Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle Reviews
This wonky crossover is the unlikely source of a superbly designed tactical combat challenge as well as a charmingly silly adventure.
Based on its colorful world, beautiful animation, and source material you might expect Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle to be “My first turn-based tactics game.” But you're in for a surprise: even for XCOM vets some of its battles are challenging puzzles. Some of its tougher levels do devolve into a trial-and-error slog, but a good mix of enemies, objectives, and character abilities keep things interesting.
This zany crossover from Nintendo and Ubisoft goes beyond initial expectations, setting up one of the more accessible and enjoyable turn-based strategy games in recent memory.
Mario + Rabbids gives you the action and strategy of XCOM in a way that does justice both to Mario and to the Rabbid's kooky style. Ubi's big E3 surprise is an unmissable Switch game.
While Kingdom Battle's puzzles won't win any awards, the robust selection of challenging tactical battles entertains from beginning to end
The unlikely collision of Mario and Rabbid franchises is delightfully charming, and features a deeply satisfying turn-based tactics system underneath its colorful skin.
Mario + Rabbids manages to walk a narrow road, offering up a legitimately challenging squad tactics experience without alienating the family friendly Mario audience. While it doesn't quite have the full layer of spit and polish of an in-house title, Ubisoft comes damn close to capturing that Nintendo magic.
This rollercoaster ride of a turn-based strategy game starts out almost impossibly strong, but by the end I mostly wished it'd been over three hours earlier.
Mario himself might not have been my favorite part of the game, but the reverence with which the game's creators hold Mario and friends was evident in every inch of this adventure. And it helped make the game come together so well.
While not a traditional Mario or Rabbids game, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle contains enough elements from both franchises to appeal to fans of either series.
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a must have for Switch-owning fans of turn-based tactical games. More importantly, such is the style and depth on offer that it's also ideal for those that haven't played much of the genre, for whom 'X-COM' sounds like a silly acronym from a war movie. It introduces the concept in the best possible way, and then utilises its own ideas for what becomes a smart and - at times - deliciously challenging experience.It's perfectly acceptable to be surprised by Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, as many have been since its E3 reveal. The end result delivers on all of the potential that we could suddenly see back in June; even if you don't actually like the Rabbids, this game - and its familiar Mario cast and setting - is so good that Ubisoft's mascots are likeable. Well, almost.
The Switch has had a great debut year, and Mario + Rabbids is another, if unexpected, excellent addition to its software library.
Easily the best game the Rabbids have ever been in and quite possibly Mario's best non-Nintendo spin-off.
While Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle may have been the crossover that no one wanted, it's materialised as a really good one with some interesting systems, despite its smattering of shortcomings. It shouldn't work, but it does.
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a fun and challenging strategy game with battles that require you to be adaptable and keep switching between your team members and your arsenal of weapons. It is also a rewarding game to explore and provides easy but fun puzzles at the same time and gives you a welcome break from the mind-boggling battles. The chaotic world of Rabbids and the Kingdom of Mushroom Kingdom have been beautifully combined, highlighting the best aspects of both worlds. With its beautifully designed optics, charming (and crazy) characters, and creative problem solving, I can say that this game is easily one of my favorite games for 2017.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle has a special charm to it, which is something I didn't expect to say when first hearing about the project. While the allure of these two franchises coming together may be the draw for many, the surprising depth to its combat and the replayability that it offers are the real highlights. The fact that Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle turned out as well as it did makes me hope to see Nintendo work with other developers again in the future to utilize their beloved characters in new, unique ways just like this.
Sometimes crossovers surprise us by bringing together in the same title two apparently disconnected licenses like these. In addition, the game allows us to see an unprecedented genre in the adventures of the italian plumber as is the turn-based strategy, and the result could not be better for this debut.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a unique adventure, it's the clash of two worlds that seemingly have nothing in common, but work really great together. The use of Ubisoft's Snowdrop Engine really fits a colorful adventure that looks great on the screen, and that is capable of getting a laugh out of you when you least expect it
Review in Spanish | Read full review
"Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle" has lots of charmingly frivolous things to think about and it's easy to collapse into its world of tactical antics because its gameplay is so absorbing. In the most complimentary sense, it feels like something Nintendo might have done if its humor was a bit more rough.