Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope (NSP, XCI) ROM + v1.6.2225577 Update + Rayman in the Phantom Show DLC

Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope Embark on a cosmic adventure with Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Rabbid Peach, Rabbid Luigi, and their crew to thwart a malevolent entity and save your beloved Spark comrades. As you traverse different planets across the galaxy, unravel the enigmatic secrets and undertake exciting quests. This is a 2022 action-adventure turn-based strategy video game developed by Ubisoft Milan and Ubisoft Paris and published by Ubisoft for the Nintendo Switch. The game is a crossover between Nintendo’s Mario and Ubisoft’s Rabbids franchises and is a sequel to Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (2017). Three expansions were released in 2023, one featuring Rayman.

GAMEPLAY

Gameplay in Sparks of Hope is largely similar to that of Kingdom Battle. Players can build out their roster of characters from returning characters Mario, Luigi, and Peach, along with their Rabbid counterparts. New characters Edge, Rabbid Rosalina, and Bowser have also joined the team (with the Rabbids being fully voiced for the first time). Players are also tasked with rescuing the Sparks throughout the galaxy, who provide distinct powers that will help the player in battle.

Unlike the first game, level designs are less linear, and the turn-based tactical combat features a new system that disregards the first game’s grid-based layout. Also featured are enemy encounters outside of turn-based combat. Mario can now be replaced by a different character. Lead designer Xavier Manzanares, speaking about the new combat, stated: “You can move in this area of movement the way you want; you can dash a Bob-omb, then you have it in your hand. You can move around as you want, but then it’s going to explode. So, you have a few seconds to react, which is completely different from what we had in the past. And so, it brings this real-time element to the mix”.

SPARKS OF HOPE

Sometime after the events of Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom, including Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach, now peacefully coexist with the Rabbids and their Rabbid counterparts, who have all learned to talk. The calm is suddenly broken when a horde of Rabbid-Luma hybrids called Sparks descend from the sky, pursued by a gigantic manta ray imbued with Darkmess, a shadowy corruptive substance. Rabbid Peach is accidentally abducted by the manta while attempting to take a selfie; Mario and their combat advisor drone Beep-0 free her from the Darkness dimension inside the manta with the help of the Sparks.

A malevolent entity known as Cursa then appears and attempts to destroy Mario, Rabbid Peach, and Beep-0, but the other heroes save them with a spaceship constructed from the Rabbids’ Time Washing Machine called the WM-ARC. The ship’s A.I., JEANIE, explains that the unique fusion of Rabbid and Luma DNA grants the Sparks unlimited power, and Cursa, whose corruptive influence has spread across the galaxy, wants to absorb that power for itself. The team resolves to find Cursa’s stronghold and defeat them, saving as many Sparks and corrupted planets as possible, while also searching for Rosalina, the missing guardian of the Lumas.

Mario’s team travels to five different planets while gathering enough Purified Darkness Crystals to safely travel to Cursa’s stronghold – Beacon Beach, Pristine Peaks, Palette Prime, Terra Flora, and Barrendale Mesa. They are joined by three new heroes along the way: Edge, a stoic sword-wielding Rabbid also looking to save the Sparks; Rabbid Rosalina, a gloomy but intelligent Rabbid who is trying to find her hero Rosalina; and Bowser, Mario’s perpetual archnemesis whose army has been brainwashed by Cursa. Together, they help the wardens of each world dispel the Darkness infection while also battling Cursa’s team of corrupted Rabbids, brainwashed minions of Bowser, and the Spark Hunters – three female Rabbid hybrids named Midnite, Bedrock, and Daphne. Near the end of their journey, Cursa once again attempts to destroy the heroes but unexpectedly transforms into Rosalina, whose body has been merged and possessed by Cursa’s spirit.

Rosalina gives the team a crystal and helps them escape before Cursa regains control; from the crystal, they learn that Cursa was originally a surviving fragment of the Megabug, which was cast out into space and was merged/empowered by space debris, eventually gaining sentience, desiring to feed upon the life energies of the galaxy to grow. It ambushed the Comet Observatory, home to Rosalina, the Lumas, and a group of Rabbids who came by on another Time Washing Machine, in an attempt to steal the space station’s and the Lumas’ power, but accidentally merged the Rabbids and Lumas in a blast of energy when Rosalina sacrificed herself to ensure their safety, turning them into Sparks. Cursa needed to gather the Sparks’ power to crush Rosalina’s rebelling will against her possession.

THE TOWER OF DOOOOM

The heroes are summoned by Madame Bwahstrella, a fortune teller Rabbid from the main and previous games to a large tower called the Tower of Doooom. She tasks them with rescuing Spawny, who is held hostage at the top of the tower by Cursa’s minions. Once Spawny is rescued, he bids the heroes farewell and leaves to continue traveling the galaxy.

THE LAST SPARK HUNTER

Taking place after defeating Daphne and before reaching Cursa’s stronghold, the heroes travel to the musical Melodic Gardens after discovering that it has gone silent. The atmosphere, having been affected by the Darkness, also prevents them from leaving. There, they meet Allegra, the planet’s warden, who informs them of the threat.

The villain responsible for this is revealed to be Kanya, a fourth Spark Hunter whom Edge does not know of. Like Edge, she betrayed Cursa but had evil plans of her own. Kanya then summons a robot resembling King Bob-omb to attack the heroes, but they manage to defeat it.

Despite this, Kanya remains unfazed and leaves. Later, the heroes find Allegra’s friend Dorrie, a dinosaur who is the source of the Melodic Gardens’ biophonies, which are a part of the planet, imprisoned in a cage. Kanya arrives in a more powerful King Bob-omb mech, revealing that the one they defeated earlier was a prototype and that she was testing them earlier to make improvements to her final design. After freeing Dorrie, the heroes defeat Kanya, who is then sent flying along with her mech. With the Melodic Gardens now back to normal, the heroes can now leave to confront Cursa as Allegra wishes them luck in their adventure.

RAYMAN IN THE PHANTOM SHOW

This story takes place sometime after the main story. Rayman receives a ticket to a movie studio called the Space Opera Network. Arriving there, he meets Rabbid Mario, Rabbid Peach, and Beep-0, who have also received tickets of their own. Rayman is uneasy about the Rabbids due to his past encounters with them, but Beep-0 assures him that Rabbid Mario and Rabbid Peach are different

They learn that the studio is controlled by Phantom, an antagonist from the original game. Beep-0 assumes that he wants revenge for his previous defeat, but the Phantom claims that he has changed, though Beep-0 and Rayman do not fully trust him. Phantom reveals that it was he who summoned them here due to Darkness infecting his studio and wants them to get rid of it. The group fights through hordes of Darkmess enemies throughout each studio set.

Once all of it is gone, Phantom invites them to his control room, which is where the warp portal that brought the group here is located, but it is broken. Phantom then reveals the truth: he has been faking his redemption all along and does indeed want revenge, proving Rayman and Beep-0’s suspicions correct. He wanted the heroes to get rid of the Darkness so that he could carry out his revenge plan. As the heroes fight him, he mocks them with his singing. After they defeat him, the warp portal reactivates, allowing the heroes to return home.

Rayman decides to remain at the studio to supervise the Rabbids here after seeing that they are now good. Rabbid Mario hugs Rayman while Rabbid Peach gives a present to him and Rayman does the same, showing that he is now on good terms with the Rabbids. In the credits, two photos are shown: one with the heroes showing their friends the gift that Rayman gave them (revealed to be one of Rayman’s outfits) and the other showing Rayman wearing a Mario hat, which is the gift that Rabbid Peach gave him.