Mario and the raving Rabbids reunite for a second adventure on the Nintendo Switch in Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope. Following the surprising sleeper hit from 2017 you once again take control of characters from the Super Mario universe and Rabbids incarnations of said characters along with some new additions. The new entry ‘Sparks of Hope’ takes inspiration from “Super Mario Galaxy” with a heavily space-themed story.

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope is a 2022 action-adventure, turn-based strategy game. It is developed by Ubisoft Milan & Ubisoft Paris and published by Ubisoft. It is currently available exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.

Editor’s Note: Near complete spoilers for Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope may be present within this review.

The Mario and Rabbids universes collide for a second time.

Following the 2017 release of the ambitious Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle the title gave a level of shock and awe for it’s quality and presentation as a complete package. Kingdom Battle was both an unfortunate and fortunate victim of leaks prior to it’s launch. Unfortunate because the reception towards the title upon viewing it’s concept art and learning of the fact that it was a Mario title that featured the polarizing Rabbids. The Rabbids were just coming off their own negative stigma for having been a spinoff from Ubisoft’s classic franchise Rayman and later seemingly subsequently replacing it. The leaks would later become a fortunate incident because it presented an unprecedented level of intrigue and hype for “Kingdom Battle” upon it’s initial reveal at E3 2017 becoming a sleeper hit success after it’s release. This success would culminate in a sequel in Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope that’s even more successful that the original and start the beginning of a new franchise for Nintendo and Ubisoft to look forward to for years to come.

Mario + Rabbids features a slightly open world.

THE GOOD: Set sometime after the events of Kingdom Battle the Rabbids are still residents of Mushroom Kingdom but have evolved much further from their initial births. Most of the Rabbids possess personalities and are capable of human speech. Outside of the Rabbid clones of Mario and company. Rabbid-Lumas known as Sparks suddenly appear and the gang are attacked by a darkness manta ray that abducts Rabbid Peach. Cursa who has been controlling malevolent Rabbids attacks the group but is sent back. JEANIE the AI for Mario’s spaceship informs Mario and co. about the functionality of the Sparks. She also explains that Cursa has filled planets with darkness and the group decides to search for Rosalina along the way.

Throughout their travels they recruit Edge a gothic mysterious Rabbid, Rabbid Rosalina, and Bowser who decides to help them defeat Cursa. After clearing the planets of Cursa’s darkness defeating three of it’s head soldiers they head to her stronghold for battle. Cursa attacks but suddenly changes into Rosalina revealing that the two have merged. Before she loses control Rosalina gives the group a crystal which helps them escape. Cursa is revealed to be a surviving fragment of the Megabug from Kingdom Battle which later gained sentience and the desire to consume all life to grow. Prior to becoming Cursa the fragment invaded Rosalina’s home and attempted to control it accidentally merging Rabbids and Lumas leading to Rosalina sacrificing herself to protect them. Cursa now seeks the power of the Sparks to completely remove Rosalina’s will from her.

The group reach Cursa’s stronghold again destroying it’s shield and revealing it to be Rosalina’s home the Comet Observatory. A desperate Cursa creates dark clones of Bowser and Edge to face Mario and the others. Edge reveals she was previously a creation of Cursa and the leader of her Spark Hunters before gaining free will and betraying them. She attempts to leave the group but is stopped being welcomed back as they fight Cursa. Cursa is defeated and releasing Rosalina and the Sparks but makes one last attempt with it’s true form and the heroes defeat her once again combining all of their strength in one final attack. Everyone return to Mushroom Kingdom where they’re congratulated by Rosalina. Edge & Rabbid Rosalina decide to stay with Mario and co. in Mushroom Kingdom and JEANIE gains sentience and connects with beep-0.

Mario + Rabbids changes up some previous gameplay elements from ‘Kingdom Battle.

Most of Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope takes an “ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach with it’s gameplay but there are a few differences to keep it fresh as a new entry. The aforementioned addition of the Sparks act as new in-combat companions that give players extra abilities and buffs for a greater chance of victory. In reality, the Sparks have replaced and revamped the old elemental upgrades for weaponry from Kingdom Battle. You can equip up to two Sparks for opposing or complimentary bonus effects in battle. The grid from Kingdom Battle has been replaced with a much more free battle map which allows players to move as they please within the limitations of their allowed movement area. Also new to the title is the ability to use Bob-ombs for an extra advantage in battle. Players can slide dash the bombs and either allow them to explode in place or freely move them within the allotted movement area to get rid of enemies or destroy areas of the map that interfere with their strategies.

You can level up each character through experience points earned through victories and upgrade their abilities via skill points. Character upgrades range from additional health to further movement within the map and longer distances or extra damage for weapon attacks. You can also buy items to aide the player in battle such as health mushrooms and pow explosives. Sparks of Hope features an open-worldish map where players can explore a pretty sizable area and even find some side quests that will provide bonuses like extra coins and currency for more weapon skins. World building for the newly evolved Rabbids is also presented through exploring each planet with much of the lore contained within the deeper areas of the world maps.

In regards to the story, I never thought I’d see the day where a game about a bunch of botched rabbit clones would have a lot of heart and soul but here we are. The voice acting was a rather surprising addition and while it’s mostly voiced throughout the game I think the moments that did skimp on it dragged just a bit with the text boxes. However, performance wise for those that were voiced the team killed their roles. There was some emotional moments in the bigger portions of the writing that I didn’t expect but was happily surprised by.

Use team work and strategy to win the battle in Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope.

THE BAD: Sparks of Hope is nearly the perfect sequel of an unexpectedly good game however there are some personal gripes I have with the title. Mainly how weapon skins have more or less been downgraded to useless cosmetics. In “Kingdom Battle” weapon skins played a major role in strategy by granting players certainly abilities in game such as honey, ink, and freeze. These have since been replaced by the use of Sparks for thematic purposes as Sparks of Hope borrows a number of story and world elements from Super Mario Galaxy. While the Sparks are a cool addition I think it feels a little wonky to use them to sacrifice weaponry upgrades for their inclusion. You can upgrade your characters and Sparks by leveling up and gaining attributes as I stated above.

Take advantage of unique buffs and power ups.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Mario +Rabbids: Sparks of hope does exactly what it’s expected to as a sequel. Stepping up in a big way where it counts mechanically and in presentation of its story and self without ever feeling too overwhelming. While I don’t think “Sparks of Hope” necessarily revolutionizes anything it represents it’s more than satisfying as not only a continuation of it’s surprise hit predecessor but also as a stand alone product. It’s certainly one of the better Mario spinoffs of late and shows it’s worth as a complimentary series to the franchise.