Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope coming to Nintendo Switch next year

Ubisoft and Nintendo are working on a new Mario + Rabbids game. Ubisoft announced this during its Forward presentation. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is coming to Nintendo Switch next year.

Turn-based strategy game Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is no longer just set in the Mushroom Kingdom, but in an “entire universe,” Ubisoft announced during its E3 presentation. With that, several characters from the Mario Galaxy games make their debut in the series, including Rosalina and a Rabbids version of that character. In total, the game will have nine playable characters, although not all of them have been announced yet.

The various characters team up in the game against a new enemy, Cursa. The game also introduces Sparks. Those are Rabbids variants of the Lumas from Mario Galaxy. According to Ubisoft, the origin of these Sparks is at the heart of the story. The sparks provide players with a powerful ability, which they can use during combat. Ubisoft reports this during an extensive review of the game.

The new title adds some gameplay changes, the developer reports. Levels are no longer linear. Instead, each planet becomes an open area for players to explore freely. The combat system also dispenses with ‘grid movements’. Players can freely position their characters on a battlefield. Like the previous installment, Sparks of Hope will be a single player game.

Sparks of Hope is the second game in the Mario + Rabbids series. Ubisoft and Nintendo already released Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle in 2017. It was also a turn-based strategy game, with gameplay reminiscent of XCOM games.