I know it's said to death, but this game is shockingly good. I groaned when I first heard the concept and that the Rabbids of all things would be co-starring in a Mario game. I was not interested in the slightest, as I've disliked the Rabbids for years. Despite my negative first impressions, this game is great, though I do still have some mixed feelings on it.
The gameplay is the clear focus here, and it's surprisingly well thought-out and really fun. It gets quite tough, too, but never feels unfair. I generally tried to get a perfect score in each battle, but it was much easier said than done and I did give in and accept lesser scores a couple times, especially towards the late game. They somehow took a format that on the surface seems pretty restrictive and gave it a lot of depth. Between dash attacks, team jumps, super moves, weapon variety, and each character having their own identities and traits in battle, the combat packed in a lot of good content.
Presentation-wise, this game gets mixed reviews from me. Grant Kirkhope does good music as always, but I feel like this one is a bit weaker compared to his other works. It's still very cool to see him hands-on with a Mario title, though. The songs that are a bit more inspired from past songs work super well, though, especially Rabbid DK's boss theme. Visually, I think this game is pretty "okay". It has a lot of character, but feels very awkward and slow a lot of the time. There were also a lot of times where I experienced visual bugs, ranging from minor to severely corrupted.
I think the general puzzle gameplay in the overworld between battles is pretty fun, and on my first playthrough back in 2017 (which I didn't complete), I tried hard to backtrack and 100% every world. This became way too cumbersome, so when I came back to this in 2022, I ditched that dream and went for minimal completion. Even playing this way, I still felt like this game went on a bit too long. It got pretty repetitive and I found myself wishing for the end by the beginning of the 4th area.
Grab bag things that I can't categorize or don't have enough to say about: writing is super cringey, I like the enemy types, bosses are alright but only the first left a big impression on me, Rabbid Luigi is my BOY.
Pros:
+ Battle system in general
+ Surprising amount of depth and variety
+ Good puzzles
+ Good music
Cons:
- Drags on, gets repetitive
- Visual bugs and jank
- Too much backtracking for extras
- Story, writing, humor
The gameplay is the clear focus here, and it's surprisingly well thought-out and really fun. It gets quite tough, too, but never feels unfair. I generally tried to get a perfect score in each battle, but it was much easier said than done and I did give in and accept lesser scores a couple times, especially towards the late game. They somehow took a format that on the surface seems pretty restrictive and gave it a lot of depth. Between dash attacks, team jumps, super moves, weapon variety, and each character having their own identities and traits in battle, the combat packed in a lot of good content.
Presentation-wise, this game gets mixed reviews from me. Grant Kirkhope does good music as always, but I feel like this one is a bit weaker compared to his other works. It's still very cool to see him hands-on with a Mario title, though. The songs that are a bit more inspired from past songs work super well, though, especially Rabbid DK's boss theme. Visually, I think this game is pretty "okay". It has a lot of character, but feels very awkward and slow a lot of the time. There were also a lot of times where I experienced visual bugs, ranging from minor to severely corrupted.
I think the general puzzle gameplay in the overworld between battles is pretty fun, and on my first playthrough back in 2017 (which I didn't complete), I tried hard to backtrack and 100% every world. This became way too cumbersome, so when I came back to this in 2022, I ditched that dream and went for minimal completion. Even playing this way, I still felt like this game went on a bit too long. It got pretty repetitive and I found myself wishing for the end by the beginning of the 4th area.
Grab bag things that I can't categorize or don't have enough to say about: writing is super cringey, I like the enemy types, bosses are alright but only the first left a big impression on me, Rabbid Luigi is my BOY.
Pros:
+ Battle system in general
+ Surprising amount of depth and variety
+ Good puzzles
+ Good music
Cons:
- Drags on, gets repetitive
- Visual bugs and jank
- Too much backtracking for extras
- Story, writing, humor