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    Nintendo Switch

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    Nintendo's home console that can be turned into a portable device by removing it from its TV-dock. Launched worldwide on March 3, 2017.

    Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle gives me what I want (and have not been getting) from the Switch.

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    bigsocrates

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    Edited By bigsocrates

    Nintendo Switch has been a bit of an odd console for me in its first 6 months of release. Because of its hybrid nature it's less powerful than its larger, older, competition, meaning that it never had the new console graphics 'wow' factor that most new systems have during their honeymoon period. On the other hand it launched with Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which is one of my favorite games of all time, so it also didn't suffer from "crappy launch library" syndrome, like most consoles do, at least not until I finished that beast of a game, along with a few other impressive Wii U holdover games like Fast RMX.

    Once I finished those games, though, the system settled into the familiar Nintendo pattern of releasing one interesting Nintendo game every month or so, with a bunch of other "stuff" to fill in the calendar, most of which is on the lower quality side of the spectrum when compared to the indie offerings on something like the Playstation 4. There are definitely some decent independent games on the Switch platform, but they don't tend to be of the polish, scope, or depth of something like Abzu or Nex Machina, or Enter the Gungeon (unless they're ports of older games like Binding of Isaac, which I already had my fill of awhile ago.)

    That leaves those aforementioned Nintendo games, and while everything released for the Switch has been of reasonably high quality, those games have been, in my opinion, odd fits with the 'gimmick' of the Switch. That's because most of them have been multi-player, and even online, focused.

    The Switch's 'thing' is being a console-handheld hybrid. You can play it on a TV and it will look reasonably good, or you can take it with you as a handheld where it is reasonably portable. It's not ideal for either (a little underpowered in TV mode and a little bit too bulky for a handheld) but it's adequate. The thing is...multiplayer is not what I want from a handled, especially a handheld that doesn't fit into a pocket. I get that kids have been playing system link multiplayer since Gameboy was released, and Pokemon trading is twenty years old now, and I also get that handhelds have had internet multiplayer since the DS and that huge hits like Monster Hunter and Mario Kart have been staples of those consoles. But I'm not a kid with a bunch of friends to play games with on the playground, and even if I was I don't know that I would bring this $300 kind of fragile/bulky system with me (or that my parents would have let me.) It also has not been my experience that internet connections are great in handheld scenarios. I'm sure it's fine in a hotel room or whatever, but my handheld gaming (when it occurs) is done on public transportation or during my lunch break at work. There's no consistent Internet on the subway and Internet at work is supposed to be used for job-related functions, so what I want is a game I can play in short bursts in a distracting environment and still enjoy.

    Zelda didn't do that for me because my enjoyment of that game was getting lost in that world. Squinting at the screen under harsh lighting in the subway was not a good way to experience that. Mario Kart 8 is decent on the go, but has very little single player content. I can race a little bit and maybe unlock a car part but there's no campaign or progression. Arms and Splatoon 2 are online focused games (or at least couch competitive for Arms) and I get nothing out of playing them alone.

    That meant that when it came to the mobile gaming aspect of the Switch I was either playing a kind of simple indie game or I was just messing around in Mario Kart sort of aimlessly. Neither were ideal. While I started packing the Switch with me every day to work after I first got it, 6 months in it was living under my TV, with the mobile feature largely theoretical. It felt like yet another gimmick that Nintendo built into its console and didn't know how to take advantage of, like motion control (outside of a few specific games) or the Wii U gamepad, which was a dumb idea poorly executed.

    Then along came Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. Not only is this a big single player experience that I'm really digging, but it's perfectly designed for mobile play. The game is broken up into relatively short battles, perfect to crank through while on the bus or in between eating a sandwich and getting back into work. The turn-based nature means that it is not super demanding in terms of timing or dexterity, which can be an issue when sitting in a lurching vehicle or just using the smaller, more cramped, controls of a handheld system.

    Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle also may be a Ubisoft game, but it has Nintendo fingerprints all over it. It's not just the kid-friendly cartoon aesthetic, the Grant Kirkhope music (Literally sounds like it came right out of Banjo Kazooie only at a higher fidelity, which is far from a criticism) or the pared down design focused on exploration and combat, without the massive sprawling skill trees (there is one but it's small and contained) or busywork open worlds of most Ubisoft experiences. It's also the level of polish (though I've heard there are bugs I haven't experienced any, but independent of that the world and designs are meticulous) and the spirit of fun and adventure that pervades the game. Ubisoft, as a company, has a tendency towards the Grimdark and the hyperviolent, and while I don't have an issue with brutal violence in video games I feel like the scales have tipped too far in that direction. Kingdom Battle shows that the spirit of fun and whimsy lives on in the house that Rayman built, and that the Tom Clancy dark men doing dark deeds aesthetic is only one of the tools in their box. Also there are no towers to climb or audio logs to collect. Yay.

    Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle is exactly what I want out of my Switch. Bright, colorful, fun, accessible, and well designed for mobile play. Who knew that it would take an Italian studio working for a French gaming giant to make the Nintendo game I've been waiting for? I hope that the Switch continues to get games like this, including a sequel, and that more of this stuff is ported over from the Wii U and other places. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker would be a perfect fit for on the go fun, as would Super Mario 3D World and Yoshi's Woolly World. Heck I'd love to see versions of the Mario Galaxy games and even something like Zack and Wiki given a fresh coat of paint and ported over.

    The Switch is a great video game system waiting for a library that plays to its strengths. Kingdom Battle is a strong entry in that library, and hopefully a sign of things to come.

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    Ungodly

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    I agree with you on everything you said except on Mario Kart not having single player progression. I'm having a lot of fun three staring the courses, and haven't even looked at the multiplayer. Since I have beaten Zelda, MK has become my go to time killer.

    On the switch itself though. I love the little guy, and primarily use it as a handheld. I haven't tried Mario + Rabbids yet, and I too hope some more WiiU games get ported to it.

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    dudacles

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    I agree one thousand percent with every single one of your comments. I'm really glad this game came out a week before I have to get on a 16-hour flight, because for me, the Switch was a Zelda machine until now. Zelda is a fantastic game, but I play it lying on my bed at night, not while sitting next to random people or while on the road--that just keeps me from "feeling the magic" of the world, or whatever you want to call it. It's not the type of thing that I can play for 15 minutes, or the type of thing that I can sink into when people are staring over my shoulder.

    But Mario + Rabids does allow for that short burst of distraction. And it's just a really good, fun, light game.

    However, my overarching problem with the Switch is something that I don't think Nintendo can fix, unless they keep on selling tons of them; it makes me feel snobbish and pretentious somehow. The Gameboys and DSs looked like toys, and didn't feel like they attracted attention, at least to me. But the Switch totally does: it's a big, high-quality screen on which I'm playing something like Zelda, and I can see people staring at me for it. The Switch just looks too much like something that's a very expensive toy, and it's so bulky that you can't hide it from anyone when you're playing it. I had the same problem to a lesser extent with the Vita. Hopefully I can get over it for my flight, as I kind of bought a Switch specifically for those long travel sessions. I dunno, does anyone else feel self-conscious when they pull out their Switch?

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    Quantris

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    #3  Edited By Quantris

    @ungodly said:

    I agree with you on everything you said except on Mario Kart not having single player progression. I'm having a lot of fun three staring the courses, and haven't even looked at the multiplayer. Since I have beaten Zelda, MK has become my go to time killer.

    On the switch itself though. I love the little guy, and primarily use it as a handheld. I haven't tried Mario + Rabbids yet, and I too hope some more WiiU games get ported to it.

    Beating the staff ghosts is also a thing to shoot for in MK

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