Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope hands-on preview – Mushroom Kingdom reloaded

metro.co.uk:

GameCentral goes hands-on with the sequel to Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, which shoots for the stars with help from Super Mario Galaxy.

Back in 2017, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle was a surprise in every regard. When it was leaked, showing Mario armed with blasters and partnered with Rayman’s screaming bunnies in Peach cosplay, the concept was mocked by many as too bizarre to ever possibly work. The fact a collaboration between Nintendo and Ubisoft was glued together by systems borrowed from XCOM, and that it was actually great, felt like a borderline gaming miracle.

Without the element of surprise, sequel Sparks Of Hope has to work double time, in some ways, to strike the same magic. Despite higher expectations, our main takeaway after playing for three hours is how widespread the improvements are. A renewed confidence runs through Sparks Of Hope, from the flashy, charming cinematics to the overhauled gameplay systems.

This confidence (and increased budget) is noticeable from the jump. After an opening cinematic, you’re tasked with retrieving Rabbid Mario’s overalls within the grounds of Peach’s castle, so he’ll stop hiding in a bush. It’s a silly tutorial sequence for the movement – where you now control the lead character instead of robot Beep-O – but it’s the perfect reintroduction to the offbeat charm of the Rabbid-distorted spin on the Mushroom Kingdom. It’s as if the production quality of Luigi’s Mansion 3 collided with a funnier version of the Minions.

The first chunk of gameplay we got to play spanned the opening hour, where you’re introduced to the new villain, a towering alien entity named Cursa, who is spreading dark matter called ‘Darkmess’ throughout the galaxy and hunting down Sparks: a fusion of Rabbids