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Games of the Decade #25/Blog a Day #06

 

Hello gamers™, how are you?

Crossover video games are pretty cool. You get 2 franchises in a single game and you get to see all these characters interact with each other. For this particular game, we are going back to the year 2017, also known as the year the Nintendo Switch launch. What a magnificent year that was. There was a rumored crossover game that got leaked and well, not everyone was on board because a lot of people thought this was one of the strangest crossover ideas out there and this game was none other than Mario+Rabbids Kingdom Battle.

                        The music in this game in fantastic so you know what to do ♥

Who doesn't love the Rabbids? They were pretty much the Minions before the Minions were a thing. Well at least the video game equivalent but you get my point. Here is an interesting backstory: As I mentioned, this game got leaked a while before its official E3 announcement and the internet being the internet, they were quick to judge a game that they had no idea if it even existed. I suppose the fact that it was a Mario game with Rabbids did raise a few red flags with many. Eventually the game was officially revealed and it put peoples worries at ease.

I didn't get the game at launch but I played it the following year and I'm here to tell you about the strangest crossover in history and why it's really good. The game starts off with the Rabbids being transported to the Mushroom Kingdom, not via Warp Pipe. But they soon start wrecking havoc all over Mario's world so it's up to Mario and the gang, and a team of Rabbids cosplaying as their Mushroom Kingdom counterparts to put a stop to those wascally Rabbids. Yes, it's as strange as it sounds. But it gets better.

How? Well in this game, one of your main methods of attacking enemies is by using guns. "What, guns in a Mario game?" Yes guns, but no they don't use actual ammunition like bullets and no they don't look like actual guns. Think of them like arm cannons like the one Samus has.  What's cool is that each type of arm cannon for each character is different and each has their own attributes that aid you in a fight. Like one of them might drain the health of your enemies and another might shoot honey that makes an opponent get stuck in place to prevent them from moving.

    The worlds have that Mario charm and atmosphere with Rabbids lunacy mashed together

The game works like XCOM and if you've played that, then you know what to expect here. If you haven't then I'll try to explain this game myself. Each character has their own turn. During said turn you can do many things like check the number of spaces your character can move, check how much damage your attack will give an enemy, and so on before committing to attack. You can also combine a number of abilities too like being able to attack an enemy whenever they move even though your turn ended. It's incredibly useful.

The maps and the overall worlds in this game are incredible. You have a mishmash of Mushroom Kingdom staples with Rabbids stuff. You can also look around the world map to see all the madness going on. You can even focus on specific things and even get commentary on what is going on. You can even see little subtle things in the background too. It's something they didn't have to do but they did and I appreciate them for it.

One thing I want to touch upon is the music and is it amazing. It's composed by legendary Rare composer Grant Kirkhope. You can definitely tell the music has that signature Rare style when you hear it in a level. Especially in the desert and snow levels. Honestly, sometimes it makes you think you're playing a Rare game from the good ol' days thanks to the amazing music. Every song in this game is so good, if you don't want to play the game because of the crossover, at least do it for the music. Especially for a certain boss.

                                          This is clearly the best boss fight in the game

The game is just oozing with personality and charm. The characters are definitely much more expressive and have more pesonality than ever. Plus the dialogue is really good too, you rarely get this much dialogue in a Mario game that isn't an rpg. Trust me, there are moments that will have you laughing out loud and you wonder how Nintendo allowed that with their flagship characters.

"But Captain N, where can I play this game?" On the Switch my hypothetical reader. The game isn't too expensive now. However there is a "Gold Edition" that's available digitally that comes with the base game and the expansion pass. Yes the game has an expansion pass but I definitely say it's worth it because it comes with more levels and an all new story mode featuring Donkey Kong.

The Gold Edition sometimes goes on sale and ends up being far cheaper than the physical game, however this is one game I highly recommend getting physical as I imagine it will be rare to find in the future, but aside from that it is a worthy game of being in your Switch library. However if you want it cheaper with all the extra content then I definitely recommend the digital Gold Edition version if you can get it while it's on sale.

                  You definitely don't see dialogue like that in your average Mario game

Final Thoughts: Mario+Rabbids is a strange idea for a crossover. It isn't my first pick to crossover the Mario universe with, but having played this game I can say that I wouldn't have it any other way. It's a strange idea but it just works so well. Mario has been in pretty much nearly in every genre there is but this type of game is one he hasn't been in yet. It's such an amazing game that often gets overlooked because of the Rabbids but they fit really well with the Mario characters.

There are rumors that there might be a sequel, I certainly hope so because they can go all out with it. And hopefully they add more playable characters like Wario and Waluigi and their Rabbid counterparts, that would be really cool if they did that. If there is a game that is proof that you shouldn't write it off without trying it first, it's definitely this one. I highly recommend it picking it up, you won't be disappointed.

                                I want to see more of this unlikely team up in the future

That's it for this one. Next post won't take us to another game world where we accidentally wreak havoc. Who knows? BWAH!