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Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope is a game for the Nintendo Switch and is a sequel to the 2017 game Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. The game was first revealed on June 12, 2021, on Nintendo of America's website and was released on October 20, 2022. The second entry to the Mario + Rabbids series, it is itself a crossover with the Mario and the Raving Rabbids series. It has been published by Ubisoft.

Gameplay[]

MarioRabbidsSoH Battle SCRN

Gameplay screenshot of Mario in combat mode.

As the successor, the gameplay will be similar to Kingdom Battle, which once more sees Mario and company with their Rabbid companions battling against enemies and Rabbid foes in a tactical role-playing setting. It is also expected that enemies encounters, such as red-eye Bob-ombs, will take place outside combat battles.

The game will take place in an outer space setting, fairly similar to the Super Mario Galaxy games, which Mario and his teammates travel on a spaceship to "lots of planets", according to Manzanares.[2]

Characters[]

Mario, Rabbid Peach, Rabbid Luigi, Luigi, Rabbid Mario, and Rabbid Peach are confirmed to return, while two new Rabbid characters, Rabbid Rosalina and Edge, a goth-like sword wielder, join the cast. Beep-0 returns as the guide. Bowser also appears as a new playable character.

Sparks, a merge of Luma and Rabbids, are a new species that accompany Mario's group as allies. They are confirmed to have abilities such as fire and ice powers to assist the group in battle. They are "fragile creatures", according to Soliani.[2]

Plot[]

Prologue[]

After the events of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, the Rabbids have become more civilized and intelligent to the point where they can properly talk with everyone. The story begins with Princess Peach inquiring the help of Beep-0, Mario, and Rabbid Peach to locate Rabbid Mario's overalls, which have gone missing and out of embarrassment, he refuses to leave the bush. After Mario and Rabbid Peach find them in one of the shrubs, they return it to Rabbid Mario, who puts them back on and leaves the bush. Rabbid Luigi is revealed to be the culprit behind the disappearance of the overalls since he wanted to be the only one who wears such clothing. Just as the Heroes were about to relax, a Luma-Rabbid hybrid named Starburst falls rapidly and lands on Mario and they encounter the Darkmess Manta which began to cover the kingdom in Darkmess. Mario tries to warn the distracted Rabbid Peach, who is looking through her smartphone, but she becomes argumentative with him and ends up getting abducted by the entity. Peach tries to calm everyone down, but to no avail, so she instead helps give Mario a boost to get on the Darkmess Manta to save Rabbid Peach. After she was saved, she helps Mario take out the rest of the strange foes that they have never seen before, though their weapons were disabled in the Darkmess Dimension, which Starburst helps by powering them up. Eventually, they encounter a giant cosmic entity emerging from a wormhole, which Starburst explains that its name is Cursa and his species have barely escaped it, but it would not stop chasing them. As they get close to Cursa, it brainwashes the Goombas and several of Bowser's minions and used them against the group. After they were all defeated, Cursa is about to attack them, but the WM ARC consisting of their friends arrive and they managed to save Mario, Beep-0, and Rabbid Peach and barely managed to escape from falling into Cursa's grasp. They meet with JEANIE who is an AI created by Beep-0, who then explains that she is the ship's pilot, and she became self-aware due to her acting smug and opinionated. They encounter Starburst, and they realize that its species were a result of the fusion between the Lumas and the Rabbids and when Peach states that Rosalina would not have allowed the union to happen, Starburst blurts out that Rosalina is in danger because of Cursa, calling her its "Mama" much to her worry. JEANIE notes that Cursa's stronghold is too far away, and they would need to travel from planet to planet to gather Purified Darkmess Crystals to travel further. Beep-0 opts to call its kind Rabbid Lumas, though everyone else settled on "Sparks" as Beep-0 believed that Cursa won't bother them again with the Sparks on their side. Meanwhile, Cursa gives orders to a group of Rabbids called the Spark Hunters to bring the Sparks to it, telling them that it needs their energy.

Beacon Beach[]

As the team arrives on Beacon Beach, they are nearly attacked by its warden Augie, who is paranoid due to recent events that resulted in Beacon Beach suffering under rainfall and darkness. He apologizes and directs them to Beacon Town where the Rabbids are forced indoors due to the presence of Bob-ombs. After defeating them all, one of the Rabbids releases a Spark named Twinkle, who then rushes to the Sunrise Temple and heads inside. The heroes also access it, unaware that they are being watched by the mysterious female Rabbid. Augie spots her and she jumps onto the ground and shushes him and smiles with her top sharp teeth and hissing ominously, making Augie sink into the water in fear as she runs inside. During the Heroes' exploration, they encounter Twinkle, who is scared of them before Mario and the rest assure it that they want to help it, but the Darkmess Tentacle snags it and takes it to the Darkmess Tentacle where they give chase. The heroes defeat various enemies before they find Twinkle, who appears to be fine, but it was soon chased by the Stooges and two of them try to block their way before Rabbid Mario punches them single-handedly before they continue their pursuit. As Twinkle is cornered, one of them tries to pounce on it, only for the Flying Blade to soar through the waterfall and cuts through it before it returns and its owner catches it, much to everyone's shock. The Rabbid with spiky black hair emerges from the waterfall walking confidently with her eyes closed and chuckling before opening them and she gives a disapproving gesture to their treatment of Twinkle, prompting them to attack her, which she immediately dispatches all of them as the Heroes watch. Twinkle is scared of her, but the female Rabbid smiles, stabs her blade into the ground, and reaches her hand out to show it mercy. Twinkle approaches her cautiously before the Giant Wild Claw arrives and jumps into the area a few feet from them. The mysterious Rabbid stares it down before putting up a smile before letting out a louder snarl back at it. After the Giant Wildclaw is defeated, Beep-0 lets her know that Twinkle needs to go with them to the lighthouse to get another Purified Darkmess Crystal that would lead them to Cursa. As Twinkle departs to the lighthouse, Augie arrives to congratulate them, but he becomes scared when he notices the Rabbid that intimidated him and calls her a Spark Hunter. The female Rabbid corrects him that she isn't one and introduces herself as Edge and as Beep-0 welcomes her and calls her Rabbid Edge, she makes it clear that she wants to be addressed as Edge and agrees to join them. After the Darkmess Tentacle at the lighthouse is destroyed, Twinkle is able to activate the lighthouse which stops the rain and the clouds soon part to allow the sun to shine again. They have gathered enough Purified Darkmess crystals to head to Pristine Peaks and Augie warns them about Cursa's ringleaders known as the Spark Hunters, who threatened to hurt the inhabitants if he did not hand over the Sparks to them, which the Heroes promise to deal with them if they find them.

Pristine Peaks[]

As the team head for Pristine Peaks, JEANIE discovers that it was under an abnormally serious blizzard and extreme cold, caused by a Darkmess Tentacle that threatens to render it completely inhospitable to all life. They make their way up the mountain which is where they found the Darkmess Tentacle infecting it. After destroying it, the blizzard comes to an end and the temperature is restored to normal which made the cold more tolerable. The team take the time to make snowmen and Rabbid Mario goes a step further and makes a giant muscular shape, clearly to get some form of reaction from Edge, which fails. They find Winter Palace not too far off and they would make it there with the storm over with, but Edge tells him that the real storm has actually begun. Upon arrival, they free the frozen Captain Orion from the ice and is stressed over the safety of the young girl who is in the building. Once they get inside, they find a ghost like Rabbid named Midnite appearing before them before she departs for the hallways, which Captain Orion believed that she was the ghost of Winter Palace, until Edge tells him that she is one of Cursa's Spark Hunters. After running into her a few more times, Midnite appears in front of the Darkmess Tentacle, while Edge walks to the front of the group and they were strangely friendly with each other until Edge shakes her head, much to Midnite's annoyance, prompting a sharp grin from Edge. She then tells Midnite to release the girl as it is the smart play and Midnite brings up the fact that they were once friends, and Edge shuts down Beep-0's shock. Midnite continued to taunt Edge until she vanished into the Darkmess Tentacle. The missing girl is revealed to be Rabbid Rosalina, who is looking through some books until she noticed Captain Orion and the Heroes in the dimension she was trapped in. Captain Orion tries to reach her, only to get captured by Midnite, prompting Rabbid Rosalina to take immediate action. After Midnite is defeated, Captain Orion is freed and reunited with Rabbid Rosalina while Edge corners Midnite, and chooses to spare her life, leading the latter to leave in sorrow. Rabbid Rosalina apologizes to Orion for wandering off on him and as he encourages her to join the team, she was about to turn it down as she only wants to head out to find Rosalina, which the team confirms that they are, which she then considers it.

Palette Prime[]

The team head to Palette Prime where they discover that the town is under attack, with the bridge being out and the forest being drained of color and life, making it more eerie in T.S. Woodrow's lamentations. Once the Darkmess Tentacle in the forest is dealt with, the team heads to the town through the shortcut from T.S. Woodrow's house where they witness a pink house getting destroyed by the fight between Bowser and Bedrock, and Bowser sees the team but returns his focus on his enemy and Bedrock takes notice of Edge, who smirks at her. With Bedrock distracted, Bowser headbutts her and gloats before she throws him in the Darkmess Tentacle. Edge asks if Bowser is a friend of theirs, referring to him as a "round fella" while Rabbid Mario asks her about Bedrock, which she tells them that she is a Spark Hunter and is not a friend of hers as Beep-0 also confirms that Bowser isn't their friend either due to his long history of kidnapping Princess Peach and antagonizing Mario. After Bedrock is defeated, another one of the Spark Hunters used her thorned tentacles to allow Bedrock to escape and Bedrock glares at Edge, who does not give her this treatment which turns to a hint of remorse. Bowser destroys the Darkmess Tentacle with his claws and expects some form of gratitude from them since he saved them. As the heroes wonder why he's here, he explains that he is searching for Cursa, since it was responsible for mind controlling his minions and taking them away from him and he wanted them back and even after a heated moment, he joins the team.

Terra Flora[]

The team then travels to Terra Flora where there is an abundance of beautiful plant life until JEANIE informs them that they are now in range of Cursa's Stronghold, but it was protected by a powerful barrier, and they don't have anything to deal with it. Beep-0 asks Edge if she knew a way, with her asking how he figures. Beep-0 ends up being too suspicious of her when he mentions her familiarity with Midnite and Bedrock and there was something she isn't telling them, which ends up making Edge angry and tells him off for prying into her business and they wouldn't want her business to become theirs. Beep-0 backs off and focuses on landing the ship. Meanwhile, The Spark Hunters return to the Darkmess Dimension with only Midnite and Bedrock dejected over their failures while Daphne is pleased with herself which is revealed that she successfully captured three Sparks, much to the jealously of the other two Spark Hunters. Cursa appears and snags the Sparks and begins to drain them, only pausing when its red eye turns blue, but turns red again and absorbs them completely before attempting to crush Bedrock and Midnite for failing to present any Sparks. As the Heroes arrive, they find Terra Flora under threat of a drought and inquire help from the warden, Bea and the train engineer named Sullivan, who then brings them on a train ride to Mt. Spout. After dealing with a Darkmess infected angry Wiggler, they arrive at the station and head inside to find the source of Mt. Spout's dormancy. Once destroying the Darkmess Tentacle, Mt. Spout begins erupting water, which saves the planet from falling under a drought. When the Heroes mention that they need a weapon to destroy the barrier around Cursa's Stronghold, and Bea instructs them to inquire of Momma, who happens to be a mechanic on Barrendale Mesa.

Barrendale Mesa[]

The team make their way to Barrendale Mesa where it was an abundance of resources until the Rabbids used them up and JEANIE mentions that Momma is still on the planet despite this fact and she might be able to create a weapon that would destroy the barrier, while Edge is concerned that they would also be dealing with the Spark Hunter whom she knows is the sneakiest, dirtiest, and the most devious of them all and as Beep-0 was about to assume that the Spark Hunters have given up, he catches on to what she said, before she redirects it to searching for Momma. Due to the ship being unable to land, they have to skydive on the planet with the Rabbids (excluding Edge) and Luigi landing on the giant balloon with Bowser accidentally destroying it. Upon arrival, Momma isn't too pleased with the fact that her advertisement balloon suffered as a result of them falling without a parachute, and due to the electric storm, her garage is closed and is not able to help them and tasks them to get the windmill working again and guides them as they make progress. After the team managed to calm the storm, they get a strange transmission from Momma to make their return. Upon making it back to the garage, "Momma" is revealed to be Daphne in disguise and traps the heroes in the Darkmess Dimension while taunting Edge. After Daphne is defeated, Cursa appears to them and is about to attack them, but Rosalina's wand works its magic and once it bursts into light, Rosalina is revealed, to her Rabbid counterpart's joy, and she opens the portal to allow them to escape as Cursa retakes control and Edge directs everyone into the portal Rosalina created while Mario carries the adamant Rabbid Rosalina to safety. The team were in disbelief that Rosalina had been merged with Cursa the whole time as Momma suggests looking through the Purified Darkmess Crystal. It is revealed that a fragment of the MegaBug managed to survive and drifted aimlessly through deep space and as it merged with space debris, it became sentient and sought the energies of the planets and it is soon drawn to the Comet Observatory where the Lumas and the Rabbids were playing under Rosalina's observation and the latter did not take notice of its approach until it was too late. Rosalina managed to protect the Lumas and the Rabbids and managed to send them far away from Cursa, but ends up becoming possessed by it. While Cursa was in control, Rosalina was fighting against the union, so it begins to drain the energy of the Sparks in order to destroy her will and force her to submit to its control, and created its army, including the Spark Hunters and brainwashes Bowser's army to seek them all, but she doesn't fear Cursa and is counting on the heroes to set things right. Momma instructs them to remain united and to retain their hope for galactic peace.

Melodic Gardens[]

As the team head for Cursa's Stronghold, they notice that Melodic Gardens, known for its musical nature has mysteriously fallen silent so they put off their trip to head to Melodic Gardens. Upon arrival, JEANIE notes that the air density has changed drastically which prevents them from being able to leave. After freeing the Rabbid orchestra, they are met with the warden named Allegra, who explains that the arrival of a dark star has caused the Wonderous Beast to disappear and the planet to fall silent and will end up vanishing if it stays like this. Edge is confused when Allegra is referring to a member of the Spark Hunters, stating that they have already taken care of them all before they got here. They soon meet Kanya, who was once within Cursa's ranks and was created to take the place of one of the former leaders of the Spark Hunters, but she betrayed it and left to Melodic Gardens to begin her plans of galactic domination and overthrow Cursa and tells Allegra that it is "too late for her pet" which prompts her to leave and search for her missing friend while sending out her Proto Mecha King Bob-omb against them, but they managed to defeat it. After the Heroes free the Melospheres they make it past the door where they find Allegra comforting her Dorrie friend trapped in a cage by Kanya who uses the Mecha King-omb to attack the heroes, intending on industrializing Melodic Gardens and becoming the galactic dictator with no wardens or Cursa. Despite her efforts, the Dorrie is freed and both it and Allegra work with the heroes to defeat her and she is sent far away into deep space. Allegra is eternally grateful for them defeating Kanya and she and the Dorrie restore the planet's harmonious nature which in turn restores its air density to normal which allowed them to leave.

Cursa's Stronghold[]

The Heroes arrive at Cursa's Stronghold where they used Momma's weapon which succeeds in destroying it completely, revealing Rosalina's Comet Observatory under Cursa's control, much to their dismay as it was the symbol of hope for the universe. They come across Darkmess Bowser which had the DNA Blueprint from the MegaBug to create the likeness of Bowser after he had been previously possessed by the creature. After Darkmess Bowser is defeated, they also confront Darkmess Edge, who happens to be created by Cursa by itself which reveals Edge's former alliance with it. After it was defeated, the team were concerned for Edge who has turned her back towards them. She admits that Cursa has created her and she was the former commander of the Spark Hunters, but she was given an edge to be more free-willed and independent for her to be able to lead and think, but it also resulted in her seeing Cursa for the monster it was and tried to turn the Spark Hunters to the light, but they turned on her instead, which she then left to save the Sparks before they got a hold of them and she never told them anything due to her belief that they would stop trusting her, but just as she was prepared to depart in shame, the heroes comfort her that she has already given them enough reasons to trust her and still make her feel welcome in the team. Edge is grateful and directs their attention to Cursa. As they enter the Darkmess Dimension though the beacon of the Comet Observatory, they confront Cursa and it attacks them which they dodged and spend the first part of the battle attacking her astral hands and destroying them, and the second part has them attacking the broken star on its front where the drained Sparks are trapped to free them, which also frees Rosalina, who takes part in the final part of the battle as Cursa takes on its true form and with the heroes charging up the wand projectors, Rosalina uses them to attack directly at Cursa. The Heroes reunite as Cursa is still alive and attempts to kill them all by charging at them in the last-ditch effort to do so, but the drained Sparks use the wand projector to become lasers to cripple Cursa significantly. The Heroes unleash their ammunition at the same time with Rosalina combining them together to form a single arrow, finally destroying Cursa forever.

Epilogue[]

The team returns to the Mushroom Kingdom where Rosalina thanks the Heroes for saving the Sparks and herself from Cursa and as Beep-0 laments over not saving all of the Sparks, Rosalina's response is to restore them to life due to their energy being unable to be destroyed but altered. She once searched for her own family once as the heroes were searching for whom they belong. She gives her Rabbid counterpart an offer to join her and the Sparks on the Comet Observatory, though Rabbid Rosalina declines since she found family in her new friends and when she asked Edge the same question, Edge opts to stay with the group since her old pals are currently seeking a different profession. Rosalina thanks them one last time and hopes Bowser learned something about teamwork. Rabbid Mario, Rabbid Luigi, and Rabbid Peach were playing around teasing Bowser, which Mario tried to get them to stop, only for Bowser to retaliate by breathing a fireball in anger, much to the amusement of the onlookers.

The Tower of Doooom[]

One of the Heroes' old friends, Spawny is revealed to be trapped at the top of The Tower of Doooom run by Madame Bwahstrella and the Heroes are tasked with going through several battle challenges to reach the top to locate their lost friend. Spawny can be seen on a small platform looking scared on the tenth floor which is the highest floor of the tower and once the Giant enemy is defeated, Spawny is saved, and he has gained the confidence to go out on his own by traveling the galaxy and with the knowledge that he will count on his friends to save him when he lands into trouble, having put the events of the previous game behind him.

Space Opera Network[]

Rayman arrives at the Space Opera Network through a rocket, and he has received a gold ticket that allowed him to enter the place. After he defeats a Stooge, he becomes concerned about the invitation, believing that a Rabbid is behind it somehow. Once he meets Rabbid Mario and Rabbid Peach who were also invited, he was on the fence about them, until Beep-0 assures him that they are friendly. The Phantom arrives and the team, excluding Rayman, recognize him from Spooky Trails in their previous adventure. Despite him garnering suspicion, the Phantom explains that he was under the MegaBug's influence, and he has changed for the better, but he is requesting assistance from then to rid the network of the Darkmess that has been attacking three studio sets and to help boost the Space Opera Network's popularity. Once the heroes managed to destroy the Darkmess in the Pirate, Western, and Medieval sets, the Phantom invites the heroes to a party to commemorate their work, but once they arrive, the Phantom reveals that he was plotting his revenge for his defeat all along and was using them to broadcast them getting rid of the Darkmess and to draw power from the viewership. During the final battle, the Phantom sings an insulting song against Rayman for having his popularity overshadowed by the Rabbids and later does the same thing to Beep-0, Rabbid Mario, and Rabbid Peach as well. But with the Heroes turning off the lights, The Phantom is finally defeated for good. After that, Rayman is grateful for the fact that he is fighting with the Rabbids for once rather than fighting against them and due to their change for the better, he decides to stay in the Space Opera Network to supervise the Rabbids and guide their moral compasses, while Beep-0, Rabbid Mario and Rabbid Peach have to return to the Mushroom Kingdom. Before they leave, Rabbid Peach gives Rayman a Mario Cap while Rayman gives the Rabbids a copy of his hoodie.

Development[]

Creative director Davide Soliani describes Sparks of Hope as "a new take on the tactical genre". One major change to the gameplay is that it will allow players to move more freely in both 'combat' and 'explorable' environments and removing the 'grid-based' mechanic entirely. This was a change made in the Donkey Kong Adventure DLC which Soliani describes it as "evolving". He said, "With the DLC Donkey Kong Adventure, we were changing quite a lot of stuff on the structure. And we were adding Donkey Kong going all over the place, grabbing the heroes, throwing them. So, we are continuing [that evolution]." In regard to non-combat enemy encounters, producer Xavier Manzanares stated that, "[b]ecause you can move in this area of movement the way you want, you can dash a Boba-omb, then you have it in your hand. You can move around as you want, but then it's going to explode." Manzanares said the new mechanic is "completely different from what we had", bring a "real-time element to the mix." He added, "[...so] it's changing a lot, the way you play and the strategy."[2]

Music[]

Grant Kirkhope returned to provide the game's score, and Gareth Coker and Mario RPG veteran Yoko Shimomura composes alongside. The game utilized live orchestra performances.

Downloadable Content[]

Mario Rabbids Sparks of Hope DLC complete

The game's "Season Pass".

The game has 3 DLC contents, including a Rayman-focused campaign in the third release.[3] They are bundled with the game's "Season Pass".[4]

The Tower of Doooom[]

Main article: The Tower of Doooom

The Tower of Doooom is a new combat-focused mode in which players engage in a series of 10 battle challenges. The goal is to reach the top of the tower. Hosted by Madame Bwahstrella, players must rescue Spawny from the first game. There are three difficulty choices.

The Last Spark Hunter[]

Main article: The Last Spark Hunter

An exclusive new stage, players embark on a journey to Melodic Gardens, a planet that was once song-filled. Kanya, her minions, and Mecha King Bob-omb await the players.

Rayman in the Phantom Show[]

Main article: Rayman In The Phantom Show
Mario Rabbids Sparks of Hope Rayman in the Phantom Show 3

Screenshot of Rayman punching an object.

Rayman In The Phantom Show marks the return of Rayman. In this all-new campaign, Rayman, Rabbid Peach and Rabbid Mario were invited to a show, hosted by Phantom. There are three sets in this mode: Western, Pirate, and Medieval.

Unlike the base game and other DLC content, there are only three characters.

Release[]

The game was first released in Western regions on October 20, 2022, and on December 2 in Japan for Nintendo Switch.

Reception[]

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope received "generally favorable reviews", according to the review aggregator Metacritic, with many considering it an improvement over Kingdom Battle.[5]

Sales[]

After its release, the game reportedly "underperformed" in sales, according to Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot during the company's financial update.[6] In January 2024, the game is reported to have sold around 3 million copies.[1]

Awards[]

The game won "Best Sim/Strategy Game" at the 2022 The Game Awards and "Family Game of the Year" at the 26th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards. The game was one of the nominees at the Kids' Choice Awards 2023 alongside Minecraft and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Both Mario and Pokémon lost to Minecraft.

Trivia[]

  • Mario is depicted with a dual shooting weapon, referencing Star Lord from the Guardians of the Galaxy comic book media and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Coincidentially, Chris Pratt who played the character in the films is voicing Mario in the 2023 upcoming Mario animated film.
  • With the upcoming DLC, this will be Rayman's first playable appearance since Rayman Legends and Brawlhalla, and his very first Mario franchise game as a playable character.
  • As the game is developed in European territories, Sparks of Hope marks co-composer Yoko Shimomura's very first work in a Western game. Shimomura is a veteran of the Mario RPG games, as well as other Nintendo franchises.
  • This is the sixth Mario RPG game where Bowser team up with Mario to defeat the bigger threats, the others are Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Super Paper Mario, Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, and Paper Mario: The Origami King.
  • This is co-composer Gareth Cloker's very first Nintendo-related game he has ever worked on.
  • For English, David Gasman, Matthew Geczy, Sharon Mann, and Barbara Weber-Scaff (also voice director) have contributed their voices to the game. They were notably cast members for the animated series, Code Lyoko. Meanwhile, Kaycie Chase, who also voiced Genius Girl from Kingdom Battle, is one of the lead voice actresses in The New Adventures of Lassie.
  • This was the final Mario game to feature the voice performance of Charles Martinet as Mario and Luigi before his retirement for voice acting for the Super Mario games but would continue to work with Nintendo as "Mario Ambassador".

References[]

External links[]

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