Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope - Special

Ubisoft has just released the main information about its upcoming Switch exclusive Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope. We were invited to that presentation a little earlier, so now we are passing on the most important information that you may have missed.

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope is a sequel to the tactical game Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle from 2017, one of the best Switch exclusives that didn’t come from Nintendo. Ubisoft reunited the universes of his mischievous Rabbids and Nintendo's Mario, and as a result of that merger, a galaxy was created with mysterious beings called Sparks.

The Sparks are sympathetic and benevolent, but on the other hand, a threat has emerged that wants to use them to conquer the world. In this game, this threat will be called Cursa, and he will hire famous enemies from the worlds of Rabbids and Maria for his needs.

Mario’s longtime opponent Bowser will not make a pact with Curs but will join Mario's team to defeat Curs and bring back his subjects. In other words, he will be a playful character. Who knows, maybe he'll steal Princess Peach along the way for some of Mario's next adventure?

In any case, Mario will be assisted by several new characters in addition to Bowser. We will see Rabbid Rosalina, a maximally apathetic prima donna who reluctantly carries out orders, and Rabbid Edge - an urban bunny who cares more about hitting than hanging out.

We will lead a maximum of three characters on the field, as in Kingdom Battle. Mario + Rabbids will still be a tactical turn-based game, but Ubisoft has significantly changed the formula so that the characters can now move freely on the field.

Previously, we only determined their direction/trajectory and endpoint to which they should run, and now we will control them directly. When moving, there will be no limit to how many steps you can take, but there will be a limited area within which you can run.

This concept could make the game even more fun, especially for those players who may not like chess-style tactics. The real-time movement also brings a certain dynamism to the gameplay. For example, if you activate a bomb while running, you must throw it at the enemies as soon as possible because it will not wait for the next move to explode.

Tactics will continue to be crucial in the game itself. We will have to place the characters in the shelter and look for shortcuts to surprise the opponent with a side maneuver. Each character will have their specific weapons but also techniques such as counterattacks, putting opponents to sleep, etc. And each skill will need to be used wisely and upgraded with points scored after the battle.

Sparks of Hope introduces an additional layer of tactics precisely through the title creatures - Sparks. Namely, the Sparks give our characters elemental attacks (fire, ice, etc.), and modeled on Divinity: Original Sin, the elements can be combined into crazy combinations.

I didn't think I would ever compare Divinity to a game featuring Mario and Rabbids, but here it is - it happened in the crazy 2022. In general, in this game, we will have an even greater emphasis on the cooperation of the characters during the fight, with existing tricks like rejection. in the air.

Outside the battle arenas, we will have undisturbed exploration of the world. We will solve various missions and collect things, and it seems to me that the camera will be behind the characters more often, as in Mario platformers. Just like in classic Mario games - don't expect voice acting here. There will be stories and dialogue, but we will read most things.

The sound has a greater emphasis on atmosphere and music anyway. Ubisoft has worked hard on music because it features three people for Sparks of Hope, including Yoko Shimomura, a composer who worked on the Super Mario RPG and the Mario & Luigi series, among others (yes, she is the creator of the cult Guile theme from Street Fighter 2).

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope comes out on October 20th this year exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. In a year where we probably won’t have a new game of the main Mario series, Sparks of Hope seems like a good alternative. From what has been shown, I would not say that it is not Nintendo's game, and I think that is the best compliment I can give her. For more than that, we’ll be waiting for the full version this fall.