Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hopecreative director Davide Soliani has revealed two characters he wanted to include in the sequel. With just under a month left until theKingdom Battlesequel releases, Ubisoft has shown off plenty of what’s in store for the second crossover game. New characters like Rabbid Rosalina and Edge have been joined byKingdom Battle’s primary antagonist Bowser becoming playablealongside changes to the spinoff’s core mechanics. Now, the sequel’s director confirmed there were a handful of other Nintendo characters he would have liked to include.
Soliani revealed two characters in particular he would have liked to include inSparks of Hope, mentioning Daisy and Wario specifically. WhileMario’s flagship Princess Peach will be returning fromKingdoms Battlealongside her own Rabbid counterpart, Daisy has yet to be featured in theMarioandRabbidscrossover. The director also revealed Wario as one of his wishlist characters forSparks of Hopewith Rabbid forms of Wario and his brother Waluigi appearing first inKingdom Battle. A return of the villainous Rabbid variants has yet to be confirmed by Nintendo or Ubisoft.
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Soliani also talks about his 25-year history working at Ubisoft and his connection with one of the developer’s flagship franchises inRayman, followingRayman’s confirmation asSparks of HopeDLC. The director reveals his first project with Ubisoft was the Game Boy Color version of the originalRaymanand referred to the character’s appearance inSparks of Hopeas “a dream” of his. Soliani cited the success ofKingdom Battle’sDonkey Kong AdventureDLC as a point of inspiration for creating an “interesting adventure” involving the character.
While Daisy and Wario aren’t currently planned to come toSparks of Hope, theMario + Rabbidssequel has already revealed plenty of changes coming.Sparks of Hopewill be sheddingKingdom Battle’s grid-based gameplay in favor of a free-roam strategy style with players able to move freely within a specific range.Sparks of Hope’s gameplayis also set to place a greater focus on character archetypes with more emphasis on composition and team building, while also allowing players to fully customize their party.
Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hopewill hope to follow up the surprise success ofits predecessor inMario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. WhileKingdom Battleinitially saw criticism from fans and critics for the peculiar crossover, the game would see massive success on its release.Kingdom Battlesaw numerous nominations for awards in its launch year, even winning Best Strategy Game at the 2017 Game Awards.Sparks of Hope’s new characters and gameplay changes look to improve on the foundation built byKingdom Battle.
Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hopeis scheduled to release on October 20 for Nintendo Switch.
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