Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a role-playing crossover title between the Mario franchise and Ubisoft's Raving Rabbids titles released for the Nintendo Switch, as well as being the first Turn-based strategy game in the Mario franchise. It was officially announced at E3 2017 during Ubisoft's press conference, and was released in North America, Europe, and Oceania on August 29, 2017, and is set to be released in Japan in 2018. The game is compatible with amiibo, which unlock more in-game features.

Story
The Rabbids end up with their Time Washing Machine in the laboratory of a Mario fan who is perfecting, along with her robot assistant Beep-O, a visor able to fuse two objects into one, called the SupaMerge. One Rabbid finds said visor and uses it to create Rabbid Peach, Rabbid Mario, and other Rabbids fused with objects. It also causes the Time Washing Machine to malfunction, sending Beep-O and the Rabbids to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Toadette, Toad, and Princess Peach are inaugurating a new Princess Peach statue with an audience of Toads. Suddenly, a vortex is formed and sucks Mario and the others in.

In midair over the Ancient Gardens, Beep-O gains rabbit ears and the outline of two rabbit's teeth on the front. The Rabbid with the SupaMerge fuses with the headset, causing it to be stuck to him. Mario later saves Beep-O from being crushed by the Time Washing Machine. Upon landing, they soon encounter Rabbid Peach and Rabbid Luigi, who join Mario's team and help them fight off various Ziggies, thanks to weapons attached to a message sent by a mysterious F.B.. As they travel, they get a glimpse of the vortex, later referred to as the Megabug.

Soon after, they meet Luigi and the Rabbid with the SupaMerge headset. They are both scared by a Piranha Plant with which a white Rabbid is playing. Due to the fear, the SupaMerge Rabbid ends up fusing the white Rabbid with the Piranha Plant, creating the Pirabbid Plant. Mario's team successfully defeats the Plant and restore both the Piranha Plant and the white Rabbid to their original selves. Seeing this, Luigi joins their team. Meanwhile, Beep-O notices that the Megabug has grown in size.

Bowser Jr. has observed what happened with the Pirabbid Plant and, when Mario's team meet the Rabbid with the headset and scares him, takes the chance to befriend him, naming him Spawny. With the intent of using Spawny's powers to take over the Mushroom Kingdom while his father is on vacation, Junior flies away with him on his Junior Clown Car, while Mario's team must face Rabbid Kong. They defeat Rabbid Kong, causing it to fall off of the platform they are standing on.

Mario's team then venture to Sherbet Desert, where thanks to a message from F.B. they discover that the Megabug is growing with every enemy Rabbid defeated. They also find Rabbid Mario frozen in an ice cube. They take him with them, and place the cube in a door in the hopes of freeing him. Said door opens, and they soon encounter Bowser Jr. with Spawny again. Bowser Jr. has Spawny look at Mario's team, which agitates the Rabbid, activating the SupaMerge's powers. Just before it activates, Bowser Jr. turns Spawny away, causing him to create Blizzy and Sandy, who proceed to attack Mario's team. Mario's team defeat both of them and save Rabbid Mario, who joins them. At the end of the desert, Mario's team face off against the Icicle Golem, who freezes them. However, Princess Peach appears and saves them, joining Mario's team in their fight against the monster. They eventually prevail.

Mario's team then go to Spooky Trails. They are directed to find two Relics of Goodness, a gramophone and a Boo-shaped balloon, under the instruction of a mysterious third party who wants them to wake up a being named "Tom Phan" who they claim has the power to defeat Bowser Jr.. After finding the relics, they discover through a message from the mysterious helper that they need a full moon. While finding a way to bring the full moon back, they come across Calavera, who is holding Rabbid Yoshi hostage. Mario's team defeat Calavera and are subsequently joined by Rabbid Yoshi. They then find a clock tower, by manipulating the clock they manage to get the full moon back and they get an invite to cross the now opened Moon Gate from the helper. They later find out that it is actually Bowser Jr. himself, who confronts them in a theater. Bowser Jr. scares Spawny, causing him to fuse a Rabbid with the Relics of Goodness to create the Phantom of the Bwahpera. The Phantom sings a pre-battle song and is eventually defeated.

Later, they go to the Lava Pits, a volcano which has been transformed into a factory by Bowser Jr.. Here, they battle Junior in his Mecha Jr.. After this battle, Spawny seemingly falls to his doom as Bowser Jr. escapes. However, he is saved by Yoshi, who subsequently joins Mario's team. It is only after this battle that Spawny seems regretful for all the trouble he has caused. After returning Spawny to safety, Mario's team attempt to leave via a crystal mine. However, Spawny is attracted to the Megabug which has grown strong enough to obtain a physical, phoenix-like form. The Megabug absorbs Spawny before heading in the direction of Bowser's Castle. Bowser Jr. returns to tell off Mario's team for allowing Spawny to get kidnapped and the Megabug to escape, noting that at least his father is still away. However, he gets a text message from his father who has decided to return home early. Realizing that his father is in danger, Bowser Jr. flies off to Bowser's Castle while Mario's team chases after. Upon arriving, Bowser Jr. requests them to help Bowser return to his normal self, as he is barely conscious and near the Megabug. The latter fuses with Bowser, creating MegaDragonBowser. In this form, Bowser is defeated, freeing the Megabug that tries to attack Mario's team. Said team attacks the Megabug, destroying it and seemingly closing the rift while also freeing Spawny. Bowser Jr. takes Spawny back to the team and thanks them for what they have done, while also promising to be somewhat better and fearing being chastised by his father. He tries to convince them to speak to Bowser on his behalf, but Mario's team return to Princess Peach's Castle to tell that the threat is no more, while also inaugurating a new statue of Rabbid Peach. Rabbid Peach then takes a selfie with the group. After this, Beep-O sends a letter to his past self with weapons through the Time Washing Machine, revealing that F.B. is actually Future Beep-O.

Gameplay
The game is estimated to be composed of 35% exploration elements and 65% turn-based combat. A multiplayer, local co-op mode has also been confirmed. The combat is weapon-based, with the weapons resembling guns.

The exploration aspect of the gameplay is controlled by Beep-O, a new character to be introduced. There will be seven enemy archetypes, and one mid-boss and boss per world; there are a total of four world environments.

Enemies

 * Hoppers
 * Smashers
 * Ziggies
 * Bucklers
 * A Rabbid with torn clothes and eyes that light up
 * An enemy, possibly a Rabbid, with dark-colored clothes and a pumpkin head
 * Valkries
 * Chain Chomp
 * Bowser Jr.
 * Spawny

Bosses

 * Pirabbid Plant (Ancient Gardens)
 * Rabbid Kong (Ancient Gardens)
 * Blizzy & Sandy (Sherbet Desert)
 * Icicle Golem (Sherbet Desert)
 * Calavera (Spooky Trails)
 * Phantom (Lava Pits)
 * Bwario & Bwaluigi (Lava Pits)
 * MegaDragonBowser (Lava Pits)

Other characters

 * Beep-O
 * Toad
 * Toadette
 * Boos
 * Bowser

Characters with unspecified roles

 * Goomba

Items and objects

 * Blue Coins
 * Brick Blocks
 * Coins
 * Giant Brick Blocks
 * Red Coins
 * Red Rings
 * Warp Pipes with Rabbid ears and teeth which function similarly to Clear Pipes.

Weapons
There are various weapons in the game, organized in nine categories: Blaster, Melee, Precision, Sentry, Rumblebang, Rocket, Boomshot, Grenaduck and Bworb. Each character can equip both a primary and secondary weapon, both of which pertain to specific classes.

Worlds

 * Ancient Gardens
 * Sherbet Desert
 * Spooky Trails
 * Lava Pits

Add-on content
A season pass of paid add-on content has been announced for Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. The content is set to be released in three packs, which contain the following:


 * Pack 1 (available at launch): A set of eight "steampunk"-themed weapons with unique statistics.
 * Pack 2 (releases between 22 September and 21 December 2017): Additional solo and co-op challenge levels.
 * Pack 3 (releases in 2018): A story expansion.

Critical reception
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle has received generally positive reviews from professional critics. It received a score of 8 out of 10 from Russ Frushtick of Polygon. He said that the game "offer[s] up a legitimately challenging squad tactics experience without alienating the family-friendly Mario audience", but also stated that "it doesn’t quite have the full layer of spit and polish of a [Nintendo developed] title". Dan Stapleton of IGN gave the game a 7.7 out of 10 (a "Good" rating). He praised the game's difficulty, animation, and "enemy variety", but criticized the rewards for completing puzzles and "the progression system". The game currently averages 85% on Metacritic based on 47 reviews.

References to other games

 * Donkey Kong: The Phantom of the Bwahpera mentions this game in his song.
 * Super Mario Bros.: The wallpaper in the laboratory in the introductory cutscene is a scene from this game.
 * Mario Kart series: During the Phantom's song he makes a mention toward this series about Mario doing well until he gets hit by a Spiny Shell.
 * Yoshi's Island series: Beep-O asks Yoshi if it is true that the latter has his own island.
 * Donkey Kong 64: Rabbid Kong's battle theme is a remix of the Jungle Japes music from this game.
 * New Super Mario Bros.: A poster featuring artwork from this game appears in the introductory cutscene.
 * Mario Party: Star Rush: A poster featuring artwork from this game appears in the introductory cutscene.