The Mario + Rabbids Glorification

 Last year I had a wave of nostalgia coincide with a need for a break from Final Fantasy games. The result was a burn through a series of Mario of Super Mario Bros. Games; Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario World. I burned some time into Super Mario World 2:Yoshi's Island and Super Mario 64. I am still pissed at that snow level where you are supposed to get the Snowman's body to reconnect with his head. ARGH!

I took a break there to run through both Legend of Zelda games for the NES before wading back into Final Fantasy for three straight games. Somewhere after I veered away from the Mario games I did a little internet research. Mario has spun off from his platforming roots into some interesting directions. He fights in the Smash series. He plays quite a few different sports including golfing, going to the Olympics, and playing soccer with the Strikers series of games.

 I admit I have little interest in those. I like the platformer games in the vein of the original Super Mario Bros. games. I enjoy racing with Mario Kart in most of the ten iterations. Best of all though are the Mario RPG games. 

The origins of Super Mario RPG is appropriately titled Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.  I would have been into this game solely for the fact it was an RPG game during the golden age of console RPGs. Seriously, the SNES generation put out some fantastic entries into that genre. Given bonus points to my interest in Seven Stars because it was also developed by Square (before they were Square Enix.) I highly recommend this title. It is available on the SNES online offerings on the Nintendo Switch if you don't own an SNES. 

The direct sequel to this gem may surprise you. Nintendo ditched the RPG tag while keeping the roleplaying elements with Nintendo 64's Paper Mario. I am ashamed to admit that I found the Nintendo 64 generation rather lacking. Then again, I had a two year-old kid and my first failed marriage at the time. My mind probably wasn't anywhere near gaming. This is true to the point that in the year 2000 I didn't realize that Nintendo had snuck out a second Mario RPG. In fact, I wouldn't connect those dots for a few years until I saw a friend's kids playing the next sequel Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door on the Gamecube. 

If I am honest the series of Paper Mario games got away from me up until Paper Mario: The Origami King on the Nintendo Switch. I am fairly confident that I played Super Paper Mario on the Wii. Here is where things get a little muddy. Since we are following the Paper Mario trail from the SNES Mario RPG game all the way to the Nintendo Switch entry let me totally muddy the waters with the appropriately titled Mario & Luigi Paper Jam

For those of you unfamiliar with the DS family of games you may think," How is this a complication, David?" Well, I chose this game to reveal a fork in the Mario RPG family of games because it is actually a meeting place of two different branches in line. After the Nintendo 64 release of Paper Mario the next Mario RPG game was released on the Gameboy Advance. It was titled Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. The Mario & Luigi series has four sequels released over the DS and 3DS. 

The first and third entries of the Mario & Luigi series were released again for 3DS. As a result you can get all five of the Mario & Luigi games for the 2DS/3DS generation of handheld consoles. I have no idea if Nintendo has dropped the franchise with the transition to the Switch or if it will be revisited. I do know that these are fairly solid games. I have played through a few of them and enjoyed them thoroughly. 

The branching of the Super Mario RPG franchise.

That puts us eleven games into a franchise born in the SNES generation of games. Final Fantasy is only a few games ahead. The Legend of Zelda franchise only has sixteen entries total. Give Mario props for being prolific in every genre, eh?

Which is where we have to get into an interesting possible fork in the Mario RPG franchise in the form of two games that fall under the Mario + Rabbids title. In 2017 Nintendo dropped Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle for the Nintendo Switch. I bought it. I played a few minutes and did not like Beep-O who serves as a narrator for both games. 

I didn't think of Kingdom Battle as the next entry in the Mario RPG franchise. It could be argued that it is is not. The game uses a turn based tactical combat system that is certainly a deviation from the traditional Mario RPG. 

Here is the catch though. You gain experience points for your characters. You have level based development which unlocks new abilities and tactics. Those are major elements of an RPG. Though the Rabbids are awesomely present in both games, I do feel that this is a new line of Mario RPG. I hate that in a way because it means that I need to back up and play through Kingdom Battle. 

The sequel to Kingdom Battle is Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope. I adored this game. Having just completed it today after 55 hours, I can say it is a very solid game. The combat is simplified because it certainly is targeted at a younger crowd, but it is still robust and even appropriately challenging.

The cast of characters are cute and engaging. You get the typical Mario line up that you have come to expect since Super Mario Galaxy. Along with these you get the Rabbid parallels of Mario, Luigi, and Peach along with a couple of new faces. It probably says something about me that Rabbid Peach was in every battle where I was able to choose the characters. There also were no real B list characters meaning that I wanted to try out and master every character for their tactical strengths and weaknesses. 

The game on its own merits has a fairly high replay value. I am excited about the DLC which I currently know will bring in Rayman. I am no particular fan of the Rayman games, but it feels appropriate to have him as a DLC unlocked character since the Rabbids were introduced in the fourth Rayman game. Don't worry. I don't feel the need to draw a flow chart for how all of that meets up. 

I think what was most enjoyable was Teagan catching interest in Sparks of Hope. She was my gaming buddy for many of the hours that I played. I will likely encourage her to run back through with her at the controls for some additional Father Daughter game time. Now that I have solved the puzzles once, admittedly with her sharp eyes as help, we can likely get through together a second go round. What better recommendation can I make for a game?

I don't know if Mario + Rabbids is the new formula for the Mario RPG line or if Nintendo considers Paper Mario the one true branch of the franchise. I do know that it is nice to have something light to play that still has a story and some history to it. Also, I just cannot get enough of those Rabbids. They are the right speed of crazy.