E2 2017: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Gameplay Shows Turn-Based Tactical Combat

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle will blend aspects of a traditional Mario platformer with turn-based tactical combat, and now we're getting a full look at just how that gameplay works. After Nintendo's E3 announcement, 20 minutes of gameplay was revealed on the Nintendo Treehouse stream.

The game pits Mario and companions up against the Rabbids, who have been warped into the Mushroom Kingdom by accident. They're under an evil influence, and in today's gameplay we see Mario paired up with Rabbid Peach, who serves as a healer-type character, and Rabbid Luigi, who has magic skills, as they battle their way through the map.

Developer Ubisoft says players will feel small in a huge environment, full of rich animations and detail, as they explore the map. When you hit an area marked with combat flags, you enter a turn-based battle mode; characters must make their way around the map strategically, either moving to get into better positions or firing ranged attacks at their Rabbid enemies.

There's an element of strategy to many battles, some of which require you to reach a destination on the map. You can either charge through your enemies or chart a path around them. In these 'Reach' battles, enemies will keep spawning, so you have to get to your destination as fast as possible. Other battles involve defeating all enemies, or escorting another character to safety.

While today's gameplay shows two base commands, move and attack, characters will learn more techniques as the game goes on. As you can see in the video, you can also use Team Jump to launch a character far in the map. Cover plays an important role, but it gets damaged over time so players have to keep moving.

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle is out for Nintendo Switch on August 29, and we'll have full impressions of the game coming up a little later. You can check out this roundup of all the E3 Nintendo news to catch up on everything that was announced today, including a release date for Super Mario Odyssey, new Yoshi and Kirby games, details on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's upcoming DLC packs, and a future Pokemon RPG on Nintendo Switch. And keep an eye on our hub for more news and videos from E3 2017.