Editorial: Why Mario + Rabbids Should Become A Series

Back in the mid ’90s Nintendo threw everyone for a loop when they teamed with Squaresoft to create Super Mario RPG.  While it was a radically different idea for the series, it is remembered very fondly today. Due to Square and Nintendo’s late ’90s falling out, a true sequel was never made and instead Nintendo created the Paper Mario series with Intelligent Systems as a successor series. Paper Mario 64 was well liked even if  many felt it was not up to the level of Super Mario RPG, while its sequel, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door for the GameCube, is regarded as a true classic and one of the best Mario games ever. However, the series gradually shifted its focus since that GameCube title and later entries have been rather polarizing.

While Super Paper Mario was well liked for its writing and blend of different gameplay styles, Paper Mario Sticker Star and Color Splash left fans feeling that the series had lost its way. Paper Mario: The Origami King was a well liked games, but it was severely lacking in RPG elements, as well as aspects that had made Paper Mario great to begin with. It also did not help that Nintendo’s other Mario RPG series, Mario & Luigi, also had fans claim a decline in quality as well before the developers of that series went under leaving its future in doubt.

This has left many fans asking, what is a Mario RPG fan to do at this time?

Well, while we may never get a Paper Mario game that again reaches the heights that series once had, Nintendo has something else that can promote in its place.  Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle was mocked and jeered when it was leaked and then announced, only for everyone to come around when they finally played the game. It played nothing like Paper Mario obviously, being instead a turn based tactical RPG, but that didn’t matter in the end. For many fans, the game managed to capture the spirit of the Paper Mario series far better than the actual entries ones put out by Nintendo, having a great story, surprisingly deep gameplay, and also having music and humor that helped win over fans.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle showed something that fans wanted to see, and that was creativity and innovation. This isn’t to bash on Nintendo, but there has been a bit of creative sterility when it comes to their attempts at Mario RPGs lately. part of this is due to Nintendo putting limitations on what can be done in Mario spinoffs, such as creating new original characters. This is also why Camelot has not brought back the characters from their Mario Sports RPGs either aside from Waluigi who was was specifically commissioned by Nintendo. Another reason is that their is a push to both streamline the games and add something different to them, which ends up pushing the games away from their RPG roots and towards the Action Adventure genre.

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle was full of new ideas that work well, and by virtue of its crossover nature, was able to have new original characters in the form of the unique rabbids. Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle may play nothing like Paper Mario but it feels somehow exactly like the early games.  It doesn’t matter that this is a different style of the genre, but the game feels like a true successor to Paper Mario. Equally important to the gameplay of a title is the feel and atmosphere of the game and that is where Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle shines bright. A sequel to the game could also address some fan complaints as well such as the team requirements preventing all Mario or all Rabbids teams.

Nintendo would do well to commission more games in the Mario + Rabbids series, as it is truly something special. We may not have the traditional Paper Mario games that we used to, but Nintendo can and should push this game and possible sequels as the flagship Mario RPG series. This is a game that fans have taken to and want to see more of, and further collaborations with Ubisoft on this series can only lead to good things if the developers are given the same freedom they were for Kingdom Battle. This could also be a way to encourage fans to be more willing to try more nontraditional takes on Nintendo franchises. Either way, the future should be bright for Mario + Rabbids.