On October 20th, 2022 Nintendo released the sequel to their oddly amazing Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. Does this game match the previous game’s level of brilliance?
Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle did shockingly well, selling 2 million copies on Nintendo Switch. So it only made sense for Ubisoft and Nintendo to team up again and release a sequel. I had the pleasure of playing through the Gold Edition of Mario+Rabbids: Sparks of Hope the day it came out thanks to GameStop. As with the first game, the main focus of Sparks of Hope is a tactical-style combat system that focuses on utilizing each character’s unique skill set to achieve the goal of the battle. However, the sequel builds upon this concept by giving a more open-roaming movement style, rather than being confined to a grid in combat. Perhaps my favorite new addition to this game is the sparks. Each of these little guys allows for a variety of new combat moves, such as a toxic earthquake, or a life-stealing dash move. Figuring out which sparks are more akin to which character is a super fun concept.
The overworld in this game has also been expanded upon quite a bit, now including side quests and mini-games to play. Being a completionist I went for this game 100% completion, and it was a very enjoyable experience, yet sometimes felt a little bit drawn out. Now, anyone who knows me well knows that I am a huge fan of music in video games. Grant Kirkhope is my all-time favorite composer for video games, and his works here are nothing short of exceptional. In addition to Grant, Yoko Shimomura and, Gareth Coker also help out in developing this game’s soundtrack. It makes for an incredibly unforgettable experience.
It is definitely a weird crossover, however, the game is nothing short of brilliant. While the completion may feel a bit overwhelming at times, I still feel this game deserves a 9/10. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys tactical RPGs such as Fire Emblem.