Ubisoft is aiming to drum up some additional interest in last year’s excellent Mario + Rabbids sequel Sparks of Hope with a new two-hour demo, available now on Switch.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope was well-received by critics when it launched at the end of last year, drawing praise for a solid evolution of its wonderfully engaging 2017 predecessor, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, that melded exemplary XCOM-like strategy action with expanded puzzles and more open-ended exploration.
Eurogamer’s Christian Donlan liked Sparks of Hope enough to slap it with a Recommended badge in his review, calling it “knockabout XCOM fun in a galaxy-hopping adventure”.
Unfortunately, Sparks of Hope didn’t quite capture the general public’s imagination in the same way, and Ubisoft was forced to admit the game’s sales had fallen below expectations when it announced disappointing financial results for its most recent quarter earlier this year.