I got this game a couple of months ago on a deal and still haven’t had a chance to give it a go yet. I’m excited to have some time off this week to catch up on unplayed games, including this one, haha! My coworker just raves about how much fun he’s had with it. I’ve never played an XCOM game, though, so I hope it’s to my liking regardless.
I preferred, say…the first 5-10 hours of Mutant Year Zero to Mario+Rabbids, but Mario had a bit more staying power. Once MYZ wore out its welcome it took a bigger dive and Mario.
I meant to try the challenges once they opened up, but I haven’t yet. For me, the movement system is a little too ‘out there’ in that with the bouncing off teammates and going through pipes - sometimes characters can more a bit more than seems reasonable. There was at least one map where you could pretty much go from one side to the other by linking together pipes.
I’ve pretty much been sticking with the characters I’m used to - Mario, Luigi and Rabid Mario (I think). I haven’t felt a need to switch, and I’m a creature of habit. I preferred Steamworld Height also - probably partially because movement was more constrained and I don’t recall thinking the battles got that repetitive.
I am about a chapter away from the world 3 boss - but I had to take a break. Maybe someday :-)
Haha, yeah I found the movement to be a breath of fresh air. In the DLC, Donkey Kong can throw the other characters (and enemies) around and swing around the maps. The movement combos can be crazy though. I’ve got some really cool replays but they’re trapped on the Switch without using social media! Bleurgh.
One of the big things I disliked about XCOM was all the shuffling around using overwatch. I thought that bogged the whole experience down. In Mario + Rabbids only the original characters (not the Rabbid variants) get to do overwatch and it’s on cooldown too so you have to use it carefully. SteamWorld Heist… I don’t think that had overwatch at all. I may have to play Heist again on Switch. Loved that game so much.
@Tatiora I hope you dig it as much as your co-worker and I do! :-)
They’re not! Shut down your console, take out the SD card and plug it in your computer, you can extract all the data from the cumbersome and convoluted naming scheme (basically it’s serial number+date based).
This is how I rescued such wonderful cooperative art moment, like this one.
Ohhh you beautiful bastard! I didn’t even know there was a slot under that kick stand!
That looks like some multi player Pole Position. Is it?
It’s Virtua Racing’s Switch port by M2. One of the best casual racing games ever, because of wacko catchup mechanics. They got an online implementation, but me and Chappers being an ocean away, we had sometimes issues.
You are the Damon Hill to my Michael Schumacher.
So I just started playing this recently and have really been enjoying it. I’ve been plowing through, finished world 3 already, but I like the mix of powers and characters.
I’ve actually shifted my teams around, everyone getting a turn. Right now I’m pretty settled on Rabbid Yoshi and Peach as my teammates. The crazy Yoshi dash is a lot of fun. In fact my favorite part of the game is the high mobility and emphasis on movement ability combos. It gives it a distinct flavor.
The challenges can also be fun little puzzles. Not super hard, especially since I only went back to them after clearing world 3 so had a very powerful team that trivialized many enemies in world 1, but a few are definitely more puzzle in orientation. They definitely do not have free form team selection, there are a few that would be quite impossible if, for example, your team was Luigi and Rabbid Luigi for example.
It is crazy this game even exists, but I’m glad it does.
I haven’t touched it since launch - it’s on my “games I want to replay start to finish again someday” list - but I remember just really digging it top to bottom. Such a cool experience, I hope they do more with a follow up at some point.
I will say that, having read other reactions here, that it is clear my experience was very different. With only a few exceptions (3-7, the central tower spawning Boo’s and sniper ghosts with the freaking lure ability) I’ve gotten perfect on every mission on the first try. Some of the challenge missions were delightfully difficult though!
I also didn’t have much money issues, and kept a hefty reserve and rotated characters a lot. I wonder how much of that is that I’ve been playing these types of games for a long time, and get them, and how much is my approach and upgrade selection really fits the game design. Because I prioritized mobility and extra actions (extra reaction shots and dash attacks) in my upgrade choices. Because I wouldn’t classify any of it as particularly hard. Certainly I had to plan things out at times though, and order of hero activation could make a huge impact.
So glad you’re enjoying it! Yeah, much like SteamWorld Heist, I’ve always preferred rotating my characters around with these games. That way they all ‘keep up’ with their skills and gear but you also discover what they’re good for and who they work best with. I loved the wrecking AoE effects of Peach and Rabbid Mario. And can we also have a moment to appreciate Peach doing the rescuing for once and just generally kicking butt?
Yeah, same. So many of these XCOM-likes usually involve pretty pedestrian movement but Mario + Rabbids really leans into mobility and chaining abilities together. It’s pretty spectacular at times and hugely satisfying when you wipe a board in one turn. Wait till you see what DK adds to this element of the game!
Another thing I particularly love is the 0, 50 and 100% chances and how simple and downright agreeable they are. You know what 0 and 100% will do, and you’re never going to get angry at a 50/50 coin toss.
As I’ve mentioned before in this thread, I’m not a huge fan of Mario or the Rabbids but the two together, as a turn-based tactics game, is probably my (totally unexpected) favourite thing to happen to the Mushroom Kingdom since Mario Kart. I also love the humour as well. Oh, and Grant Kirkhope’s soundtrack is brilliant. In fact I nearly nominated a couple of tunes for the thunderdome! It disappoints me that Nintendo didn’t allow any of Kirkhope’s renditions of the classic Nintendo themes to be on the soundtrack, so it’s a little gappy/disjointed because of that (take the Rabbid Kong boss fight for example).
It also has a nice mix and rhythm of story/comedy, exploring, puzzling and battling which just kept me entertained throughout.
The Donkey Kong DLC is fantastic so definitely check that out if you haven’t already. The challenge pack is good for the most part, although there’s one that’s a sprawling map with a tangle of tunnels on a time limit and another that hinges on RNG (the only one in the entire game that I recall). These are the only real grumbles I have about the game which isn’t too bad for how many hours I played! My hope is they’re working on a sequel or another big DLC.
It’s been a long time since I played, but I recall there were a few times where I would be in cover and just get hit by something like a fire effect that my guy just randomly ran to the worst spot and spoiled perfection. I didn’t mind it as mitigating that risk is part of the structure of the game, but I do think that there’s a random cascade factor to the game that can’t be avoided on the first play through without knowing what is going to happen with the level script. Some of the boss fights are trivial once you know the Boss moves but the first time are easy to get caught out without knowing exactly what is coming.
Yeah, RNG hasn’t played a huge role. Mostly. There is more abilities that have that impact in later missions. The world 3-8 battle, with the central tower surrounded by Boos, and spawning Peek- a-Boos is the big exception. The RNG of Boo movements, plus a few unlucky bounces on the turn before I could reach the exit, meant I had to restart 6-7 times to get it under the time limit. There the inability to designate a specific path to a point hampered things. Because the boos loved to spawn right at the exit of the pipe I was taking, mandating that I either go the wrong way, which adds a turn or two to reaching the destination, or I get tagged by a Boo if I try and reach the tactically better spot. That was the one place where the RNG was a serious factor so far for me (though I am only at 4-4, so perhaps some of the coming missions have more). The rest of the time the RNG factor felt more within my control, or within acceptable risk parameters.
Though some challenge maps, specifically Toad challenge maps, can be similar. But challenge maps are optional, and I find intentionally difficult ones more acceptable there. Some of the Toad maps required a few restarts, as one even requires you to have Toad in a space that is within reach of 4 smashers that spawn at the halfway point, or you won’t have time to reach your goal. So I needed to remember to save my Hero shots and Peach damage share for that turn. Otherwise Toad becomes a pancake.
Yeah, I prefer the DK DLC to the base game, but then I’ve always preferred Donkey Kong to Mario.
My son finally got curious last week at this game that features Mario that sits there as an option he never tries on the Nintendo Switch. So we played it.
Wow. I’m really enjoying it so far, but I think my son found it very confusing. I love how open and huge it makes the mushroom kingdom feel. You’re just moving from one open ground to the next, finding little bonuses here and there, and going through pipes over and under things, which makes the whole place feel even bigger. It definitely makes the whole thing feel bigger than the Mushroom Kingdom has ever felt in any other game.
Both my boys (13 and 9) love this game and are really looking forward to the sequel coming in a few days.