A YouTuber found evidence for the existence of a lost adventure game starring Mario and the Raving Rabbids, meaning that the yet-to-be-announced Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle isn’t the first cossover with Super Mario and Rabbids planned.
YouTuber and Comicbook.com Wrtier Liam Robertson (aka the Game History Guy) said that the concept for a Mario/Rabbids crossover has been floating around since the era of the Nintendo Wii. He received info from a source, the same one who provided information and footage about the cancelled Wii-U game Know Your Friends, that Ubisoft were experimenting with an adventure game set where the Rabbids invaded the mushroom kingdom. An early story idea revolved around a “subversive, self-aware take on the Mario series.”
He also received early concept art dating back to around 2010 from an artist who worked for Ubisoft at the time, depicting the Rabbids carrying off Bowser with Mario chasing after them through the Mushroom Kingdom. The art was used by Ubisoft in an attempt to gain access to the Mario IP and negotiate a crossover. The artist told Robertson that they were given a vague special assignment from Ubisoft’s management to work on it, and was intended to be used as part of a presentation to Nintendo to pitch the full game.
(Screenshot by Jack Fennimore)
However, a formal pitch was never made and the project ended up as an internal concept and nothing more. Another source involved with the concept told Robertson that the project may have been shut down by Nintendo before it was even pitched possibly due to their reluctance to let third parties use their Mario IP at the time.
Robertson didn’t find a direct connection between the lost Mario/Rabbids adventure game and Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle.
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle’s existence was leaked well in advance of it’s reveal at this year’s E3. The game is a turn-based RPG with two player co-op available exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
Ubisoft’s E3 2017 Press Conference is on June 12 at 1 p.m. PST/4 P.m. EST. You can watch it here.