Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope creative director Davide Soliani has revealed two characters he wanted to include in the sequel. With just under a month left until the Kingdom Battle sequel releases, Ubisoft has shown off plenty of what's in store for the second crossover game. New characters like Rabbid Rosalina and Edge have been joined by Kingdom Battle's primary antagonist Bowser becoming playable alongside changes to the spinoff's core mechanics. Now, the sequel's director confirmed there were a handful of other Nintendo characters he would have liked to include.
Soliani revealed two characters in particular he would have liked to include in Sparks of Hope, mentioning Daisy and Wario specifically. While Mario's flagship Princess Peach will be returning from Kingdoms Battle alongside her own Rabbid counterpart, Daisy has yet to be featured in the Mario and Rabbids crossover. The director also revealed Wario as one of his wishlist characters for Sparks of Hope with Rabbid forms of Wario and his brother Waluigi appearing first in Kingdom Battle. A return of the villainous Rabbid variants has yet to be confirmed by Nintendo or Ubisoft.
Soliani also talks about his 25-year history working at Ubisoft and his connection with one of the developer's flagship franchises in Rayman, following Rayman's confirmation as Sparks of Hope DLC. The director reveals his first project with Ubisoft was the Game Boy Color version of the original Rayman and referred to the character's appearance in Sparks of Hope as "a dream" of his. Soliani cited the success of Kingdom Battle's Donkey Kong Adventure DLC as a point of inspiration for creating an "interesting adventure" involving the character.
While Daisy and Wario aren't currently planned to come to Sparks of Hope, the Mario + Rabbids sequel has already revealed plenty of changes coming. Sparks of Hope will be shedding Kingdom Battle's grid-based gameplay in favor of a free-roam strategy style with players able to move freely within a specific range. Sparks of Hope's gameplay is also set to place a greater focus on character archetypes with more emphasis on composition and team building, while also allowing players to fully customize their party.
Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope will hope to follow up the surprise success of its predecessor in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. While Kingdom Battle initially saw criticism from fans and critics for the peculiar crossover, the game would see massive success on its release. Kingdom Battle saw numerous nominations for awards in its launch year, even winning Best Strategy Game at the 2017 Game Awards. Sparks of Hope's new characters and gameplay changes look to improve on the foundation built by Kingdom Battle.
Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope is scheduled to release on October 20 for Nintendo Switch.
Source: IGN