Video Game / Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope

Due to this game's nature as a sequel, all spoilers for Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle will be left unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

This galactic journey has a lot less Launch Stars, but a lot More Dakka.

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is a Nintendo Switch-exclusive Turn-Based Tactics adventure game by Ubisoft Milan, and the second entry in the Mario + Rabbids series.

Following the events of the first game, the worlds of Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. and Ubisoft's Raving Rabbids have stabilized into a more cohesive whole. However, trouble arises when an entity named Cursa appears to siphon the energy of the titular Sparks (fusions of Lumas and Rabbids), and plunges the entire galaxy into chaos in the process. Not ones to stand idly by, Mario and his friends — including a vengeful Bowser, who wants to reclaim his army from this new threat — must take to the stars, traveling to different worlds to save the Sparks, defeat Cursa, and restore peace to the galaxy.

Sparks of Hope builds upon and alters many gameplay elements from Kingdom Battle, with the developers viewing the game more as a Spiritual Successor to the first as opposed to a direct sequel, due to the incorporation of Real-Time Strategy elements. Namely, combat foregoes the use of a grid system in favour of utilizing real-time movement during player turns. In addition, the overworld foregoes the previously linear structure, allowing for greater exploration alongside numerous NPC to interact with and quests to perform; as a side effect, battles are now initiated through enemy encounters rather than designated spots on the overworld.

The game released on October 20, 2022. A season pass was announced prior to release, and contains three sets of DLC modes and campaigns:

• The Tower of Doooom (yes, that's its name) is a roguelike combat mode that sees the group venture through the ten floors of Madame Bwahstrella's titular tower in order to rescue their old friend Spawny. It has two difficulty modes, Classic and Premium, the latter unlocked after beating the former. It released on March 2, 2023.
• The Last Spark Hunter is a story campaign, serving as an interquel taking place between the final two planets of the game. Featuring the new explorable planet of Melodic Gardens, our heroes must help the planet's warden Allegra beat back Cursa's minions and restore sound to the once musical planet. It released on June 21, 2023.
• Rayman in the Phantom Show is another story campaign, this time foregoing the Super Mario cast in favor of Rayman, as he, Rabbid Mario and Rabbid Peach find themselves reluctantly helping The Phantom improve the ratings of his interstellar television network. It released on August 30, 2023.

The game is also notably the last game where Mario and Luigi are voiced by Charles Martinet, who stepped down from the role in 2023.

Trailers and Previews: Cinematic World Reveal Trailer, Gameplay Sneak Peek Trailer, Gameplay Presentation, Team Trailer

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Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope contains examples of:

• Action Bomb: Bob-Ombs are this just like they are in Super Mario Bros.. They don't possess a ranged attack, but if they get close enough, they will blow themselves up in an Area of Effect explosion. The playable characters can also shoot them to trigger their explosion prematurely, possibly blowing up other foes in the process or even causing a chain reaction. If a Dash Attack is used on them, they turn into bombs that can be picked up and thrown by the characters.
• Actionized Sequel: While still a turn-based tactics game, players are no longer restricted to a grid and planning their actions in a menu, instead being able to freely move within a given radius and perform actions in real-time for the duration of a character's turn.
• All There in the Script: Explanations of what happened between the events of the last game and this one are covered with the "memories" you can read in the memories menu.
• Anti-Frustration Features:
  • The Sorting Algorithm of Weapon Effectiveness has been done away with in favor of the Sparks. This was a notable problem in the prequel where status ailments were tied to weapons, and early-game weapons had no upgrade features to make them worth using in the late-game. Here, all status effects are done through Sparks and weapon damage is determined by character level, so the player can mix and match at will.
  • Story missions that force a certain character into the party will not adversely affect team composition — in fact, they'll add to it, breaking the Arbitrary Headcount Limit so you can tackle the mission with your preferred team plus one.
  • The "at least one Rabbid" and "Can't Drop Mario" rules have been done away with, meaning you can have a full team of Mario characters or a full team of Rabbids if you wanted.
  • A character's movement is calculated as a disk and they can freely run around inside that area until committing to a location by shooting, even if you swap back and forth between characters. This makes movement abilities like team jumps much easier, and boosts the viability of buff zones since there's nothing stopping the user from running into the open to tag everyone, then getting back to cover.
  • If the player damages an enemy spawning portal, but does not fully destroy it, the emerging enemies will be damaged to the same degree as the portal was.
  • Area of Effect instances (like Bowser's Bowzooka or explosive barrels) will show a large red dome indicating the radius when aiming at them. This allows for coordinating around them to maximize crowd control or get your party members out of the blast zone.
  • If an enemy activates their ability to shoot a character during the player turn when they move within their sight, it will be shown how far the enemy can reach so you can be sure on what's safe and what's not.
• Anti-Grinding: While encounters have limited Level Scaling, it's possible to reach the point where they don't scale any further - and an encounter that is too far below the party's level won't give any Experience Points.
• Arbitrary Headcount Limit: You can pick up to three heroes to fight (two before Edge joins the party). However, in scenarios where a party member is forced to join the battle for story reasons, you'll exceed the party cap instead of having to swap out a random member, though the boss will be more difficult to compensate for your advantage.
• The Artifact: The chaotic personalities of the returning hero Rabbids may appear to stand out when the newer Rabbids are much more sane.
• Ascended Extra:
  • In Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Bowser was away on vacation and had nothing to do with the game's events beyond making a surprise appearance in the finale, where he got possessed by the Megabug. Here, he teams up with the heroes and is Promoted to Playable.
  • In the first game, Madame Bwahstrella is only encountered in Spooky Trails as part of a quest and is never seen again after that. Here, in the main game and latter two DLC, she has a location in every world running a franchise known as "Madame Bwahstrella's Dimensional Drift Departures", in which the party can take on an enemy-heavy challenge that matches the current party level and in the Tower of Doooom DLC (where she has some fully-voiced lines), she tasks the party to clear her multi-dimensional tower of Cursa minions and rescue Spawny and afterwards, take on the Premium levels.
• BFG: Bowser's Bowzooka is a monstrously huge cannon that fires explosive rounds from afar, dealing area damage. It's so big and heavy that only the King of Koopas is able to wield it effectively.
• Blade Brake: Edge does this in her introductory scene by planting her sword in the ground and launching herself 180 degrees to finish off a Stooge.
• Brick Joke: Bowser warns the cast that as soon as they're done pummeling Cursa, he'll go back to his old ways. Sure enough, after the final battle when Rosalina espouses the power of friendship, Bowser immediately moves to attack Mario and pals.
• The Bus Came Back: Rayman finally returns after eight years of absence, and made his first reappearance in a Rabbids game since Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party in the Rayman DLC.
• Can't Drop the Hero: Averted. This time around, Mario isn't a required party member.
• Cap:
  • Your party member's levels max out at 30. The cap is raised to 40 in The Last Spark Hunter DLC.
  • Sparks have a cap of five levels except in the Rayman DLC where the cap is three due to the game being shorter.
• Chekhov M.I.A.: Despite this adventure spanning the galaxy, the emphasis on Sparks, and the appearance of Rabbid Rosalina, the real Rosalina is noticeably absent despite her adoptive children being Rabbid-ized and hunted by Cursa. One of the heroes' primary goals is to figure out why.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Yoshi, Rabbid Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and Rabbid Cranky were all dropped from the roster after having been playable in the previous game, with the former two's absence being officially explained as them being on vacation, which they definitely deserve after the chaos they went through. The former two's spots in the roster are filled by Bowser and Rabbid Rosalina as well as Edge; whereas the latter two's spots are now filled by Rayman.
• Continuity Nod:
  • In Rabbid Mario's victory screen, he plays the Super Mario Bros. victory theme on his mandolin.
  • Luigi's victory screen has him jump in the air and perform a scuttle (flutter jump) like in adventure games where he's playable.
  • In the cut-scene after uncorking the water volcano of Terra Flora, Peach falls slowly thanks to her Parachute Petticoat, just like in games where she was playable such as Super Mario Bros. 2.
  • In the portraits involving Bea's backstory, it shows she had a relationship with The Phantom from the first Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, up until he broke up with her via text during an acceptance speech at the Galaxy Music Awards.
• Cosmetic Award: Completing specific challenges or buying them from SALESBOT 9.99+TX unlocks different weapon skins for each Hero with the Megabug Skin being available as a preorder bonus while some others are unlocked in the different DLC.
• Crossover: Once again, between Super Mario Bros. and Raving Rabbids. More elements have been taken from the Mario side of things than there were in Kingdom Battle, with Goombas, Bob-ombs, and Magikoopas appearing as enemies, as well as collectibles like Star Bits. "Rayman in the Phantom Show" replaces the Mario cast with Rayman, resulting in a reunion between Rayman and the Rabbids, very much to his understandable dismay.
• Darker and Edgier: The first game was a dense, wacky crossover where even the high-stakes finale had laughs, while this game is a galaxy-spanning adventure with a more serious tone, particularly in the endgame when the characters learn that Cursa merged with and possessed Rosalina and targeted the Sparks specifically to break her will.
• Descriptiveville: Paletteville, the town located on Palette Prime.
• Death from Above: Mario has the unique unlockable ability to attack enemies while flying with Beep-O.
• Demonic Possession:
  • Cursa corrupted Bowser's minions and powerful Rabbids to serve as her army.
  • Another example revealed later is Rosalina herself being merged with and possessed by Cursa for a majority of the game.
• Denser and Wackier: Inverted. The Rabbids here are portrayed as far more intelligent than normal, and the world is far more stable compared to the World Gone Mad of the previous game. Played straighter with the Phantom Show DLC, however.
• The Dragon:
  • Cursa originally had one in Edge before she pulled a Heel–Face Turn, being the former leader of the Spark Hunters. After said former Dragon left, Daphne became Cursa's new Dragon.
  • The Last Spark Hunter reveals that after Edge's defection, Cursa tried to make another Dragon in the form of Kanya, who also defected from the Spark Hunters, albeit for the complete opposite reason.
• Dual Wielding: Mario is able to either attack two separate targets at once or aim both guns at a single target for double damage.
• Dumbass No More: The Rabbids in this game are much more intelligent and sophisticated than in the first game, which says a lot considering the Rabbids' iconic nature.
• Easter Egg: If you rapidly rotate the control stick, your hero will spin in the same way as in Super Mario 3D World.
• Elite Mooks: The Magikoopa which is not only resistant to all Super Effects but it also has the ability to increase the attack of all enemies in range and inflict area damage on Heroes that are close enough together. Taking on a group of Magikoopas requires serious planning, especially in The Tower of Doooom, where your resources are far more limited.
• Enemy Mine: Bowser joins up with the heroes after Cursa corrupts his army.
• Final-Exam Boss: The final fight against Cursa has the main party forced into groups of three. Which group Cursa attacks (and therefore which group the player has access to) changes every turn, the player needs to know how to use and have built all 9 playable characters. Another final exam aspect involves the Sparks in the final fight, all 9 characters must have 2 Sparks equipped during the fight, so for 18 of the 30 sparks, the player needs to know how to use and have built them.
• Foreshadowing: Before Edge's nature as a Spark Hunter was revealed after the fight with her Darkmess clone, there were several clues pointing towards this. Midnite and Daphne mention having used to be friends with Edge, and she has sharp teeth and thick eyelashes, traits shared with the other Spark Hunters.
• Friendly Fireproof: Unlike in the last game, attacks from party members do not hurt one another when deployed. This does make strategies that were high risk in the last game far more palatable (such as drawing in enemies around one character and then having another character shoot them). Technically averted with status effects such as Ooze and Burn though if the right Spark aren't equipped in that a party member will pick up Ooze from an affected enemy if they touch it and they will run around burning if a burning enemy from another party member's attack runs into them.
• Game-Breaking Bug: In Palette Prime, if the player completes ‘The Fallen King’ quest and then complete the secret area before completing the ‘Off-Color’ quest, the secret area’s quest will reset asking you to reach the Spark you already obtained (Re-entering a secret area the second time will start a time trial for a weapon skin or coins if entered afterwards), this prevents the player from 100% completing Palette Prime and thus the whole game. The only way to fix this is to hopefully have a save before completing the secret area or restarting the entire game from the beginning.
• Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: The game opens with a giant space manta ray descending on and spreading Darkmess around the Mushroom Kingdom, and fighting on its back serves as the games tutorial. Unlike the other Darkmess monsters, this one is not even tangentially related to Rabbids or Mario, and never gets an explanation for how Cursa created it. According to this concept art, it was created from Cursa's cloak.
• Giant Mook: Each world features a giant enemy that can only be reached once enough Sparks have been obtained to gain entrance to a Golden Pipe and while they aren't required to be fought for story purposes, they do need to be fought for 100% Completion. They resist dashes and Super Effects and have huge amounts of health so that it will take a long time to take them down, not to mention that you still need to defeat ordinary enemies as well. Floors 5 and 10 of each challenge in The Tower of Doooom also feature giant mooks although the Floor 5 version doesn't need to be defeated as the floor is just a survival challenge. (And given the resources available at that point, it's exceedingly unlikely that the player would be able to take it down anyway.)
• The Goomba: In addition to the brainwashed Trope Namers that you'll encounter, there are also the brainwashed Bob-Ombs, which tend to serve as more of a danger to the enemy than you. Stooges are a more standard example, acting identically to the Ziggies in the first game.
• Guide Dang It!: The mission "Oozer Hunt" in Terra Flora tasks you with defeating three Oozers roaming around the area. One of these Oozers is found inside the Everbloom Tree while the other two are outside, where the taskgiver is also located, and the game never gives any indications that one of them might be inside the tree. And that Oozer isn't located around the entrance, but instead in the middle of the area, adding to the complication of finding it.
• Hidden Mechanic: Good luck figuring out that the Easter Egg spinning maneuver can be used to dig up coins from the glowing symbols in the ground.
• Hijacked by Ganon: The finale reveals that a tiny piece of the Megabug survived, became sentient, and formed into Cursa.
• Hold the Line: Some encounters task you with simply surviving a set amount of turns to win. Naturally, team compositions favoring healing, defense, or delaying the enemy excel in these.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: At the end of the Palette Prime bridge sidequest, Sweetlopek, a big lumberjack, falls in love with the tiny Dryad that lives in Spellbound Woods.
• I Choose to Stay: At the end of the game, even though Rabbid Rosalina was given an opportunity to live with the real Rosalina, she chooses to stay with Mario and friends because she found a family in them.
  • Also, at the end of the Rayman and the Phantom Show DLC, Rayman chooses to stay to help the Rabbids of the Space Opera Network out, recognizing that they're genuinely trying to do good in the galaxy.
• Instant-Win Condition: As soon as the condition to win a battle is fulfilled, the battle ends instantly, no matter how many enemies are still left on the field.
• Interquel: The opening cutscene of the game's second DLC, the Last Spark Hunter, makes it clear it takes place right before they went to Cursa's stronghold. They were planning on heading straight there, but when Beep-O heard the Melodic Gardens were completely silent he decided to take a detour to do something about it, fearing that it would be like walking straight into a trap at their back if they didn't.
• Intrepid Merchant: SALESBOT 9.99+TX is a robot merchant that is encountered on every world selling useful items such as Mushrooms and POW Blocks and things that can only be bought Planet Coins such as Memories, Star Potions and Weapon Skins. He also offers a full team healing service throughout except in The Tower of Doooom although the price goes up every time you use it.
• Last Lousy Point: In order to get 100% Completion in The Tower of Doooom, the player needs to obtain all 30 Sparks, all 9 Heroes, all 9 Weapon Skins and encounter all 25 enemies. While the weapon skins are automatically granted upon completing a level and getting each Hero is an easy enough task, getting all 30 Sparks and encountering all 25 enemies is considerably more luck-based and no, the game doesn't tell you which ones you have or have not encountered.
• Level Scaling: Enemies continue to gain levels as you do. However, each world has its own cap on how strong its enemies can get. The optional bosses of each world aren't bound to this and will continue to grow along with the player.
• Lighter and Softer: The Rayman in the Phantom Show DLC is this to the main game.
• Logical Latecomer: In the "Rayman in the Phantom Show" DLC, Rayman expresses surprise that the Rabbids talk now.
• Lots of Luggage: A very heavily overpacked backpack variant as touted by a minor NPC Professor Backpack, an archaeologist Rabbid who asks you to help him solve a riddle on each planet. His backpack is several times bigger than he is.
• The Minion Master:
  • According to Bowser's info, as an "Overseer," he is able to spawn minions via his Technique, Rabbid Mechakoopas.
  • Any hero can become one through the "(X) Master" Sparks, which summon a friendly version of the enemy they're named after. There are variations that summon a Wildclaw, Squashette, Scoper and Oozer.
  • The Giant Magikoopa can summon six Goombas every other turn and power them up upon which they can deal some surprisingly heavy damage.
• Mythology Gag: Plenty within Rayman in the Phantom Show.
  • Rayman's default blaster loosely resembles Moskito, an enemy-turned-friend from the first Rayman game. A later blaster also has Betilla's color scheme from Rayman Origins.
  • Rayman uses his Vortex and Rocket powers from Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc in place of Sparks.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: With the adjustable difficulty options, the player can make the heroes invincible to everything except Super Effects and Negative effects which comes in definite handy on Demanding.
• Numerical Hard: The biggest obstacle in Demanding difficulty is how the enemies' numbers change. Incoming damage numbers will stack up fast if the player mispositions a party member, and even The Goomba (both the literal one and the figurative one) can deliver an alarming amount of pain. The enemies' HP pools are also high enough that simply running in and shooting won't be enough to defeat it, forcing the player to make liberal use of skills, environments, and the Sparks to keep pace. Luckily, the player can choose to make their characters invincible to help out.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Most of your allies will make a panicked noise when they're being targeted and are going to get hit. Unless you're Edge, who just tells the enemy to "bring it." Since rolls for successful hits are done when a character confirms their Attack action, if an ally behind cover (even full cover) reacts to being targeted by an enemy, then the cover will fail to protect them and they will get hit.
  • Most enemies will also react this way if they are in range when choosing a target.
  • Played for laughs in the Rayman in the Phantom Show, when Rayman's first reaction to seeing Rabbid Peach and Mario is to immediately hide from them.
• Ominous Obsidian Ooze: Cursa spreads "Darkmess" across the galaxy, which takes the form of black slime/sludge spread across most of the worlds Mario and friends visit. Touching it causes them to enter combat/puzzle challenges which are typically harder than the standard Pre Existing Encounters. Clearing all of the Darkmess is required for 100% Completion.
• One-Hit-Point Wonder: Bob-ombs always have only one HP. Thus, all forms of damage causes them to explode immediately unless a dash attack is used on them, which doesn't instantly kill them, but rather starts a countdown which allows you to pick them up and throw them at the enemies.
• Original Generation: In addition to Rabbid versions of Mario, Luigi, and Peach returning from the previous game, our heroes are now joined by Rabbid Rosalina and a wholly original female, sword-wielding, punk Rabbid named Edge.
• Parachute Petticoat: Peach's dress does this in the cut-scene after uncorking Terra Flora's water volcano.
• Power-Up Full Color Change: Instead of using Sparks, Rayman can switch between two extra Elemental Power costumes (both based on two of the combat fatigues in Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc), allowing him to make use of a special ability, a stat boost, and attribute changes to his Weapon and Technique for the remainder of the turn.
  • Blow You Away: The green Vortex Costume gives Rayman damage reduction of 30% and allows him to use Vortex Pull, which not only damages enemies in his range but also pulls them towards him. His Blaster and Plunger Guards also gain the ability to bounce its targets away upon impact.
  • Stuff Blowing Up: The orange Rocket Costume grants Rayman immunity to all Super Effects, and lets him use Rocket Ride, which summons a Player-Guided Rocket Missile that can hit targets in its path and destroy cover areas, and explodes after running out if fuel. His Blaster and Plunger Guards will also cause explosions upon impact.
• Parasol of Pain: Peach gets a Boombrella as her weapon. It's her umbrella modified to fire a shotgun-like spread, with the damage decreasing the further away she is from her target. This encourages her to get up close to enemies and group them up to maximize damage.
• Pre-existing Encounters: In addition to levels being less linear, battles are now initiated by encountering enemies on the overworld rather than reaching designated locations. This actually gets justified In-Universe: When you start a non-story related encounter, everyone is sucked into a vortex which sends them to a dimension with an appropriate battlefield.
• Power Fist: Rabbid Mario trades his shotgun from the previous game for the Dukes, a set of gauntlets with short range but huge damage potential, especially against crowds. He punches multiple times to lay on the hurt.
• Precision F-Strike: While the swear in question is censored, when it is revealed that the Phantom was actually plotting against the Heroes for the entire DLC, Beep-O ends up swearing, showing just how genuinely furious he is.
• Punny Name: The gooey substance which Cursa spreads everywhere is called "Darkmess," a pun on "darkness" and "mess."
• Required Party Member: Happens a few times, though the cases here are more benign than usual for the trope.
  • Story missions that introduce a new party member must be cleared using that party member. Interestingly for cases where you have a full party of three already, you'll instead tackle the mission with a party of four.
  • Some side missions are challenge stages that force you to enter with a party of two specific characters.
• Shout-Out: The heroes' ship has a flux capacitor installed in the back.
• Sidequest: There are various NPCs who will give you missions to complete.
• Status Effects: Similar to the last game, this game also comes with status effects. Unlike last game however, status effect attacks can only apply through sparks instead of random chance. Targets that resist certain element will be immune to said effects.
  • Splash: The target is blasted into the air by a surge of water.. Similar to Bounce from the last game.
  • Burn: Sets the target on fire and makes them run around in a panic before it goes away, potentially igniting other characters if they make contact.
  • Frostbite: Roots a target in place with ice. Similar to Honey from the last game.
  • Shock: Electrocutes the target and potentially chains to extra targets if they're close enough.
  • Gust: Target gets blown away via intense wind, potentially off edge Similar to Push from the last game.
  • Ooze: Corrosive ooze saps the victim's health away at the start of every turn. Can spread to other characters if they make contact.
  • Stasis: Completely freezes a target and prevents them from acting in any way until it wears off. Similar to Sleep from the last game.
  • Vamp: Heals attacker by half of their damage dealt from the target. Unlike Vampire from the last game, this effect only benefits the attacker.
• Suddenly Voiced:
  • Some Rabbid NPCs you'll meet have complete dialogue, opposed to the previous game where the only Rabbid fusion to have full dialogue was Phantom. The main Rabbid characters are also capable of speaking full dialogue. According to the Memories menu in-game, Beep-O created a translator assistant so that to make the Rabbids understandable (and declared it was far better when he didn't know what they were thinking).
  • Beep-O himself has actual fully-voiced dialogue.
• Tempting Fate: When the gang encounters a large stuffed statue of the Phantom from the first game in the Melodic Gardens from "The Last Spark Hunter" DLC campaign, Beep-0 happily exclaims that, after his defeat, they will never, ever, EVER encounter the real thing again. Sure enough, the Phantom appears in the following DLC campaign, "Rayman in the Phantom Show", as the Space Opera Network's Warden and as the DLC campaign's final boss.
• Time-Limit Boss: You have only 12 turns to destroy the Darkmess Eyes of the Wiggler boss before it destroys the train.
• Too Dumb to Live: Despite the Rabbids' overall common sense increasing in this game, Rabbid Mario, Rabbid Luigi, and Rabbid Peach still retain this characteristic throughout several moments in the game, like at the beginning of the game when Rabbid Peach was more interested in taking a selfie with the Darkmess Manta than running for her life, resulting in her getting absorbed into the Darkmess dimension.
• The Turret Master: Rayman's Technique, Plunger Guard, allows him to summon two small, plum-shaped, turret-like objects called Guards. These can be carried and thrown at a short distance, and each Guard will be able to shoot any passing enemy once. When Rayman changes into one of his costumes, the Technique changes appropriately.
• Underground Monkey: The game does this with several major families of enemies. The Stooges are masked Shy Guy-looking Rabbids that have three variations; the Wildclaws are tiger hybrids that have four variations; The squashers are pig hybrids that have two; the Scopers are wolf hybrids that have two as well. Medicians are not based on any animal hybrid, but have five variations in total. Interestingly you do see the earlier types well into the game, oftentimes alongside their underground counterparts, but appropriately level scaled to still provide a challenge.
• Video Game Cruelty Potential: You can once again throw baby penguins off cliffs (and it's much easier to do so).
• Vocal Evolution:
  • The Rabbid characters now all have their own distinct voices and have a wider vocabulary than in the first game.
  • The Bob-Ombs and Goombas are given new voices as well, with the former being given a deeper-sounding voice while the latter sounds more childish.
  • Owing to it being twenty years since he last voiced the character, David Gasman's take on Rayman here is deeper than it was previously.
• What the Hell, Hero?: On Palette Prime, the group discuss their options for navigating the Spellbound Forest, with Rabbid Mario suggesting they burn down the forest. Beep-O rightly calls him on this, suggesting using his recently acquired scanning mode instead.
• Worf Had the Flu: Bowser is introduced in the middle of a fistfight with Bedrock. They're roughly even at first, but Bedrock eventually gains a firm upper hand by throwing Bowser into the Darkmess Dimension where he can't fight without a Spark-based weapon, necessitating JEANIE teleporting in the Bowzooka for Bowser to use.
• Zerg Rush: Goombas may not have enough HP to even survive a single dash attack (unless you're on the demanding difficulty), but there will be many of them whenever they appear and they do a decent amount of damage when they attack together if ignored.
  • If enemies are allowed to linger while portals spawn more, the battlefield can quickly get cramped with lots of enemies that will handily rip your team apart.

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