--Jeanie, Sparks of Hope
In Sparks of Hope, the galaxy is threatened by Cursa, a tentacled cosmic entity that spreads a substance called Darkmess across planets to alter their atmospheres. Greater freedom to move around in the overworld and free movement within a circular area, not a grid like in Kingdom Battle, is only fitting for a game that expands to different "planets" as Mario faces a new foe. As a game, Sparks of Hope offers stellar improvements over its predecessor. Rosalina also returns! She has otherwise been relegated mostly to spin-offs like Mario Kart and Mario Party following her debut in Super Mario Galaxy, so Sparks of Hope is significant in this aspect. At first, she will not be prominent despite the Rabbid version of her appearing on the game's cover. Only closer to the end of the game does she make her actual appearance as a vital part of the plot.
Production Values
In the chronological sequence they are visited, the five main planets are a beach world with an obstructed sun, a snowy planet with unnaturally fierce weather, a forest land with trees drained of color and vitality, a world of flowers and honey suffering drought, and a desert realm with a raging storm. The graphical presentation of each setting is colorful, unique, and of a generally high visual quality. Mario and his companions have to resolve the central meteorological or biological issue facing each planet to progress to Cursa's realm, the final location of the game and a much shorter one than the rest. Accomplishing primary objectives triggers massage aesthetic changes. In the third of the aforementioned worlds, once the drained vegetation has its color restored as part of the plot, the landscape brightens immensely. This change combined with the ability to move around more freely outside of battles as Darkmess tentacles are defeated makes it as if the planet is almost entirely new. There is full voice acting for AIs called Beep-O and Jeanie, with miscellaneous other characters receiving partially voice acted lines--the onscreen text will continue past where their voices stop. With things like some texture proximity issues aside, the production values are largely excellent!
Gameplay
The gameplay is divided between third-person navigation through each planet's overworld and combat within individual battles. In the overworld, the hovering robot Beep-O assists the player's chosen character, and "he" is eventually equipped with a sonic wave emitter that can destroy or move certain objects and then a separate means of revealing hidden walkways and objects. You can find red coin, green coin, and blue coin challenges in various places--for instance, blue pipes transport you to special chambers where obtaining all the blue coins within a time limit awards you a planet coin, a chest of signature Mario gold coins, and a database entry for the Galactic Atlas. Planet coins are received for completing other optional missions, like defeating three groups of Goombas on the first world of the game. In this overworld perspective, touching enemies triggers fights, although you can flee before leaping into them.
The movement changes drastically should you fight: there is entirely free movement within the character's finite radius each turn, but attacking locks the character in place with an exception of one character after a certain skill is purchased. If they have action points remaining (there are two actions allowed per turn, along with a dash attack if there is an enemy within range and if the main attack has not rooted them in place), they can still use an item or a Spark. The Sparks are the game's new class of allies that provide bonuses to specific attacks or defensive capacities. While Sparks are leveled up by spending star bits, all playable party characters have synchronized XP meters, so there is no need to rotate the equipped party members just for the sake of leveling up. They all progress to the next level at the same time with the clearing of fights. They also can all be healed outside of fights by spending a flat fee of coins or at the screen immediately before officially starting a combat arena for the same cost.
As for the combat itself, each character has their own strengths and attack option. Rabbid Mario strikes close enemies with gauntlets and damages outliers with the shockwaves. Peach uses an umbrella to deal damage in a conal pattern, potentially hitting many enemies up close and from a distance in a single blast, and the elevation of her firing mechanism means she can directly hit enemies behind partial cover. Mario himself wields twin energy guns that he can shoot at separate enemies or one unit. Newcomer Edge has a sword she can hurl like a boomerang at a particular opponent, dealing damage to any foe that happens to be struck along the way there and back. Luigi is best from a great distance, since his bow and arrows deal more damage if he is further from the target. All the rest has some distinctive stack and special ability. An example would be how Rabbid Rosalina can lock enemies in place for a given duration unless the player attacks them first.
Story
Some spoilers are below.
As Mario games so often begin, Sparks of Hope opens in the Mushroom Kingdom. However, Peach is not kidnapped this time; Rabbid Peach is briefly captured by a shadowy ray-like being that flies. The protagonists rescue her before traveling to a series of planets in their starship to gather enough of a material called Darkmess to reach the realm of Cursa, an enigmatic cosmic entity that has polluted each planet with Darkmess and altered the local weather conditions. Along the way, they acquire Rabbid Rosalina, who says she must give Rosalina urgent news.
Intellectual Content
Beyond the strategic aspects of the combat, which can be fairly difficult at times, there are sporadic elements of satire or light brushes against genuinely deep philosophical issues. Jeanie, the new AI companion alongside Beep-O, talks of "her" own existence being verified when her software becomes active for the first time, which is glossed over due to the game's genre and target audience despite phenomenological self-evidence being of the utmost epistemological significance after logical axioms. As far as I know, however, this is the first Mario game I have played that references scientific concepts (still a subcategory of philosophical concepts) like joules and the universe existing for billions of years. Jeanie does call a Darkmess Tentacle "the wellspring of this supernatural storm", so she at least does not commit to the errors of metaphysical naturalism as she speaks of such scientific matters!
Conclusion
Sparks of Hope is a superb return for the Mario + Rabbids crossover franchise. The overworld is broader, the combat is smoother, and the story once again incorporates the more cosmic presences of Mario games thanks to Rosalina and the Lumas at last. Some of the side quests are genuinely clever or quite prolonged, like "Bury the Hatchet" with its satire of the American legal process. Thanks to a completion time of around 20-30 hours--I passed 30 hours without reaching 100% of all optional quests--it is not a short game either. Kingdom Battle has its strengths, and Sparks of Hope surpasses the former game as a whole. The world of Mario is persistently diverse and creative!
Content:
1. Violence: There is minimal violence from physically dashing into enemies and shooting them (or vice versa). Defeated enemy units dissipate into black ash-like substance and vanish entirely.
No comments:
Post a Comment