Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope

 Switch
  • Publisher: Ubisoft
  • Release Date: Oct 20, 2022
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 242 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 165 out of 242
  2. Mixed: 37 out of 242
  3. Negative: 40 out of 242
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  1. Pasqui
    Apr 30, 2023
    4
    I sincerely don't know how, but I didn't enjoy this game at all. I loved Kingdom Battle, but I almost hate this one. The map feels dispersive, the battles are too repetitive and it is literally IMPOSSIBLE to not get hit in the battles. I played at normal difficulty and these motherfuc*ers always hit me, every fuc*ing time. At first I thought it was just a skill issue, but I've soonI sincerely don't know how, but I didn't enjoy this game at all. I loved Kingdom Battle, but I almost hate this one. The map feels dispersive, the battles are too repetitive and it is literally IMPOSSIBLE to not get hit in the battles. I played at normal difficulty and these motherfuc*ers always hit me, every fuc*ing time. At first I thought it was just a skill issue, but I've soon realized that it wasn't. It doesn't feel rewarding at all and it bis also graphically glitchy. And also... WHY DO THE FREAKIN' RABBIDS TALK… Expand
  2. prw_88
    Oct 29, 2022
    0
    1. They should have stayed with the grid system. It was easier to pre plan your moves before you commit. You also don't have to commit with any movement you make. In the prequel all moves were final and that's what made it fun. It was like playing chess. Moves are only final after you shot. It makes it too easy to position your team with team jumps than it should be and omits a large1. They should have stayed with the grid system. It was easier to pre plan your moves before you commit. You also don't have to commit with any movement you make. In the prequel all moves were final and that's what made it fun. It was like playing chess. Moves are only final after you shot. It makes it too easy to position your team with team jumps than it should be and omits a large portion of the strategy. 2. Open world. Too many side quests and forced puzzles. It takes way too long to go from one stage to the next. The prequel didn't waste anytime. Puzzles should be optional. If I can skip a puzzle I always do. I rarely skipped a puzzle in the prequel. 3. No weapon specialties like honey, push, ink, etc. I'm mostly done with the second world and I have yet to see any. Maybe I am wrong. 4. Annoying voiceovers. I had to turn them off. This is rare for me. Very rare. 5. The sparks can be handy but I would prefer the secondary attack in the prequel. You shouldn't have to make the decision to use either a spark or activate Healing (rabbid peach), etc. I also find that most of the sparks are not as helpful as they could be.

    6. Special activations only last one enemy turn! If you activated a defensive spark, or Counter Blow (rabbid Mario), Hero sight (Mario), and the enemy doesn't hit you, or not in the line of sight for Hero Sight, on their turn, it will not carry over to the next turn! You lose it! I could be wrong, but in the prequel if the special attack wasn't used it will remain active until it is used. 7. There is no benefit to prevent your characters from dying. No rating on how well you performed. No incentive to do better. Minor Critiques

    8. The menus could have been designed better. It takes longer than it should to adjust to them. 9. The rabbids act too serious. They are not crazy anymore. It is strange to see. If this was a standalone game I would have given it anywhere from 5-7. The battles are still very fun. However, the prequel was a MASTERPIECE and when you compare to the prequel, it is pretty bad. Too much emphasis is on the puzzles and open world and that's not what Mario rabbids is all about. This is a switch game I would sell once completed but I am losing motivation to play because I have zero interest in forced puzzles. I was hyped about this game and maybe that is a reason why I feel so negative about it. It is not what I expected at all, based off the prequel.    … Expand
  3. Phobophile89
    Oct 29, 2022
    4
    Ubisoft what have you done?

    Graphically it's unbearable. Textures are all squared, not pixelated, literaly there's visible squares. Shadows are terribly bad, shading is atroceous, resources poping is constant, frame drops constently and everything is so badly aliased i cannot believe this game was developed specificaly on the Switch. Some text lines are fully voiced, some only have    Ubisoft what have you done?

    Graphically it's unbearable. Textures are all squared, not pixelated, literaly there's visible squares. Shadows are terribly bad, shading is atroceous, resources poping is constant, frame drops constently and everything is so badly aliased i cannot believe this game was developed specificaly on the Switch.

    Some text lines are fully voiced, some only have the first couple words voiced, some have just a couple keywords voice, and some lines have different text vs. what the voice actors says!

    Then there's that thing where Team Jumps doesn't show where you can land and you have to eye-ball it and commit to it as it's active time based now, in a turn base that an annoyance. But there's those blowing statues that are also active time based, which mean you can get blown away while trying to think what your next action will be. The bob-ombs will explode if you don't throw them fast enough. Some monsters do area-of-effect damage when they die, you can just kill them by dashing and run to avoid it.

    Then some encounters have so much jump pad that some "Reach area" encounters can be done without even firing at the enemies in a single turn.

    The whirlpool in the sand, why not explain how to interact with them?

    The secret-zones, why remove them from the map if we need to go there a second time after completion?

    Why preventing me from replaying the final boss???

    The scripts are bad. Anything trying to be half epic is so cringy it's actualy embarassing. The riddles seems to have been written by a 12years old. Most characters catch phrase makes them despicable...

    Sometimes, the white dots that are supposed to turn into a prompt to activate, a door, a ladder, whatever, will not appear. Meaning if you were doing a secret-zone time trial, or even trying to do a coin challenge, you can just try again. Tough luck.

    In some cinematics, the caracters will just zoom into place. Sometimes they will just pop out of nowhere, but some time they literrally are positioned very very far from the camera and just get dragged into place.

    I found a couple places where Mario will just stop in it's course, as if there was an obstacle. But no, it's just that some tiles are a couple pixels over the others actualy fracturing the plane on which the characters progress. If you restart a secret-zone time trial, only the main caracter will populate at the right place, the others will be where you left them, and they'll just teleport back into place when you move.

    Before a combat, you can dash in an enemy, or get dashed by the enemy... It serves absolutly no purpose. When you jump off a cliff, or take a ladder, there's a moment when you can't use Beep-o for no apparent reason. When you find a memory the character stalls there a moment, as if it's reading. Instead of wasting time on those annoying and useless details, Ubisoft could as well have polished the game...

    Compared to the first installment the planets are less linear, but does not look as good, and now the battles interupt the trip.
    Luigi's react ability have a black bar in the middle of the screen, covering the energy aura. It looks very bad and is terribly amateurish.

    I could continue ranting on this game but i can't keep track of what complaints i still have since there's so much!!!

    Oh, one last. The last line of the credit roll doesn't display properly.

    I'm throughly disgusted i spend 120$Canadian on this poor excuse of a game.
    I LOVED Kingdom Battle and was extatic when Sparks of hope was announced, but it is not only a lesser game, it's terrible. Ubisoft put absolutly no effort in that title. Nintendo are usually very meticulous and proud of their franchise and i hope they see how bad Ubisoft handled their franchise. Poor design, poor execution, it's a shame.    … Expand
  4. Spassbremse
    Oct 27, 2022
    1
    I cannot enjoy this game because
    (1) The voiced characters never shut up and are annoying as hell
    (2) The Ubisoftification of the over world makes every area feel like a litany of icons, side quests, and busy work which makes me not want to explore (3) The game overtutorializes for the first hour or more (4) There is a weird amount of heavily flashing lights in the backgrounds of some    I cannot enjoy this game because
    (1) The voiced characters never shut up and are annoying as hell
    (2) The Ubisoftification of the over world makes every area feel like a litany of icons, side quests, and busy work which makes me not want to explore
    (3) The game overtutorializes for the first hour or more
    (4) There is a weird amount of heavily flashing lights in the backgrounds of some levels which gave me eye strain and might cause seizures in certain players.

    I wanted to love this game...I 100%ed the first one I loved it so much, but I am a few hours in and I am /just/ not enjoying this one. It feels bloated and overstuffed with typical "Ubisoft" bland game design, whereas the original was simple, elegant, fun, and funny. Seriously downgrade and seriously disappointing.    … Expand
  5. Jdevs
    Oct 28, 2022
    0
    A sequel that destroyed everything once good, by trying so hard in fitting in open world and RPG elements into the game like as if it's an objectively superior method to evolve any game. People praising things like "exploration" don't even know what they are talking about. If a developer somehow brought exploration into a Tetris game, they would be mindlessly praising it also. Just go playA sequel that destroyed everything once good, by trying so hard in fitting in open world and RPG elements into the game like as if it's an objectively superior method to evolve any game. People praising things like "exploration" don't even know what they are talking about. If a developer somehow brought exploration into a Tetris game, they would be mindlessly praising it also. Just go play a proper open world RPG if you are looking for such elements. This game doesn't excel in open world RPG elements, nor the elements of its prequel as a result of such try-hard attempt.… Expand
  6. svedj
    Nov 2, 2022
    0
    What is this I don't even... It is so bad compared to Kingdom Battle. Either Ubisoft wanted to step in and meddle with things after the success of the first game, or Davide Soliani has completely lost his mind. Disgusted and disappointed.
  7. cabbages
    Dec 18, 2022
    0
    Played 1 hour of it, got to the first boss battle, lost, and it made me go back to the battle before the boss battle. I knew there and then it'll be a typical UBI soft game, with all the annoying thing they do to drag the game out. I sent it back after it, didn't even bother to give it another chance (I've been dissapointing by UBI too many times)
  8. bl1rt
    Jan 10, 2023
    2
    There might be a fun game in there somewhere, but they rushed it, probably to make it in time for the big Christmas release, and the lack of polish shows.

    The music is noticeable repetitive and annoying. Opening or closing the menu takes several seconds, making it tedious to edit your team. Battles are much slower than in the first game, and even on hard difficulty not much of a    There might be a fun game in there somewhere, but they rushed it, probably to make it in time for the big Christmas release, and the lack of polish shows.

    The music is noticeable repetitive and annoying. Opening or closing the menu takes several seconds, making it tedious to edit your team. Battles are much slower than in the first game, and even on hard difficulty not much of a challenge. I stopped following the story around the third level, because it is not interesting. Most of the puzzles and quests are borderline tedious, where you basically are told what to do straight out, but some are broken and it is just gibberish so you have to look up what they mean. For some, you have to press a certain button, which reveals otherwise invisible things when you are close to them, so you have to run around until you bump into something, like an idiot. There is a bug where it says I still have to get a spark, even though I already did.

    I think most of those issues could have been fixed with more testing and fine-tuning. They say about blockbuster movies that the one with four more month of editing is a better movie, whereas the one that is released now makes a billion dollars. I guess the same is true for some games.
    The first game was a lot of fun, so it is a bit sad how bland the sequel turned out.

    Turns out I like it even less the more I play. Very meh game.    … Expand
  9. CageTheHobo
    Feb 14, 2023
    0
    This game is trash. Idk how anymore likes it better than Kingdom Battle. The story is bland and the gameplay is way too easy. It's not worth $60 by a mile.
  10. Ivictor_25
    Feb 28, 2023
    0
    Historia aburridisima, no tiene nada nuevo respecto al anterior, pare más un dlc cutre.
  11. TheOldestOak
    Nov 14, 2022
    0
    Can't say I was a fan. Played and found it too easy and quite boring. I really don't see the fuss about these games.
  12. ramssC
    Oct 25, 2022
    2
    Ubisoft no aprende, ¿eh?

    Estos nuevos RPGs de Super Mario se me hacen sosos, repetitivos y una pérdida de dinero. Eh, Miyamoto, a Alphadream y a Intelligent Systems les pusiste restricciones sobre nuevos personajes en el mundo de Mario, y aún así, permites esta bazofia. Mario se quedó en el plataformeo, en las fiestas y en las carreras. Paper Mario no tiene identidad, Mario & Luigi está    Ubisoft no aprende, ¿eh?

    Estos nuevos RPGs de Super Mario se me hacen sosos, repetitivos y una pérdida de dinero.

    Eh, Miyamoto, a Alphadream y a Intelligent Systems les pusiste restricciones sobre nuevos personajes en el mundo de Mario, y aún así, permites esta bazofia.

    Mario se quedó en el plataformeo, en las fiestas y en las carreras. Paper Mario no tiene identidad, Mario & Luigi está muerto y Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope es una basura infecta.    … Expand
  13. SatoruGojo
    Oct 28, 2022
    0
    I don't understand how they try to sneak this game for 60€, it is true that it has had improvements over the first one but when you think about the fact that they have had 7 years since the previous game to improve it and they have only been able to do this, the truth is that it is depressing .
  14. Melle1000
    Dec 13, 2022
    2
    Not Good, its a Bad xcom Clone with Mario and Friends. Save the Money for a better Game.
  15. OnlyOneHere
    Oct 31, 2022
    0
    This game is a pile of garbage. The greedy developers are charging $60 for a game that looks like it was made for mobiles. When I pay $60, I expect the game to have top notch AAA quality. Why doesn't the game look as good as the cutscenes? Better yet, why aren't the cutscenes in real-time? The gameplay is boring and repetitive. The physics are trash. That Peach rabbid has cringeworthyThis game is a pile of garbage. The greedy developers are charging $60 for a game that looks like it was made for mobiles. When I pay $60, I expect the game to have top notch AAA quality. Why doesn't the game look as good as the cutscenes? Better yet, why aren't the cutscenes in real-time? The gameplay is boring and repetitive. The physics are trash. That Peach rabbid has cringeworthy running animations. The developers heavily advertised Bowser as an ally, which is nothing more than a gimmick that gets old fast. How about they spend time actually improving the gameplay, instead of coming up with gimmicks.

    There is no multiplayer. So once you beat the story, there is literally not a reason to play this game again. Charging $60 for a game with no replay value is a cashgrab. Here I was hoping that the developers would improve the multiplayer and give us online this time, but the developers were too cheap and lazy to implement a multiplayer mode. The Rabbid dressed as Peach and the star rabbid have cringeworthy faces on the cover of this game. This made me remove the cover paper off the game case and rip it into pieces. I don't recommend this game at all.

    P.S. Hey Metacritic, quit silencing opinions you don't agree with. You guys are adults for gooodness sake. How dare I write a negative review for an entertainment product. Learn to accept different opinions.    … Expand
  16. Mogmog000
    Jan 24, 2023
    0
    The rabbit character is terribly unattractive.
    The basic system is monotonous and quickly becomes boring.
    There are too few Mario characters.
  17. Kagex
    Nov 3, 2022
    0
    Incredibly dull... dropped it right on the first planet. Trailers way oversold this game.
  18. Nintendist
    Oct 23, 2022
    0
    this game is terrible, why this game has so good critic reviews? theres nothing fun here.
  19. KrillerBomb
    Nov 25, 2022
    0
    One of the very worst games to have ever graced this horrid Earth. Do not get it.
  20. Zeev
    Oct 23, 2022
    1
    I do not understand why everyone complains this game is so easy, I was wiped on the first boss fight after 2 turns just because the devs were too lazy to throw a hint that the boss wont attack if the player wont shoot at him. Quit and Uninstall, waste of money.
  21. Steff86
    Oct 24, 2022
    0
    Nintendo have no creativity anymore just churning out the same games over and over again and this is one of the examples
  22. Palizoid
    Apr 13, 2023
    0
    This game is absolute trash compared to first one. Its development is lazy and feels like a game that was made as quickly as possible to make some cash on the back of the Mario name.
    1. Poorly Optimised - Runs like absolute garbage. Constant stuttering and lagging. Constant.
    2. Bland world's with none of the personality or character of the first game. 3. Would Beepo please shut up? Voice    This game is absolute trash compared to first one. Its development is lazy and feels like a game that was made as quickly as possible to make some cash on the back of the Mario name.
    1. Poorly Optimised - Runs like absolute garbage. Constant stuttering and lagging. Constant.
    2. Bland world's with none of the personality or character of the first game.
    3. Would Beepo please shut up? Voice is very anoying and adds nothing to the game.
    4. None of the comedy from the first game.
    5. Same generic battlefields over and over and over. Battles leave the game world and are taken place on random battlefields that are more or less exactly the same.
    6. Sparks replace secondary weapons. These are very generic and some are clearly far better then others.
    7. Game is mindlessly easy and has some of the most pointless repetitive battles.
    8. Many many many missing features from the first game.
    9. Puzzles are boring and again make you complete pointless repetitive battles.
    10. The loading screens. My god. Think 5-6 seconds of loading for everything you do. Open quest map, open hero screen, upgrade sparks, walk into any structure (even if it's just an empty room). Levels take 20 seconds plus to load in some cases. Game will have you looking at loading screens more then the game itself.    … Expand
  23. Shartrais
    Jun 28, 2023
    0
    Sadly this is not like the first Mario & Rabbids which I loved.

    At the gameplay part they have replaced the squared movement and gameplay for a free movement and aiming, choice I don't personally like. The team jump is worse, with the dron making your movement, battles has no score, I like to have mi stars rating and try to improve my developing of the game. A good point is that the    Sadly this is not like the first Mario & Rabbids which I loved.

    At the gameplay part they have replaced the squared movement and gameplay for a free movement and aiming, choice I don't personally like. The team jump is worse, with the dron making your movement, battles has no score, I like to have mi stars rating and try to improve my developing of the game. A good point is that the playable characters that are not playing the game raise their experience and level too, although they are not playing.

    At the technical part, the game is beautiful, but not as much as the first one. Also, and this is a spanish problem mainly, we can't change the voice language of the game, I hate the translation, and I also hate that the caracthers has voices now, Rabbids are more wholesome making noises instead of talking.

    At the narrative part, well, the first wasn't a George Orwell book, was a harmless and dumb story, but enjoyable and funny. Now we have a woke culture boring story which is not harmless and with woke and vegan indoctrination. It's not funny, is not wholesome, is despicable.

    I've finally given up after try so hard to finish the game and you can find the game in a second hand store now.    … Expand
  24. mister_emu
    Jun 21, 2023
    4
    The original is one of my favorite games of all time, and this sequel is an immense disappointment. The gameplay is repetitive and it lacks the interesting strategy planning the original game had. The level designs are boring. The open world looks ugly. It’s often difficult to find visual cues to tell you where to go. I’d much rather go back to the linear format of the original game.The original is one of my favorite games of all time, and this sequel is an immense disappointment. The gameplay is repetitive and it lacks the interesting strategy planning the original game had. The level designs are boring. The open world looks ugly. It’s often difficult to find visual cues to tell you where to go. I’d much rather go back to the linear format of the original game.

    Also, a weird thing, the one element that could have redeemed this game is the music, but something about how it’s balanced makes it impossible to hear, and the sound effects are far too loud. This is even after going into the menu to rebalance it myself. Why downplay one of the better elements of the game?

    Overall seems like a rushed cash grab. Nothing like its unique, fun predecessor. Glad I got it on sale but I shouldn’t have got it at all.    … Expand
  25. rowandaking
    Jun 14, 2023
    0
    when i first saw mario and the rabbids i fellt something wet in my panty hoes so i pulled my pants down and i saw a giganto cock fly out from under that wet underwear

Awards & Rankings

18
#18 Best Switch Game of 2022
13
#13 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2022

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 122 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 117 out of 122
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 122
  3. Negative: 0 out of 122
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 25, 2024
    80
    Sparks of Hope is an interesting sequel to the first game, and even though it has its flaws, you'll still have a great time and enjoy the vast majority of the tactical battles. [Issue#323]
  2. Het Nieuwsblad
    Jul 31, 2023
    60
    He lands in theaters next year, with a movie of his own. But until then, Super Mario continues to reign supreme on the Nintendo. 'Sparks of hope' is yet another game centered around the world's most famous plumber. Just a shame that the piping shows more wear and tear than in the previous game.
    Read full review
  3. Movies Games and Tech
    Mar 10, 2023
    95
    From start to finish, this game really has taken me through some amazing missions, entertaining video content, and action-packed gameplay with levels of massive and destructive villains. For the beautiful art which makes up the graphics, well let’s just say there is plenty to gawk at! Everything that Mario represents is shown in this game, with the addition of those humorous Rabbids. Plus, the ability to build a team of unlikely characters really makes for some entertaining storylines and some marvelous defeats! Lastly, even if there have been many Rabbid games in the past, I felt this game might have just topped them. It has exceeded my expectations and has me curious to see what the future beholds with the Rabbids. So I fully stand beside this game and recommend it for a worthwhile, new experience worth playing.
    Read full review
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