Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is expanding on the concepts introduced in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, but multiplayer won't be among them, as the lead producer for the game has revealed why the co-op and Versus mode content is gone in the sequel. Sparks of Hope is a Mario Galaxy-inspired game with turn-based gameplay. Players control a squad of Mario characters and their Rabbid counterparts as they try to save the universe from the forces of the evil Cursa. Cursa has been using her forces to attempt to kidnap the Sparks (the new Luma/Rabbid hybrids) for her own nefarious ends.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is the sequel to Kingdom Battle, which was the game that first brought the Super Mario Bros. and Raving Rabbids casts together. Despite being a turn-based strategy game, Kingdom Battle actually had multiplayer content. Once the player completes World 1.5 in Kingdom Battle, they can go to the Buddydrome and select co-op missions to play with their friends. The Donkey Kong Adventure expansion for Mario + Rabbids added a separate co-op campaign for players to try out, called Cataclysm Kerfuffle. Kingdom Battle also received a Versus mode in a free update, allowing two players to form their own team of three characters, and battle it out to the death.
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle had a surprising amount of multiplayer content, but it won't make its way into the sequel. Screen Rant recently spoke to Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope lead producer Xavier Manzanares during a preview event for the game. When asked about the prospect of multiplayer content in Sparks of Hope, Manzanares confirmed that it wouldn't appear and explained why.
Xavier Manzanares: No. We decided in the middle of production to focus on the solo experience. Because, actually as we brought many things from the original concept, we started to see how many elements it brought to the table, and to balance that, this revamped system, we wanted to focus our attention on the solo aspect. So, it was really important for us and we decided to assume that the decision, in order to scope out dangers, where we could go many directions, but then it's unbalanced everywhere and it's a game that never ships. So, it was a decision we took during production.
Why Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope's Developers Chose To Not Pursue Multiplayer
Sparks of Hope improves Kingdom Battle's gameplay in a number of ways. In Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, characters can now use items in battle, such as Super Mushrooms for healing, or smashing cover to pieces with a POW Block. Each character can also equip two Sparks, which grant passive buffs, as well as granting special attacks that aren't tied to any specific character archetype. This means that there are far more character builds on offer than in Kingdom Battle, so balancing all of these elements for multiplayer would have been a very difficult task.
It's not completely out of the question for Sparks of Hope to add multiplayer in a future update. Sparks of Hope will have Ray-Man DLC as part of its season pass, along with two other DLC updates. It's possible that multiplayer content could be part of the season pass, as the other updates have yet to be revealed. Fans won't have to wait long to find out, as Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope will launch on Nintendo Switch on October 20, 2022.