12 Nintendo Switch Exclusives - Ranked From Worst To Best

4. Mario & Rabbids: Kingdom Battle

Not for a second did anyone expect a crossover between Super Mario and the freakin' Rabbids to not only be good; not only be enjoyable; but to be tactically deep and incredibly rewarding.

Simply because Ubisoft put the focus on how many things you can do per turn rather than thinking four or five moves in advance, it changes the very pace of combat in a very pleasant way. No longer are you setting up elaborate pincer movements of flanking manoeuvres (though they are valid too), but seeing if you can slide into one enemy, leap off the head of another and come crashing down on a third, before enacting the real beats of your plan.

In terms of balance and your roster of characters, each hero feels worth combining. It's actually a tough choice deciding who to take and who to leave, which is truly the mark of a well designed strategy title.

Again, I know how insane it sounds putting this above a "proper Mario" in Odyssey, but as games overall, Kingdom Battle is immensely better designed and paced, with a learning curve that only flexes in natural ways the more time you invest.