Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope Nintendo Switch Review - Is It Worth It? 

I’m definitely interested, but I also know Ubisoft will discount games if you’re willing to wait.

Because I paid 12 bucks for Kingdom Battle gold edition, I’ll go ahead and pay full price for this one. They deserve that much from me. Especially since I really enjoyed that first one.

Personally, I’m playing on the harder difficulty (demanding) and I honestly find the difficulty just right, some encounters were a breeze but it was so satisfying because I brewed some absurd situation where rabbid Mario has splash and 30%+ damage to the wildclaws in beacon beach who are weak to it, and that just felt AMAZING, I will admit the first game was definitely more difficult but this game is just more enjoyable imo.

What a lovely surprise this series was. Mario & Luigi is quite possibly dead and Paper Mario is on a mega paradigm shift. Nintendo's been too afraid lately to embrace that wild creativity in their early Mario RPGs. A weird shakeup like this is just what Mario spinoffs needed!

Glad to hear about the difficulty and that Zion found it more difficult than Lowell. I like strategy games, but I've always been one to get a little tired of playing them when they get overly difficult. I've seen people write about how you can choose the difficulty, so I'm definitely getting this. (It hasn't come out in Japan yet, so I have to wait until December though...)

"Hey look at you. You made it to the end. I have a surpise for you" *gets an advertisement* God dammit lol I was trolled

i'm REALLY hoping i can get this tomorrow, cause i dont wanna wait till christmas to get it lol anyways i LOVED the first game, and this looks SO MUCH COOLER than kingdom battle (not saying thats bad, again, i LOVED it, but this game looks like it improves on literally EVERYTHING in that game) AND IT LOOKS SO CREATIVE TOO, AND I LOVE THE MARIO GALAXY INFLUENCES, AND YOU GET TO PLAY AS BOWSER AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA also kinda unrelated but zion EDITED THIS AS WELL!?!?!?!?!?!?! MASSIVE props to him (idk if the other guys do it too, havent checked yet, but still, the editing's AWESOME)

Loved the first one, pre-ordered sparks just because of the composers and the nod to galaxy. Also, paper Mario 64 and thousand year door are must plays!

I’ve paid £55 for the Gold Edition because, while Ubisoft games do go down in price, having loved Kingdom Battle so much I know I’ll love this and it’s more than worth the price. Also, the Gold Version will never go much lower than £30 so I figure it’s worth the extra to get it day one. I prefer to have physical editions of games so I can sell them on later, so digital eShop sales are by-the-by when it comes to price.

The reviewer must be a pretty hardened strategy game player cause I play strategy games pretty often and have already died once on normal LOL

The first game was the biggest surprise of that year. I waited until the game & expansion were like $10. So I'm definitely getting this one. I have to put it off until after Bayo3 though

I think it's about on par with the first, but aside from the Skill Tree menu being clunkier than the first game, I really miss the grander battles KB had that SOH seems to lack - especially on Darkmess Eyes battle, where Rabbid Luigi and other multi-target heroes can clear them so fast you barely need to ppay attention to enemies. I also really miss the little cutscenes and splash screens introducing each enemy/boss, they added a lot of charm and made enemies more satisfying to take down.

I finished the first world today and you're personal thoughts are exactly my thoughts. Creepily simliar I have to say. The game gave me the same feeling I had when I first played Mario & Luigi and Paper Mario. I also find it, as you, a little bit more difficult than most reviews say and I'm happy you think that way, because I thought I was just a bit "bad" at the game. I couldnt really put my finger on it why I thought it was so similar to the Mario RPGs, for me it was this feeling of something new and creative, but you're right. The characters, the world and the charmful cutscenes just make it something unique and I enjoyed every minute of it. Haven't had this much fun with a Mario Spin-Off in a long, looong time.

I'm glad to hear that there was difficulty variations. I was listening to the review and worrying. I loved the 1st one to death but I remember it dropping in price immediately and I have a bunch of personal and gaming related stuff coming so I was waiting for a sale.

I was surprised the reviewer kept saying the game was too easy If it's like the first one, I lost plenty of times and had fun learning how to play better. So I hope it's like that this time and maybe the reviewer is just some strategy master

So happy they've made a 2nd game. The 1st was excellent and I really look forward to playing this 😍

It's completely crazy that Nintendo Life would give this an 8/10 but Mario Strikers a 9/10.

the first game was wayyyyyy better than I thought it would be. and I haven't played any of the Fire Emblems or other strategy games at the time. I am glad to see this one is still really good.

Loved the 1st so much! I don’t mind paying full price even though it’ll probably get discounted

Great review. Interested in getting it after I find time to finish the first game which I enjoy so much. Zion, that Rabbid impression at the end was flawless XD

Love the double take on those video reviews, both are very good!

That's a really interesting review. WAY more time was spent complaining about the voices, difficulty, cumbersome interface, and monotony of simple battles than it was on the positives. I was honestly expecting a 5 or 6/10 because of how little there was to say for things you enjoyed.

interesting that you found it super easy - I saw that Choctopus was getting destroyed in the boss battle when he played it - now I don't know what to think

I thought Rabbids was ridiculous on the Wii, but then I played them, and it was so much fun! So I agree fully with Zion. :) I loved the previous Mario + Rabbids and got all the DLC and played it a lot. So I will be getting this one soon as well. I'll get it for xmas.

I loved this game. I played kingdom battle after because everyone said it was better but I have to say I like sparks of hope better. I think it just depends on which game you played first.

LOVING this game so far. I think the difficulty will very by person. Honestly I’m enjoying it even when I do steamroll enemies

I honestly never really care for the Mario and Rabbids games,but i think im gonna try them out at some point

Loved the first game, but will waitbfor it to go on sale because of course it will

I never finished Kingdom Battle as I got stuck on one battle and just stopped (I'm pretty pants at strategy games though). Maybe I should pick it back up and wait for the inevitable Gold Edition of this game.

I struggled a little with the last game. I do hope they fixed the difficulty problem.

Waiting until it’s 99% off next week

Neat, I really enjoyed the first game and I can tell the devs put a lot of heart into this; I just wish it wasn't made by a company as abusive as Ubisoft :/

Got my gold edition today! The steelbook was too gorgeous to turn down

Dude! Rabbids go home is one my favorite Wii games. Never heard anyone else mention it before.

I actually just bought the gold edition myself I loved the first one and I have heard great things so it’s worth it to me.

I’ve been wanting to play this game so badly. However, I’m halfway on world 3 on Kingdom Battle. So should I finish before paying Sparks of hope? I’ve also got a break coming up for 2 weeks so I’ll have plenty of time to enjoy games

If someone wants to know how good this is, in my first day i played 13hours and 25 minutues, the gameplay is so much more interesting and it feels great to explore each world

Kingdom Battle was not difficult except for the bosses and the DLC.

I enjoyed the first one, so I'll definitely get it. But I'll probably wait for one of Ubisoft's excellent sales!

Mario Rabbids are what made me love the rabbids. They're funny, dorky, silly, goofy, and have so much personality. And I've played all the paper mario games, and theyre fine. But this has its own unique flair and flavor, and I vastly prefer it to paper mario. Theres a lot to love in sparks of hope, especially if you enjoyed the 1st game. This time around it adds better rpg mechanics, vastly improved exploration, better freedom in party customization, and the battle system is different in MANY great ways. Its definitely going to get you thinking and trying to optimize as much as possible. Personally, Im loving it.

I liked the video for the Rabbid impression at the end ^^ 13:13

Both games are awesome

'Me' at Nintendo life has to be the most hard working employ there.

The way you said Mario wielding a gun made me lol

Does it have offline co-op? Looking for more switch games to play with my son

I just beat the games main story. Its really fun and I like it a lot, but the first game is better in my opinion. Im kind of disappointed by the lack of mario themed things in this game compared to the first one. The only enemies you fight that aren't rabbits in this game is goombas pretty much. I remember in the first game the mix of rabbit and mario characters was done a lot better

Kingdom Battle feels much more difficult than sparks of hope, even on the hardest setting.

Good review. I don't mind the rabbids, but the tangent that you went through I think is not really needed? Most people liked the bosses and side characters of Kingdom Battle and this just looks like more of that game. So if people didn't like the first I doubt they'll like this one, because it pretty much is more of 1 but bigger and expanded, up to the side characters and companions

what is the difference between the $70 deluxe rayman edition and the game + the season pass for $30 and $20 which is only $50 (on sale)? looks like the $70 game doesn't have the 3 season pass dlcs but that's only a regular $20... ???

I want to know if there are bonus challenges in this one line the first. Bc I did not have much difficulty completing the main goal but many of the bonus challenges were quite… well challenging! Also I kinda want to know if rabbid Luigi and rabbid Mario are still broken lmao

No glitches and bugs day one load screen is like half second and I have to constantly remind myself that this Nintendo switch game because of performance and graphics belongs with all the good modern games. What stun me each other open world planet got bigger than the last with more Sid quests and puzzles and enemies to fight and more side characters to meet

I picked up my Gold Edition today and I got a beautiful steel book.

Most annoying part is the voice for the rabbits....would be completely fine without them talking.

2:27 Spoiler So the theories about Darka being Rosalina were true then?

Yes

£20 today - and you can get a 10% voucher off that in certain circumstances. For £18 it's pretty much a "must have"

Anyone know if there will be a two player battle mode like the first game?

I've got the Gold Edition pre-ordered! Kingdom Battle was excellent and this looks better in every way

If you liked the rayman raving rabbids on the wii , Then You'll be VERY pleased to know that this game is getting a RAYMAN DLC

I still need to beat the original game and DLC. Got the whole bundle on a great sale so I'll most likely wait for something similar for this one.

I love that you’re doing this!

Cosmic Edition is on sale at Best Buy for $25 right now

Is there no jump button in the overworld?

"Spark can trivialize even the highest difficulty" was all I needed to hear. I think I'll wait for the next tactics game. Thanks for the review.

Meh not all voices are for everyone. I personally don't mind Beep-O's posh and aristocratic voice despite me never once playing the first game before this. I already got this game and having fun with it so far.

I loved the first one, but Nier Automata and Persona 5 also came out this month and I have never played them. This might have to wait, as much as I'd like to get to it soon.

if persona 5 didn’t release today I might have bought this instead. Looking forward to a sale tho, this looks great

The Rabbids have coms such a long way from being obnoxious clones who overshadowed Rayman. I honestly used to find Them more annoying than The Minions in Despicable Me, but now things are different. Speaking of Rayman, I'm so happy he's making a return in The DLC pass, I just hope that The other 2 packs will be about Rosalina and Yoshi + Rabbid Yoshi respectively.

Some ppl are of the belief a "proper review" means being as critical as possible to nit pick as many flaws you can find and magnifying them 100 fold, spending 80% of the review laying down evidence to back up the claims. I am of the mind this is not what a review is for.

Just snatched it for 20$ , the first one was awesome so this was a steal for me

31 on Amazon RN gogo

Now on Summer Sale 50% off up to 25th June 2023

I feel that the dislike of Beep-O's new voice is a dig at British people. I feel hurt 😢. Speaking of voices, having some Rabbid characters with actual brain capacity is a welcome addition to the cast. We still have the chaotic stupid goofs, and even the smarter ones have their funny quirks, which show us you can't take the BWAAAAA!!! out of the critters so easily.

I just started playing the original Kingdom Battle. Really liking it thus far! So I'm very certain I'll like the sequel too. But I'm probably gonna hold off on getting it until it's on sale.

I have a copy!! Loved the original, and am looking forward to this one. Just finishing nier automata first

I have to say, if your not a completionest this game feels too short, I beat the game in 8 and a half hours while doing a couple side quests, I’m just waiting for the dlcs

I've been very excited for this and I don't even like strategy games typically

I'm calling shenanigans on the claim you didn't lose a single battle. utter BS. I'm on the first big boss fight and it's tricky af.

Don’t feel bad, Zion. I couldn’t get into Paper Mario, either. Mario & Luigi is so much better.

Maybe the game would be better played on hard mode?

I thought the voice acting would be a nice little touch to the game when I heard about it but I was very wrong. As soon as I heard Rabbit Peach and Beep-O I thought " oh dear lord dont let this be for the whole game". Unfortunately those chacters that never spoke a word before got cast to some overzealous voice actors. I felt myself cringing at every quirky line and didn't see why characters who were better off with nonspeaking sound effects were now being voiced. I definitely get the attempted "humor" of these kind of games but nothing in this game was landing. It felt like watching a Disney sitcom while they try fit in one cheeky line after another without the laugh track. To top it all off the whole strategy, critical thinking part of the game feels like its been ripped out. This game is completely dumbed down compared to the first. There's really no thinking to be done when the game hands you the cheat codes. The weapons are simplified, the mechanics are simplified, the characters are simplified, there's nothing strategic about this game. You could probably win every battle while watching a TV show, listening to a new album, and taking a medical exam. I thought the open world and graphics would for sure save the day... but nope. The graphics aren't that much better than the first game. I don't see a point of having a sort of open world but putting barely anything to interact with in it. The maps and quests were a nice add on. Honestly this game just made me want to go back and play more of the first game. This game kinda feels like a rip off of bowsers fury, mario sunshine, mario galaxy with rabbits thrown in. Maybe I had my expectations too high from the reviews and game play footage but this was not worth the full price tag.

I was surprised that you gave it an 8 out of 10 because the review was mostly negative. The original went on sale often so I’ll wait for a sale.

Just bought this about 10 minutes ago; I’ve heard great things

This game is worth playing but it is far from the masterpiece of its predecessor. They reworked the original battle system and overcomplicated the abilities. Skins lost its purpose. The only good thing about this game was movement, but still has major flaws in action detection. This games expansion packs adds 0 value. The tower expansion pack features the same enemies and bosses, proving a milked brand. The second expansion pack (bob-omb) was better than sparks of hope but still forced skill points to be redistributed. And if you played the tower expansion pack, and thought to yourself to 100% it, you will absolutely find this to be a major annoyance. The third and final expansion pack is yet another milked product for its brand. Rayman does not get an introduction and you are thrown into an earthworm Jim gimmick with corny abilities. You only have rabbid mario and rabbid peach as company through a studio setting that is less creative than the previous expansion pack. I have honestly nothing good to say about this game. The original battle kingdom game was far better, a true masterpiece of the brand. It had everything. I would not recommend bying this, and so will none of my friends. I am honestly sad. But i hope, if there is a third installment, that this brand gets rebooted more in the spirit of battle kingdom. Otherwise this franchise will die off. All the positive reviews about this game seems forced down our throats. If you are truly a fan, you know what i am talking about. If you are not, then all i can say is okay, best of luck.

Do review channels hire people to play, finish games, indicate overall impression and make reports, so the "reviewers" dont have to spend time on that ?

is there multiplayer? that was the best part of the OG

I miss the first game’s difficulty

I love the rabbids

I wish they would have kept the multiplayer from the original

This is basically the only mario RPG that is able to retain originality in character design...kind of sad to say

Too bad. I play a ton of turn based strategy games. Kingdom battle was too easy (for me) but very entertaining. I was hoping they would make the game more difficult. So I'll probably wait for a price drop to buy this game like I did with KB.

This looks so good. Damn shame, it made under Ubisoft.

I haven't even watched the video and I know it is worth it. I just want to see more gameplay.

this NEEDS online

I want more difficulty to get into this game.

Picked it up and loving it.

Shame it doesn't have an impossible difficulty.

If this game has the same, or more, menu bugs than the first one, it absolutely deserves no more than a 6, no matter how good the game is. I loved the first game, but I'm not ignoring the corners that were cut to rush the game out on time. F**kin Ubisoft.. 🙄

That game is really bringing sparks of hope as I've heard critical acclaim it's been receiving (much like it's predecessor) and I'm so looking forward to getting that game, especially also with Rayman FINALLY making a comeback as a DLC. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RQhWROgMTeI.html

I would be a lot more interested in this game if the Rabbids weren’t involved. For whatever reason, I can’t get past how unappealing they are-the look, the humor, all of it.