When it comes to games to play with a group of friends, Nintendo reigns supreme with its Mario Party series, while other platforms fall short, which is where Rabbids: Party of Legends comes in. It is a valiant attempt by Ubisoft Chengdu, and while it was first confined to China, it has since been localized and published worldwide. If you’ve been waiting for a competitive Mario Party clone on Xbox, PlayStation, or PC, your wait should be over with the release of Rabbids: Party of Legends.
Ubisoft may not have had much success with Rayman because the brand was put on hold for a while, but Rabbid is a spin-off that was born from Rayman and has had enormous popularity. The Rabbids brand is still fairly strong, thanks to the popularity of animated shorts and TV shows. It is not surprising that Rabbids has surpassed Rayman in popularity, and there are more upcoming games with this spin-off than with the Rayman series itself, such as the upcoming Mario and Rabbids: Spark of Hope.
Rabbids: Party of Legends is essentially a clone of Mario Party. It uses the Snowdrop engine, so the visuals are stunning, and there are several minigames to enjoy. The major thing it lacks is the novelty and support of a huge brand like Mario, but the minigames are either enjoyable even if they give the impression of being there and having done that. However, the primary adventure mode lacks content and variety, whereas Mario Party does not.
When it comes to party games, Mario Party is unquestionably the best, but Rabbids: Party of Legends comes close, at least in terms of minigames. There are almost 50 minigames to choose from, all of which can be played either solo or with a group of up to four friends. The main adventure mode, which pits four players against each other, may be completed by a total of four participants. At the end of the competition, their performance is reviewed, and the person who finds the most books is declared the winner.
The plot is inspired by Journey of the West, which is not unexpected given that the game was created by Ubisoft Chengdu. They’ve taken this ancient Chinese legend and hilariously adapted it to Rabbids. Essentially, the Rabbids are swept into the Journey to the West world via a portal in their time-traveling washing machine and must then find the highest number of books. The person with the most books is crowned champion.
One of the most intriguing elements about Rabbids is their high degree of customisation. This was seen in the Mario and Rabbids game, and it is the same here. Rabbids have been fashioned around the famous Journey to the West legend by Ubisoft Chengdu, with their look matching Monkey King, Tripitaka, and Pigsy. This is not limited to the aesthetics; the level design and even the minigames are all influenced by the Journey to the West concept, which is nice to see.
There is a shortage of board games like Mario Party here, and while the main adventure mode tries to fill it, it falls short of my expectations. Minigames, on the other hand, may be quite enjoyable, but with computer-controlled players, there is a limit to how many times we can appreciate the same thing again and over. This is where the replay value comes into play because there isn’t much of an appeal to this game if you don’t have friends to play it with.
The minigames are either solo or team-based, thus they are 1 vs. 1 or 2 vs. 2. These can be hard to experience with an AI because the AI is prone to making mistakes, but solo ones are relatively simple. Because motion controls are enabled on the Nintendo Switch, I was able to play the game exactly like any other Mario Party. I can’t picture the game being as enjoyable on other platforms, such as the PS4 or Xbox One, due to the absence of motion controls.
Rabbids: Party of Legends’ main flaw is the lack of an enjoyable single-player mode, but there is also a lack of online multiplayer, which seems weird. This may be a fantastic contender for online play with other friends, but unfortunately, that is not the case. Aside from that, unlocking additional characters or minigames requires going through the Adventure mode and earning experience points, which leads to the player ranking up and then receiving more unlockables. It will take some time until everything is available, and it is not as enjoyable as it sounds.
Rabbids: Party of Legends Game Information
- Price: $39.99
- Publisher: Ubisoft
- Developer: Ubisoft Chengdu
- Platform: Switch (Reviewed)
- Disclaimer: A review code was given by the publisher
