Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is a Nintendo Switch game released on October 20, 2022. It is the second game in the Mario + Rabbids series, and the sequel to Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. Like its predecessor, the game is a crossover featuring characters from the Mario franchise and Ubisoft's  series, and sees the return of characters from the previous game in addition to introducing new ones such as Rabbid versions of Rosalina and Lumas named Sparks. The game contains nine playable characters with a team of three allies like its predecessor. The game's story revolves around the cast venturing through space and traveling to different planets to rescue the Sparks. Also similar to its predecessor, the game was leaked ahead of its official announcement, on Nintendo's official website hours prior to the Ubisoft Forward 2021 broadcast.

While Nintendo is publishing the game in Japan like it did its predecessor, Ubisoft is taking publishing duties for South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan over from Nintendo.

Plot
An entity named Cursa, created from the last remaining fragment of the Megabug, wants to consume the Sparks' energy and take over the galaxy, spreading Darkmess, a type of dark matter, across its planets. It takes control of Bowser's army and sends its own corrupted minions to capture the Sparks, leading Mario and his team to rescue them and save the galaxy. Along the way, Bowser joins Mario on his journey so he can reclaim his army.

Playable
There are nine playable characters in the main game. Of the eight playable characters from the previous game's main campaign, six of them return in this game, as Yoshi and Rabbid Yoshi are stated to be on a vacation and do not return. Likewise, Donkey Kong and Rabbid Cranky from the Donkey Kong Adventure campaign are also absent. Four new playable characters are introduced in this game, including Bowser, who was a boss in the previous game, and Rayman, who is set to appear as DLC. Like the previous game, the player creates a party to travel the worlds and fight in battles, though this time, Mario is not required to be in the party at all times and the party does not require at least one Rabbid. Until Edge joins the team, only two party members will be active, at which point three party members will be active for the rest of the game, although there are certain boss battles that use four with one of the nine characters being required to use.

The following descriptions are taken from the game's official website.

Allies

 * JEANIE
 * Sparks
 * Twinkle
 * Starburst
 * Aquanox
 * Reflector
 * Exosphere
 * Glitter
 * Toxiquake
 * Pyrogeddon
 * Ethering
 * Vampdash
 * Cryogeddon
 * Electroid
 * Pyrostar
 * Zephyrquake
 * Zephystar
 * Regenesis
 * Electrogeddon
 * Cryobolide
 * Aquaquake
 * Pulser
 * Decibel
 * Aquadash
 * Electrodash
 * Screech
 * Toxicomet
 * Vampastra
 * Zephyrdash
 * Wildclaw Master
 * Squashette Master
 * Oozer Master
 * Gargantu-fan
 * Scoper Master
 * Drizzle
 * Beep-0

Bosses

 * Giant Wildclaw, a boss of the Sunrise Temple
 * Darkmess Eyes, which possess an enemy or element and must be all destroyed to progress
 * Midnite, a purple-blue-haired ghost Rabbid, part of the Spark Hunters and a boss in Pristine Peaks
 * Bedrock, a giant, blocky Rabbid dressed as a Greco-Roman wrestler, part of the Spark Hunters and a boss in Palette Prime
 * Wiggler, a boss possessed by Darkmess that chases after the Wiggler Train in Terra Flora
 * Daphne, a plant-like Rabbid with vine tentacles, part of the Spark Hunters and a boss in Barrendale Mesa
 * Darkmess Bowser
 * Darkmess Edge
 * Cursa

Golden pipe bosses

 * Giant Goomba, a large Goomba covered in Darkmess, found in Beacon Beach
 * Giant Squashette, a large Squashette covered in Darkmess, found in Pristine Peaks
 * Giant Depleter, a larger version of a Depleter covered in Darkmess, found in Palette Prime
 * Giant Magikoopa, a larger version of a Magikoopa covered in Darkmess, found in Terra Flora
 * Giant Magnafowl, a larger version of a Magnafowl covered in Darkmess, found in Barrendale Mesa

Enemies

 * Goombas
 * Armored Goombas, Goombas with pots on their heads. They are invulnerable unless thrown out of bounds.
 * Bob-ombs
 * Magikoopas
 * Stooges, cloaked Rabbids with skull masks
 * Flamin' Stooges, which wear dragon heads and cause the Burn Super Effect
 * Sea Stooges, which wear fish heads and cause the Splash Super Effect
 * Wildclaws, large tiger-Rabbid hybrids that chase a hero when attacked
 * Deep Freezes, arctic versions that cause the Frostbite Super Effect
 * Magnafowls, black versions that use rubber chickens as weapons
 * Riptides, blue versions that hold fish-shaped objects
 * Squashers, large, pig-like Rabbids that carry Thwomps on their backs
 * Squashettes, female Squashers wearing blue dresses and cone hats. When they land after jumping, they cause the Gust Super Effect around them.
 * Medicians, floating, cloaked Rabbids with long hair and invisible eyes. They can heal and protect its allies.
 * Depleters, which steal health from heroes inflicting the Lifesteal Super Effect.
 * Ghostly Walkers, ghostly Rabbids in teal robes and wrapped in chains. They are invisible when they move.
 * Oozers, which inflict the Ooze Super Effect
 * Spellraisers, variants that can spawn enemies.
 * Scopers, little sniper Rabbids dressed in gray wolf costumes and shoot two long-ranged shots
 * Lone Wolves, arctic versions that only shoot one long-ranged shots
 * Stone masks, immobile Rabbid-shaped rocks that blow gusts of wind
 * Darkmess Rabbid Mechakoopas, Rabbid Mechakoopas used by Darkmess Bowser.

Other

 * Rabbids
 * Toads
 * Rosalina
 * Lumas
 * Augie, a giant, bearded Rabbid that resides in water and wields a staff, and the warden of Beacon Beach's planet
 * Twinkle (Spark of Light), the source of power of the lighthouse of Beacon Beach
 * Madame Bwahstrella
 * Captain Orion, a large, mustachioed Rabbid and sea captain, and the warden of Pristine Peaks' planet
 * Professor Backpack, a small explorer Rabbid wearing a large backpack
 * Sullivan, the engineer of the Wiggler Train in Terra Flora
 * Cheep Cheeps
 * Bloopers
 * Woodrow, a melancholy poet Rabbid and the warden of Palette Prime's planet
 * Sweetlopek, a large, bearded lumberjack Rabbid with a beaver/raccoon-like creature on its head
 * DJ Cheep Tuna, a DJ Rabbid wearing a Cheep Cheep hat
 * Moles
 * SALESBOT 9.99+TX, a floating robot with long arms and Rabbid-like ears that sells items
 * Darkmess Manta, a giant, flying, dark manta ray that releases Darkmess
 * Bea, a bee Rabbid with pigtails and the warden of Terra Flora's planet
 * Dryad, a Rabbid with a pinecone-like head capable of controlling the fall leaves
 * Alkementor, a druid Rabbid in Terra Flora
 * Momma, a mechanic Rabbid and the warden of Barrendale Mesa's planet
 * Toadette, found in a Darkmess puddle in Barrendale Mesa
 * Gerspard, an artist Rabbid from Barrendale Mesa
 * Da Da, a robot critic for Gerspard
 * Victor, a diver Rabbid that hosts Sillyfish Chuck Challenges in the five planets
 * Chain Chomp
 * Rabbid Mechakoopas, Mechakoopa-Rabbid hybrids that Bowser can summon
 * Penguins
 * Dragoneel
 * Conkdors
 * Rabbid Kong
 * Coin Coffer
 * Phantom (cameo)

Items

 * Coins
 * Coin Stacks
 * Star Bits
 * Red Coins
 * Blue Coins
 * POW Blocks
 * Green Coins

Objects

 * WM ARC, the team's spaceship
 * Warp Pipe
 * P Switch
 * Jump Panel
 * Treasure Chest
 * Wiggler Train
 * Teleport Flags
 * Red Ring
 * Green Ring
 * Darkmess Portal, which summons an enemy the next turn and can be destroyed
 * Purified Darkmess Energy

Locations

 * Mushroom Kingdom
 * Beacon Beach, a sunny beach area with a temple known as the Sunrise Temple
 * Pristine Peaks, a snowy area with a mountain, caves, and a palace known as the Winter Palace
 * Palette Prime, a forest planet with autumn foliage
 * Paletteville
 * Spellbound Woods
 * Terra Flora, a green and flowery planet with a volcano known as Mt. Spout, which the team uses the Wiggler Train to reach. A tree known as the Everbloom Tree is also found here.
 * Barrendale Mesa, a desert wasteland planet
 * Cursa's Stronghold

Memories
Memories are collectible pieces of information recorded by JEANIE of various characters, enemies, and locations. They can be obtained by examining Probes, purchasing them from SALESBOT 9.99+TX with Planet Coins, and clearing certain enemy battles.

Difficulty Settings
Unlike the previous game, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope has a difficulty option in the settings. It allows the player to change their difficulty even after deciding it after the tutorial. This will change the enemies' strength and health, making it easier or harder for the player to defeat them. There is also an option for invulnerability. When this is activated, all heroes will not take damage from anything, but are still vulnerable to Super Effects and negative effects such as the Oozer's Disable.

Release
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope was released in two editions: the Standard Edition, which only includes the base game, and the Gold Edition, which includes the game, a Season Pass (referred to as the Adventure Pack in Japanese) featuring downloadable content packs (which contain additional story, characters, quests, and battles), and the Galactic Prestige Pack (also referred to as the Galactic Prestige Collection), a series of space-themed skins for Mario, Rabbid Peach, and Edge’s weapons. Pre-ordering either edition gives the player the Megabug Collection (referred to as the Megabug Skinpack in Japanese), skins for each character's weapon based on Megabug, the main antagonist of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle.

Promotion
On My Nintendo, a sweepstakes is being held for the game which began on October 4, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. PT. The prize package includes figures of Rabbid Mario and Rabbid Peach, three lithographs, an artbook, a sticker sheet, a plush of a Starburst, and a Spark phone ring holder. The sweepstakes will close on November 8, 2022, with the packages given to ten winners.

References to other games

 * Super Mario World: An arrangement of the athletic theme from this game plays during the various Chuck Challenges.
 * Super Mario Galaxy: An arrangement of the Comet Observatory theme, "Rosalina in the Observatory", plays when Rabbid Rosalina is introduced in the game's cinematic trailer. The first three notes of the main melody also play when Rabbid Rosalina uses her Ennui attack.
 * Super Mario 3D World: Some of Mario, Luigi, Peach and Rosalina's voice clips are used from this game.
 * Mario Kart 8: Some of Luigi and Peach's voice clips are taken from this game. Some of Koopa Troopa's voice clips from this game are used for the Rabbid Mechakoopas.
 * Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle: Weapon skins based on Megabug are available as part of the Megabug Collection pre-order bonus. This game's arrangement of "Inside the Castle Walls" returns and plays during the prologue, albeit synthesized instead of live recorded, and the bonus room theme was given an arrangement.
 * Luigi's Mansion 3: Some of Luigi's voice clips are taken from this game.

Staff
As with its predecessor, Xavier Manzanares and Davide Soliani respectively acted as the lead producer and creative director for Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope. Grant Kirkhope also reprised his role as the composer for the soundtrack from the previous game, this time being joined by Gareth Coker and Yoko Shimomura.

Ver. 1.1.2028814 (released October 20, 2022)
EXPLORATION BUG FIXES BATTLE BUG FIXES GENERAL BUG FIXES USER EXPERIENCE
 * Implemented various framerate fixes.
 * Fixed an issue where Heroes could get stuck in a wall while in the tunnel under Woodrow’s house.
 * Fixed an issue where at the end of the puzzle in the side quest “The Riddle of Barrendale Mesa”, the game could soft-lock.
 * Fixed an issue where you might not receive a reward and the quest would not clear from the quest log after completing the side quest “The Riddle of Barrendale Mesa”,
 * Fixed an issue where the L shaped connector would sometimes disappear from the third cirquit [sic] puzzle on Barrendale Mesa.
 * Fixed an issue where NPCs wouldn’t always stop moving when the Heroes were nearby.
 * Fixed an issue where Heroes could go out of bounds inside the Everbloom Tree in Terra Flora near the first Rabbid Pipe.
 * Fixed an issue where Heroes could get stuck behind a tree and some rocks next to the Teleportation Flag near the Volcano entrance on Terra Flora.
 * Fixed an issue where Heroes could get stuck and go out of bounds next to a Darkmess puddle on Terra Flora.
 * Fixed an issue where Heroes could get stuck next to an Echo Memory inside the Sunrise Temple on Beacon Beach.
 * Fixed an issue where the Armored Goomba on Beacon Beach would go missing in exploration if you lost the battle and abandoned it for later.
 * Fixed an issue where the starbits would spawn very late after touching the Teleportation flag found after completing the “Icy Breath of Winter” battle on Pristine Peaks.
 * Fixed an issue where you would hear continuous SFX of Rabbids laughing after exiting the second cave on Pristine Peaks.
 * Fixed an issue with the silly fish respawn rate for the Victor challenge on Beacon Beach.
 * Fixed an issue where Rabbid Luigi’s upgraded Technique only applied weakness to physical damage instead of all damage.
 * Fixed an issue where when Rabbid Peach’s Healing Jump healed an NPC ally, the game could sometimes freeze.
 * Fixed an issue when the game could sometimes get stuck if Rabbid Peach’s Healing Jump happened on a Trampoline.
 * Fixed an issue where sometimes the Bob-omb on the building in the “Explosive Situation” battle on Beacon Beach would spawn inside the roof of the building.
 * Fixed an issue where goombas could get soft-locked if they pushed each other while exiting or entering a Rabbid pipe.
 * Fixed an issue where the red and yellow spike marker wasn’t always correctly displayed when dashing multiple enemies, although the dash would damage the enemy.
 * Fixed an issue where the big Goomba from “A Truly Ginormous Goomba” on Beacon Beach wasn’t dealing enough damage.
 * Fixed an issue where players would receive an error message and a crash after inspecting Midnite with Beep-0 in the “Midnite Library” battle on Pristine Peaks.
 * Fixed an issue where if a Lone Wolf was attacked with a Fire super effect and survived, it would continue to make noise for longer than intended.
 * Fixed an issue in the “Hide n’Squeak” questline battle, where the game would crash if you activate the Spark Screech next to the Darkmess eggs.
 * Fixed an issue where the game would sometimes crash when Bedrock jumps after the Heroes attack her in the “A Blast Through The Bedrock” battle on Palette Prime.
 * Fixed an issue where Bedrock would sometimes go into T-Pose after jumping in the “A Blast Through The Bedrock” battle on Palette Prime.
 * Fixed an issue where Darkmess Eyes could sometimes spawn out of reach for many heroes during the “One Angry Wiggler” battle on Terra Flora.
 * Fixed an issue where if a Hero landed on a cauldron during the “Spout Forth” battle, they could get stuck there.
 * Fixed an issue where breaking barrels in the “Foul Attraction” battle on Terra Flora could cause the game to crash.
 * Fixed an issue where the battle during the “Quest For Courage” questline on Terra Flora could soft-lock if you threw a sphere from the cauldron out of bonds without having it explode.
 * Fixed an issue where Electric Traps in the “A Foul Windmill Blows” battle on Barrendale Mesa would not display the damage they did appropriately.
 * Fixed an issue where a Riptide could get stuck in a wall in the “The Desert Riptides” battle on Barrendale Mesa if it was pushed there with a Gust effect.
 * Fixed an issue where an enemy that would chase heroes to retaliate after being attacked could cause the game to freeze.
 * Fixed an issue with a platform in the “Magikoopa Mayhem” battle on Barrendale Mesa where Heroes could get stuck.
 * Fixed an issue where if a Magnafowl uses its technique on one of Bowser’s summoned Mecha Koopas and they explode, the technique would keep going.
 * Fixed several issues during the final battle.
 * Fixed an issue where the game could crash when a barrel was broken in the “King of Darkmess” battle.
 * Fixed an issue where the game could soft-lock during the enemy turn in the “Deep, Dark Secret” battle.
 * Fixed an issue where the game would sometimes force a quit after opening the map following a battle.
 * Fixed various issues that could cause the game to crash.
 * Fixed an issue where the game would sometimes force a quit after pressing the Home button on any loading screen.
 * Fixed an issue where the voices would sometimes continue and overlap the following cinematic if you skipped a cinematic by pressing A.
 * Fixed issues where buttons pressed in quick succession would cause various problems.
 * Fixed an issue where Rabbid Mario’s “I’m back!” was cut to “I’m” in the Prologue questline.
 * Fixed a text display issue for Spanish-speaking players.
 * Fixed an issue where VFX was not played correctly during the “A Foul Windmill Blows” battle.
 * Fixed an issue where Spark voices were missing during the last phase of the prologue.
 * Fixed an issue where SFX for the Red Coin Challenge on Beacon Beach was poorly equalized.
 * Fixed an issue where SFX was missing when the Heroes used ladders.
 * Fixed an issue where SFX was missing when a Squashette was summoned.
 * Fixed an issue with some sequences of the Beacon Beach cinematic that were missing.
 * Fixed an issue where ambient music would be too loud during exploration and combat on Barrendale Mesa.
 * Fixed an issue where some NPC Rabbid voices were missing on Terra Flora, Barrendale Mesa, and Palette Prime.
 * Fixed an issue where you could not hear audio in the Echo Memory menu.