Summary: Reviews for Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope
Based on the amount of Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope content we’ve seen over the past few months, we were concerned that a certain level of fatigue would inevitably set in before the game The 20th of October Release date. The big day has finally arrived and the whole world has seen the reviews. So was the incessant publicity worth it? Welcome to our last round!
We couldn’t just move on to what the other critics are saying without getting our thoughts out first, right? Despite some ease-of-play issues, overall we were very impressed with Sparks of Hope, giving it an 8/10 in our review, in which we described the game as “a must-play for Mario and strategy game enthusiasts alike.”
But don’t take our word for it, here’s what other media had to say about Mario’s latest gun foray:
Let’s start with positive words from Eurogamer. While the site doesn’t give a specific numerical value for how much the game costs on a scale of likability, the review praises the title’s ingenuity and development over the original game:
The character roster is colorful and quirky, encouraging experimentation, and in addition to equipping items and sparks, each character has multiple skill trees to add points to as you level up. (Characters also automatically level up on the battlefield.) Throw in bosses, inventive victory conditions, deep cutouts from the Mario universe, and thoughtful battlefield design, and you’ve got something very special.
IGN does provide a numerical value in its review, and that value is indeed commendable – 9/10 to be precise – with the game’s loading screens being its only major downside:
In between battles, you can take a breath in the large and brightly colored open worlds, solving easy puzzles and being puzzled by your strange story. It’s a real pleasure to play an ambitious sequel that fixes all the major issues I had with the original and then some others.
GamesRadar+ continued this enthusiastic positivity in a 4.5/5-star review, praising the game’s strategic depth and references to the main Mario games:
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope brings together everything that made the original so special while delivering a more complex and complete experience at the same time. It offers a new level of strategic depth with world-building that makes it feel more like a Super Mario game than you might expect.
Dexerto echoed our own opinion in his 8.5/10 review, which praised the game’s entertainment value but wished it was more challenging:
Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope expands on its predecessor in an amazing and delightful way, creating a tactical RPG that is considered one of the best in the genre. While it may lack the challenges of some of its contemporaries, this is a fun adventure that, despite feeling like a feverish dream concocted by a child’s imagination, is one of the best games of 2022.
NME was equally positive in its 4/5 review, calling the game “one of the best Switch offerings”:
Ubisoft has mastered Nintendo’s platforming charm and combined the more absurdist humor of the Rabbids. sparks of hope can turn even the most avid speedrunner into an amateur tourist combing through each level in search of the next joke or side quest.
Finally, The keeper was a little less brilliant in his 3/5 review, in which he praised the game’s tactics but felt that Nintendo-ness was its ultimate downfall:
When you stumble upon these legendary gold coins, you will be immediately rewarded with Mario’s treacherous sound effects, but there will be no joy. The movement is sluggish. Mario can’t jump. The thrill of jumping into a coin is instead replaced with a feeling of emptiness, Nintendo’s signature collectible.
Will you be purchasing Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope soon? Let me know in the comments below?
