Sparks of Hope preview event, which featured some of the early segments of the game, demonstrating new gameplay systems, a real-time approach to combat, and its RPG-style level structure. All of the new elements are a step-up in of the originalMario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle design, with combat that's more challenging and exploration that's more rewarding than before.
Sparks of Hope starts out with the Super Mario Bros. crew and the Rabbids going on a quest to stop Cursa, a cosmic horror that is capturing Sparks: creatures that are a fusion between the Luma from Super Mario Galaxy series and Rabbids. Mario and his friends need to protect and gather as many Sparks as possible, in order to allow their ship to travel further through space so they can stop Cursa. In Kingdom Battle, the enemies were Rabbids with a Super Mario Bros. twist, but in Sparks of Hope, actual enemies from the Super Mario Bros. series are part of Cursa's army, including Goombas and Bob-Ombs, as well as Cursa's own twisted allies.
The first segment in the Sparks of Hope preview is set on a floating island in space, which is home to a village and a massive lighthouse. The island is covered in a slimelike Dankmess substance and it's up to Mario's crew to clear it out. It's here that Sparks of Hope biggest change is shown, as it has actual levels with sidequests to complete. In Kingdom Battle, Princess Peach's Castle was a hub world, but the levels themselves consisted of set battles on a long track, with some puzzles spread out among them that might involve backtracking. In Sparks of Hope, there are now stages with a map, minimap, and Fast Travel points.
The battles in Sparks of Hope now start out in a similar manner to a classic JRPG like Chrono Trigger, with enemy sprites wandering the world map with their average level displayed above their head. This means players can also avoid fights if they wish, but another change in Sparks of Hope is an experience point/level up system, so it's in the player's interest to tackle the enemies. When a character levels up, they can put points into different skill trees, which can do things like boost their stats, improve their special abilities, or improve their movement distance. Once a fight starts, the gameplay shifts to a battle map and a team screen is loaded up, giving the player a chance to change teammates, loadout, and heal before starting the fight.
The combat system in Sparks of Hope has been overhauled since Kingdom Battle, thanks to a more real-time approach giving each character more combat options. Each character can freely move around the battlefield until they perform their main attack, at which point they freeze in place. Mario and his allies can perform a Team Jump action, where they can jump off an ally and briefly float in the air, allowing them to move a lot further than they would if they were just running. It's also possible to throw some enemies, like Bob-Ombs, causing them to explode and damage enemies and cover, similar to mechanics in the Donkey Kong Adventure DLC in Kingdom Battle. The fact that players can switch between characters almost any time means there is a lot of scope for planning the movement of the team.
Sparks of Hope retains the weapon attacks and special moves from Kingdom Battle with a few new additions. Mario now wields two pistols, allowing him to fire at enemies or in the air while floating during a Team Jump. These additions are small, however, compared to the inclusion of items and Sparks. The player can buy and find items on their journey, such as Super Mushrooms, which heal an ally, or a POW Block, which can be thrown to deal AOE damage. Using an item takes up one of the character's two actions per turn, but it adds an incredible amount of versatility to the roster, as just the ability to heal during their turn is a major shake-up to the strict archetypes that each character had in the first game.
The Sparks play a major role in the combat system. Each character can equip two Sparks at once and they grant both a ive buff and a special ability during combat. Examples of Spark abilities include creating a poison cloud centered on the , damaging all nearby enemies through cover, and providing fire elemental damage when dashing or attacking. When coupled with the items, the Sparks really shake-up the battle system, offering tons of different ways to approach combat.
One surprising thing about the Sparks of Hope demo was how difficult it was at first. The enemies in the game deal a ton of damage with their hits and use advanced tactics playing around cover and special abilities. The combat is only difficult if the player tries to brute force it, however. Sparks of Hope is bigger than its predecessor and it expects the player to make the most of the options given to them, and when Sparks, items, and Team Jump/floating movement is used, then the balance tips back in the player's favor, leading to combat that is challenging and rewarding.
The second segment of the game in the Sparks of Hope preview takes place on a snow world called Pristine Peaks. It's here that Edge, a brand-new Rabbid character, officially s the party, and her appearance bumps the battle roster up to three characters. One change in Sparks of Hope from Kingdom Battle is that Mario no longer has to be on the team at all times and players can use any mixture of characters they want. This change is relevant, as there is now more of an incentive to switch characters rather than stick with an established team.
Sparks of Hope involves saving the universe, which means gathering allies. The main quest of Pristine Peaks involves saving Rabbid Rosalina, who is held captive within a castle. The castle dungeon features numerous player battles and health doesn't naturally restore between missions (though Rabbid Peach does have a healing special move in combat). It's best to switch out characters and use some for random battles while saving the player's preferred team for the trickier encounters. This change is a big step up from Kingdom Battle, where player's often stuck with one team throughout the game.
Sparks of Hope feels more like a JRPG than its predecessor. Explorable levels, random encounters, and Sparks acting like an equipabble magic system, like FF7's Materia, are all positive steps. The stages are fun to explore, the roster has more options in combat, and the battles are faster. The snippet of story in the Sparks of Hope preview was also a lot darker than Kingdom Battle, with a more serious tone and a more threatening enemy, although it still retains its comedic moments. By comparison, Kingdom Battle now feels like it was setting the stage for Sparks of Hope, with its successor drastically improving the formula on all fronts.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope will be released for Nintendo Switch on October 20, 2022. Screen Rant attended a preview session for the purpose of this article.
