Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle Is Getting A Free Two-Player Mode

Ubisoft is still updating Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle for the Nintendo Switch. The turn-based, RPG exclusive for Nintendo's console recently received a new two-player mode for everyone who already owns the game. The best part about it is that it's free!

Ubisoft announced that the new two-player versus mode for Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle is available starting today, December 8th. The local versus mode allows players to go head-to-head using the same screen and either sharing a pair of the Joy-Con controllers or with one person on the Joy-Cons and the other person using a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller.

Now for those of you excited about the versus mode, you need to keep in mind that the mode is only for local competitive play. You won't be able to play the mode online, hence probably why it was made free. The good part is that even if Nintendo adds the new payment model early on in 2018 for online play, you'll still be able to play against your buddies with the local versus mode.

The mode itself will allow players to pick a team of three heroes for each round. Players will be able to select from any of the eight available characters, and can choose three unique abilities for each of their team members. Unfortunately you won't be able to play as your customized versions of the characters, but instead will have preset loadouts to choose from when creating your team.

Now to add a bit of flavor to the match, Ubisoft decided to make random bonus items appear on the battlefield during the versus modes in Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. Some of the items that appear during the round will include doing double damage, or gaining advantages when it's your turn. This reminds me a lot of the random items that appear during Smash Bros., bouts that can help drastically alter the outcome of the battle.

Not only will there be random items, but players will be able to customize the settings of the match by choosing how much time each round will be, how many turns each player will have, as well as adding or removing the option for items to appear.

Now, the only thing that isn't mentioned is whether or not there will be multiple versus maps. Ubisoft only mentions that players will duke it out on "evolving battlefields", which could mean that there's one basic map that constantly rearranges and changes each time you play it, like a map from Enter the Gungeon, or it could mean that there are a variety of playable maps available for the versus mode in Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle.

The game originally came out during the tail-end of summer, but what was amazing was that the title was only announced during the Ubisoft E3 conference in June. There wasn't much time to promote the game and very little in the way of giving the game marketable legroom, but it still managed to win some awards, as noted on the website, and become a decent enough seller as an exclusive for the Nintendo Switch.