Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope

MARIO + RABBIDS: SPARKS OF HOPE

Today, let's cover Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, a sequel to the rampant success of Kingdom Battle, this time taking our heroes on a journey across the galaxy to defeat a powerful entity named Cursa who is trying to spread Darkmess across the universe.

Starting with our protagonists this time, we have Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Rabbid Mario, Rabbid Luigi, and Rabbid Peach all returning from the previous game, with brand new players including Bowser, Rabbid Rosalina, and a mysterious individual named Edge. Most of the gameplay is much as you remember it, with each having guns, heat seekers, remote bombs, and the like, with cover they can hide behind and team launches to allow them to leap into the air. They all have distinct guns and abilities, such as Mario being able to attack in his line of sight, Rabbid Peach healing, Bowser having Mechakoopas, Rabbid Rosalina being able to put enemies to sleep, Rabbid Luigi weakening enemies, Peach creating shields, Rabbid Mario having boxing gloves, and Edge having a blade she can throw.

Our heroes are accompanied this time around by Sparks, basically Rabbid Lumas, all with different names, who all grant special abilities to the hero they're assigned to. These abilities include increasing attack power, reflecting attacks with a mirror, give burn effects, increase defense, splash with water, poison enemies around them, shock, repel enemies with a megaphone, freeze, turn its user invisible, rain meteors, create wind, attract enemies to it, steal life, summon an enemy as an ally (including Rabbid Kong), and revive fallen heroes. Three of these also give the robot Beep-O added abilities, including a sonic blast, light that reveals secrets, and the ability to make plants grow. He can also be used as a helicopter now.

As for our allies, we have a new robot named Jeanie, who takes up a bit of Beep-O's role with him being more active, and Rosalina, who can create portals and shields with the magic in her wand. Then there's smaller roles like Augie, Captain Orion, Woodrow, Sullivan, Bea, and Big Momma, who are all relevant in their own stages but don't have much to go on.

Our main villain is Cursa, a fragment of the Megabug from the first game, who fused with Rosalina and corrupted her, using her power to go after the Sparks. Cursa could create portals, reach out with its giant hands, hypnotize people, grab, drain energy, punch, point with a finger, wave its hand, and flash with a blink. Working under Cursa are the Spark Hunters, including Midnite, Bedrock, and Daphne (Edge is also revealed to be a former member). Midnite was a ghost who could warp and attack with a fan. Bedrock was a big bruiser who could stomp around, tussle, and slam a heavy object. And Daphne had power over plants, using vines and poison to attack.

Stooges take the place of Ziggies in this game and are basically the same, just with a different name (so I'll probably just make them color swaps). Scopers are wolf-based enemies that fire ranged shots, Medicians are the healers, and Squashers are the bruisers. Goombas, Bob-Ombs, Magikoopas, and Wigglers also appear in the game. The most notable new enemy though is the Wildclaw, massive tiger-based enemies that can punch, drop spikes of ice, roll around like a ball, suck enemies in with a rubber chicken, and fire off pulses of water. Darkmess, the substance used by Cursa that functions suspiciously similarly to Malice from Breath of the Wild, also crops up in various forms.

As for our stages, we see Peach's Castle early on, only for it to be attacked by a giant manta ray made of Darkmess. We then go to Beacon Beach that leads to the Sunrise Temple, Pristine Peaks that leads to Palette Prime, Terra Flora which leads to Barrendale Mesa, and finally Cursa's stronghold.

That's about it! Here's what we've got:

Characters:

Mario: line of sight

Luigi: line of sight

Peach: shield

Rabbid Mario: boxing gloves

Rabbid Luigi: weaken

Rabbid Peach: heal

Rabbid Rosalina: sleep

Edge: throwing blade

Sparks: increasing attack power, reflecting attacks with a mirror, give burn effects, increase defense, splash with water, poison enemies around them, shock, repel enemies with a megaphone, freeze, turn its user invisible, rain meteors, create wind, attract enemies to it, steal life, summon an enemy as an ally revive fallen heroes

Beep-O: sonic blast, light, plants grow, helicopter

Daisy

Rosalina: wand, portal, shield, crystal

Pauline

Toad

Yoshi

Birdo

Donkey Kong

Diddy Kong

Wario

Waluigi

Shy Guy

Bowser: mechakoopas

Bowser Jr.

Cursa: portals, reach, hypnotize, grab, drain, punch, point, wave, flash

Midnite: warp, fan

Bedrock: stomp, tussle, slam

Daphne: vines, poison

Stooge: Scopers, Medicians, Squashers

Goomba

Bob-Omb

Magikoopa

Wiggler

Wildclaw: punch, spikes of ice, roll, suck in, water pulse

Futbot/Super Team: Hyper Strike, Mushroom, Red Shell, Green Shell, Banana, Bob-Omb, Star

Stages:

Galactic Strikers Federation

Lava Castle

Spooky Mansion

Jungle Retreat

Mushroom Hill

Royal Castle

Desert Ruin

Planetoid

Urban Rooftop

Peach's Castle

Darkmess Manta

Beacon Beach

Sunrise Temple

Pristine Peaks

Palette Prime

Terra Flora

Barrendale Mesa

Cursa's stronghold

Thanks for reading! Next up, we'll cover our five newcomers that we just got, starting with a certain little robot!