Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope review - An incredible strategy RPG

The latest tactics game from Ubisoft, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope is an absolutely brilliant experience. Also, thankfully, if you didn’t play the previous game, Kingdom Battle, you won’t be missing out on any storyline points. While it is technically a sequel, it is very much its own entity, and you don’t have to revisit and play the first one unless you want to.

Though I played little Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, I genuinely loved the sequel. It has far more personality than the previous game, from what I have seen, and everything from the art style to the combat feels improved.

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope offers plenty for fans of tactics games

One worry I definitely did have was that the games were going to be connected and that I would be missing out. Thankfully, that’s not the case. I didn’t play a lot of Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. Just enough to mess with the combat system.

In Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, Mario, Rabbid Peach, and the rest of the crew join up to try and save the galaxy. Curse is a terrifying force that is corrupting planet after planet, and this rag-tag group of heroes will do everything they can to prevent this.

In order to succeed, Cursa is trying to drain the Sparks of their energy, but Mario and his team are going to fight back against the spread of what is known as Darkmess. The Sparks appear to be Lumas and Rabbids fused together, and are home to enormous power.

As players save more Sparks, they will join the party and can be equipped to be utilized in battle. This actively enhances the combat experience as well. Each hero can equip a Spark and can use it in battle for some temporary but powerful effects. This includes reflecting some damage, adding elemental effects to your attacks, and much more.

As Mario and his friends travel from planet to planet, they can engage in battle with a brand-new combat system, solve puzzles, uncover secret areas, and aid the denizens of each world. In addition to the main story quest, there are also plenty of fun side quests to get into.

Though, one of my biggest complaints about the overworld is that Mario can’t jump! I assume there’s gameplay or mechanical reason for this, but Mario is known for jumping! Not being able to jump is just such a weird choice.

In Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, players travel from planet to planet, saving people and fighting evil, but how does the battle system work?

The combat in Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope is excellent and easy to manage

Combat in Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope is a nice blend of turn-based and real-time combat. Your party goes first, and each character has a range of movements. You can swap between characters at will and move them wherever you want to. This is helpful because of the Team Jump mechanic. You can give an ally a boost, and they can travel much further than normal.

It’s important to note, though, that once you’ve attacked, you cannot move, so plan for that. However, you can use Dash, which is great for taking out groups of Goombas, as well as prepping a Bob-omb for destruction.

All of this happens in addition to combat. You can move Mario, dash into a Bob-omb, pick it up and throw it at something, Team Jump into range, and then deliver your attack.

Since this is very much still an X-Com-style strategy game, cover is very important. When you’re next to a structure, you’ll automatically try and hide behind it. Depending on how much cover your foe has, it changes the percentage of chances you have to hit. That’s fine, that makes sense in Mario + Rabbids.

However, repeatedly attacking someone or something behind cover will eventually break many of these structures! Princess Peach’s bazooka, for example, has a huge arc it fires in, and can break many hiding places at once.

You can act in this fashion with all of your characters in a turn, before swapping to your opponent's turn. They will act, and the cosmic ballet goes on. In addition to an attacking move, all of your characters have some form of buff, heal, or special ability. These have cooldowns, as do use their equipped Spark.

Some characters increase or reduce damage, others heal in a very wide arc, and so forth. Every character is useful in Mario + Rabbids, it all depends on how you choose to build your party. However, occasionally, you’re going to be stuck using specific characters in side missions, so take the time to improve all characters’ Skill Trees.

On the topic of leveling, though, this is not a game where you have to do a ton of grinding, which will make a number of fans quite happy. With all the character levels at the same time, you don’t have to worry about Rabbid Mario being weak, for example. If you decide you want to use someone else, it’s easy enough to do this without stress in Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope.

More to do than just fight in Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope

When opening the map for a world, you’ll see a number of side quests and things to do. Many of these award Planet Coins, a type of currency that can unlock a few items from merchants in the game. One thing I wish I would have known sooner is that you can, for example, buy a Key on the first world.

There’s a Secret Area hidden on the map, and if you have the key, you can explore this new area. It’s certainly worth keeping in mind. You can also collect Gold Coins, tackle side quests, fight wandering packs of enemies and uncover other secrets. Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope players have plenty to do in these various worlds, and that filled me with joy.

It’s not just “fight, go to the next area, fight again”. You can also easily see the level of each encounter on the map. It might be worth it to return to some of these challenges later in the game if they’re too difficult.

That’s one thing I really loved about Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope. Traveling the worlds themselves feels good, and there’s so much to see and uncover in your gameplay.

The visuals and music for Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope is second-to-none

Grant Kirkhope? Gareth Coker? Yoko Shimomura?! What an all-star cast of composers! It definitely worked, with Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope having a majestic soundtrack. The songs and sounds fit each world, and some of the songs are still stuck in my head.

I loved the brighter art style compared to the first game as well. It has an almost painted look, and each character displayed on the screen is loaded with personality. For a Nintendo Switch game, it’s absolutely breathtaking. I genuinely loved the use of color in the game. From the gooey drippiness of the Darkmess tentacles to the beautiful, crystal-clear water, this game is lovely.

On another fun note, the game has voice acting now! Not to mention, the characters sound great, and it really adds something to the presentation.

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope - In Conclusion

Full Disclosure: The Rabbids are among my least-favorite characters in any game franchise ever. However, I found myself liking them in this game. They’re still silly, irreverent doofuses, but I found myself really loving everything in this game.

I love turn-based strategy titles, and this was an excellent blend of real-time and turn-based action. Battles are plentiful without taking forever, and you have a ton of freedom in how to approach battles thanks to this new, flexible combat system.

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope is easily one of my favorite strategy RPGs in 2022. It combines excellent, clever turn-based action with the heart, comedy, and charm of a Super Mario Bros. game.