game offers a lot of variety that makes each good to use, while allowing each to have flaws, making changes to the team a vital part of the game in every fight.
As stories go, this is fairly simple, the Rabbids, in their naughty nature, mess around with some scientist's equipment, resulting in them being transported to the Mario universe. One of the Rabbids, later named Spawny, has fused with a fusion device, resulting in Spawny accidentally creating Rabbid monsters for the Mushroom Kingdom. This leads to a team of heroes led by Mario (and Beep-0) to save the kingdom from accidental villain Spawny and Bowser Jr. who is trying to run things while Bowser is gone. It's cute, probably a tad more complex than the average Mario story, but fun overall, though mostly for kids.
While the fighting system in the game is fun, I do wish it had been tweaked a bit more. There's a difficulty curve here that gets hard really quickly after the first world, which wouldn't be so bad, but it did force me to back track a lot just to be able to stand a chance. I'm not against back-tracking mind you, I just prefer it when it feels optional, not forced, being forced into it means things get stale a lot faster. Then there's the lack of items, maybe that's a choice reflecting strategy games, I wouldn't know I'm not much of a fan, but the lack of being able to revive allies, or using special items to boost certain things was a drag half the time. I guess the characters having special abilities was supposed to cover this, but it's just not the same. Still, gripes aside, I was hooked on the system, which made playing through this a blast.
Mario + Rabbids:Kingdom Battle is a solid strategy game, as well as a solid entry in both franchises. The animation is fun, the gameplay is fun, it's an overall joy from beginning to end, even if the replay value isn't high, the game is a blast while it lasts.
No comments:
Post a Comment