Remember that Nintendo Direct Mini, way back in January? Among other things, we were shown a first teaser for the Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle DLC, featuring Donkey Kong. Now we’ve got a closer look at just what the pack’s going to offer. Spoiler: it’s looking dang extensive.
As fans of Nintendo’s hybrid handheld will have to admit, the system didn’t get off to the most auspicious start. On its launch last March, its biggest offering was of course The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but that wasn’t an exclusive. A few months into its lifespan, titles like ARMS and Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle were added to the roster. Quality titles, but probably not system sellers. We had to wait until October’s Super Mario Odyssey for everything to really take off.
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a curious one, though. It’s a game that many would overlook, dismissing it as quite gimmicky just based on its premise alone. An odd time-travelling washing machine sending waves of Rabbids into the Mushroom Kingdom? That sounds like a recipe for insubstantial party game silliness. Players who take the time to look a little closer, however, found a surprisingly deep turn-based strategy title hiding under the toontastic weirdery.
If you can get over the fact that Mario, Luigi and other Mushroom Kingdom stalwarts (as well as their Rabbid counterparts) are wielding blasters, you’ll start to appreciate what a complex strategic experience you’re dealing with here. So much so, the creator of the much-beloved XCOM series has stated that Kingdom Battle led him to reevaluate the genre.
In sum, then, more of these wacky yet deceptively tactical shenanigans can only be a good thing. Which brings us back to the Kingdom Battle DLC, which is titled Donkey Kong Adventure.
Nintendo Insider recently had a two-hour exclusive playtest of some of the content, which will arrive next month as part of the game’s season pass. It’s quite a bumper crop of extra content, representing about ten hours worth of playtime. You’ll take command of a new team: Rabbid Peach, Rabbid Cranky Kong and of course, Donkey Kong himself. Supposedly, DK is the star of the show, but Cranky Kong completely outshines him simply by virtue of that amazing design.
Not to mention the fact that, while traversing the overworld, he rides on top of Beep-O instead of running. The animation is hilarious, as you can see from the new Donkey Kong Adventure DLC trailer. As is the case with Nintendo’s own Mario Kart 8 DLC tracks, items, icons and such are all given a Donkey Kong franchise makeover, and it’s great to see Ubisoft infusing everything with this flavour.
Watch out for new enemy Rabbid types and all manner of ridiculous surprises when the content arrives in June.