13 Things Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope Should Master

Don’t let the ridiculously stupid Rabbids fool you. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is a terrific game of tactics that can and will kick your ass if you’re not careful. Luckily, the game also gives you a wide variety of mechanics and tools that combine in complex and satisfying ways. Here’s what you need to know.

It’s called Mario PLUS Rabbids For a reason…

sparks of hope lets you choose your team, and technically you can ride with only members of the original Mario cast if you want. But if you don’t give in to the Rabbids’ absurdity, what are you doing here? The best team is the one that does what it says on the box.

But you should try different characters

It’s easy to stick with what you know, especially if it works. But each new character you gain has different abilities that can be useful in the specific battle you’re in. Maybe you’re struggling to stay alive, in which case a healer might be the way to go. Perhaps this battle requires you to get to the end of the map as quickly as possible, so your mobile characters are now important. Don’t keep using a character just because; the game levels everyone as you go. Plus, you might discover a new favorite. Not liking the way someone plays isn’t much of an excuse either, as the game allows you to undo any skill points you spend!

Change the difficulty if you need to

Rabbids features an open world where you can roam a map filled with characters, points of interest, and secrets. It is possible to enter a level before being ready. And frankly, some levels are just plain tough! When you start a battle, the game asks if you want to adjust the difficulty. If you find you’re having trouble, there’s no shame in tweaking the experience for fun rather than repeatedly banging your head against the wall.

Set Waypoints

When you open your map, you can see where characters are, as well as levels and other handy landmarks. You can select each of them and tap on them to have your radar tell you where to go to start the quest. Some locations will also allow you to fast travel after selecting them.

explore the world

You can head to the next mission, but that would be a waste. One of the most charming things about Sparks is that Ubisoft has packed the game to the brim with little details and secrets, be it silly dialogues, red coin challenges or blue coin levels. Some of that the game will mark on your map when you pass by, even if you didn’t know it was there. There are other things you’ll want to remember because you won’t be able to interact with it the first time you see it. But you won’t see it at all if you don’t walk around.

Later in the game you unlock the ability to scan things. You’ll want to scan swirls on the floor, footprints, shimmers, invisible objects and cracked walls with your trusty robot companion Beep-o if you want to go all out.

Prepare before the battle

First of all, you should always stop at a store before heading into battle so you go there with enough mushrooms and such. Once you’re in the pre-combat screen, you can look at your enemies and their weaknesses, and modify your gear accordingly. Just as you experiment with different characters, you should feel comfortable changing Sparks as needed.

It can also be tempting to tell the game to heal your characters for that small fee, but I encourage you to play around a bit. Can you get a cure early? Do you think you can beat the level without taking too much damage and just enjoying the post-game rejuvenation? Eventually, you’ll unlock the revive ability. Don’t waste money just because you have it.

Spend the money, that’s why you got it

lol ok, but listen to me, you’re saving money for other things! Rather than taking money out of healing, you can instead store things like POW Blocks and reset timers that instantly regenerate your abilities. Healing is an integrated mechanism, but not everything is. Save your money for the things you couldn’t do otherwise. Similarly, you should use your items rather than storing them until they are no longer needed.

Accelerate

Press Y during enemy turn. That’s it, that’s the advice.

Throw away your enemies AND your friends

You’ll want to move your characters as far as possible while staying within range of each other, so they can jump and glide to new areas (or heights). Beware of fall damage: if you enter a pit, it will hurt! But you can also dash into things like Bob-ombs, activate them, then throw them into the other baddies to blow it all up. You should always rush around every turn and watch for pipes and other transportation shortcuts, but if you can dash, hover, teleport, and throwing it away is even better.

Be careful with your shots

Characters like Mario, for example, will shoot twice. Killing an enemy sometimes forces you to redirect your fire to the first guy, as he automatically finds another target for the second bullet. Unless, of course, you are Of course that you have a clean shot and want to get two targets. However, don’t assume you’ll hit just because you pulled the trigger. Sometimes it’s better to double tap to kill something than to slightly damage two enemies and kill none.

Line of sight matters

For shooting, how it works might be obvious. If you can’t see it, you can’t hit it. But it also counts for things like dashes and abilities. If you’re not standing in the right spot, your dash may miss the full line of Goomba, so make sure the game shows your enemies will actually take damage, not just that they are currently targeted. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t have access to an enemy, though. Destroy the barriers and leave them open!

know your attack priority

If you do your main attack, that’s it. You can’t do anything else. Your secondary ability can also sometimes obscure other choices, so pay attention to what does what.

Play the goal

At the start of a fight, sparks of hope will tell you that you need to reach a certain part of the map, or that you need to defeat a specific enemy. Don’t ignore the directive. The map will probably start crawling with enemies that weren’t there before, which can be scary, and you’ll probably want to deal with that. But the level ends as soon as you meet the requirements, so it doesn’t matter how outnumbered you are at this point. Everything else is a distraction that can doom you to an impossible fight, and restarting a match can be a huge disappointment.

Good luck there!