Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle kicked off Ubisoft’s E3 2017 presentation, and fans of XCOM may be pleasantly surprised by what the oddball crossover has to offer.
Introduced by Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto, who took to the stage to express his support for the project and the Rabbids franchise (he admitted to having a Rabbids figurine on his desk), the game appears to be a colorful deviation from the XCOM format. The gameplay footage shown by Ubisoft featured Mario, Peach, Luigi, Yoshi and a selection of Rabbids take part in turn-based battles, which saw them navigating arenas before taking down enemies with long-ranged attacks.
There are a variety of unique attacks and abilities players can utilize, including team attacks in which Mario and his companions work together in order to fell an opponent. The footage also showed a range of enemies of various shapes and sizes, taken from both the Mario and Rabbids franchises, with it also supporting co-operative play.
Ubisoft said that the game’s story revolves around the Rabbids accidentally dropping in on the Mushroom Kingdom, causing chaos in the process. The iconic plumber and his friends then set off on an adventure in order to return him home world to its original state. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle will launch on August 29, 2017 for the Nintendo Switch.
Watch the announcement trailer for the game below:
