In November 2022 I posted my review of Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope the sequel to Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, one of the best early releases on the Nintendo Switch in 2017. In my review I was quite critical and considered a let down compared to the original but still a fun game and one I might one day come back to; when the then unreleased Season Pass content was inevitably discounted. A significant enough discount came in April so I grabbed it.
As it was well over two years since I played through the game, I had forgotten generally how it played and so opted to go back to the main game first to mop-up the extra content and collectables I hadn’t completed. One of the biggest criticisms I had in the review was how easy it was even with all the optional difficulty sliders turned to max. This lack of difficulty meant that any further levelling up or collecting better items would only make the game even easier and so there wasn’t much incentive to do so. Going through the missed content proved this to be the case and only a couple of the special battles against supersized enemies provided any challenge. The extra collectables (and especially the weapon skins), added little and by the time all were collected, there was nothing left to do. There was no multiplayer or co-op modes or anything else to extend it. I will say that re-visiting the game was mostly fun and I certainly wouldn’t have bothered had it not been but the average player would still get the best experience from the main story content.
Having re-familiarised myself with gameplay and the various worlds, I was ready to jump into the DLC packs which are neatly integrated into the main menu. The three packs are The Tower of Doooom, The Last Spark Hunter and Rayman in the Phantom Show which will be covered in order.
The first DLC which is only available as part of the Season Pass is The Tower of Doooom which was released in March 2023 almost five months after the Sparks of Hope‘s release. To any who put down money at launch, this was rather a long wait for what is little more than a series of ten scenarios of procedurally generated battles. The only story content is being tasked by Madame Bwahstrella to rescue Spawny, the source of all the trouble in the original game. I only played through the tower once and didn’t complete the ‘Premium Mode’ which unlocks afterwards. I simply wasn’t interested and would have bought the two other DLC packs separately were they cheaper as a pair. Nonetheless, this is one way to extend the game for anyone who has done everything and wants more of the same. I may one day give it another look but by both experience and all the accounts I’ve read, it is the least of the new content.
The first substantial DLC titled The Last Spark Hunter released in June, 2023 which was seven months after the originals’ release. This is a story-based DLC set just before the final area of the original game. The biggest criticism I have for this then is that it wasn’t directly integrated into the main game. By the time of its release, enough time had passed that plenty of players would have been willing to replay the game with a meaningful new piece of story content to extend it. Anyone that didn’t could have simply booted up their save and travelled straight to the planet. This is a minor criticism though as this is the best content in the Season Pass by almost every measure.
This takes place in the Melodic Gardens which have been largely silenced and the heroes are tasked with restoring harmony to region. The content begins with the heroes travelling through a lush forest which contains musical flora that also provide some puzzle elements. All characters, Sparks and equipment is available and there are new Sparks and items to be discovered. The level cap has also been raised from 30 to 40 and there are some new enemy variations, side quests and bonuses.
While I was looking most forward to the final DLC pack, I have to admit that this is the most substantial and thoughtfully developed of the three. It is the most artistically beautiful area in the entire game but also allows experienced players to further develop and experiment with the characters they’d worked on in the main game as well as try out some new Sparks. The story content fits well with the main game, it has some clever puzzles and plenty to explore and seems to have had a lot of work put into it’s development.
The DLC that got the most attention and certainly grabbed mine was Rayman in the Phantom Show. At the time of release, this was the first time Rayman had appeared in a game for a decade outside of some mobile games. Indeed, the last major release was Rayman Legends which was originally a Wii U exclusive but has since been ported to almost everything. This alone had as much draw as Donkey Kong as part of Kingdom Battle‘s DLC did.
It is unfortunate then, that it was a bit of a disappointment. Not that it is bad but it isn’t what it could have been. While Rayman is integrated well as a character, the quirky worlds the character is known for exploring are not present at all. The DLC is set after the events of the main game with Rayman arriving at the Space Opera Network after receiving a golden ticket. He meets Beep-0, Rabbid Mario and Rabbid Peach and along with them is tasked by the Phantom with destroying the Darkmess within. The Phantom was one of the more memorable bosses from the original game and though initially professing to be reformed, it is clear from the start who the new team will be fighting at the end.
The main areas are as bland as one would expect from backstage at a television studio and this lets the game out but the three sets visited as part of the story are a little more interesting. These are the Pirate Set, the Medieval Set and the Western Set. Unfortunately, only one of these has any substance with the Pirate Set being very open with more to explore and having an impressive boss encounter with a Giant Kraken prop that is designed around Rayman’s specific abilities. The other two are much smaller and I got the sense that development was rushed in these areas.
As for Rayman, he is fun to use and has many of his signature abilities including his helicopter hair which he can use by jumping off platforms. The flying rings from the original Rayman game also appear and allow Rayman to traverse long distances in a single turn. Instead of his fists, he is equipped with a blaster and deployable proximity weapons called plunger guards. These basic abilities are modified with the Rocket and Vortex costumes adding explosive or bounce abilities respectively. As an example, with the Rocket ability, Rayman is able to shoot himself around battle area knocking enemies and destroying cover. The bounce ability can knock enemies away or out of bounds. Outside of combat, Rayman is able to use his fists to break boxes and grab power-ups but they aren’t used in combat.
Rayman’s helicopter ability fits very well with what was established in the base game and when playing this, I started wondering if he wasn’t originally intended to be a character in the main game. The game’s director Davide Soliani had previously worked on the Rayman series and unlike Donkey Kong, Rayman’s abilities would have fit just as well in the main story. This is purely speculation but after playing this, I think it is likely that Ubisoft intentionally had him moved to DLC to help sell the Season Pass. As I would have been unlikely to have bought it without the inclusion of Rayman, it that indeed was the case, they weren’t wrong to do it.
So while The Phantom Show wasn’t as substantial as The Last Spark Hunter, it was still fun while it lasted and I’m not sorry I bought the Season Pass. All three packs add something new and aren’t just extra items or lazily designed missions. As far as the game as a whole, I still consider the original game to be superior but the DLC will still be enjoyable to anyone who enjoyed the base game enough to see it through. As this is a Ubisoft title, I do recommend waiting for a discount.