Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope's second DLC, The Last Spark Hunter, launches later today as revealed in a surprise announcement at the Nintendo Direct. You can also play a demo of the base game for free to try it out before buying.
"As they are approaching Cursa’s Stronghold, Mario and his friends detect an intriguing signal from the Melodic Gardens, an enchanting musical planet galaxy-famous for its harmonious biophonies, produced by a beautiful alien-like nature," the DLC description reads. "Suspecting a new Darkmess invasion, the Heroes change their course only to find themselves trapped on a silenced planet."
The titular Last Spark Hero is a new character called Kanya who has created a devastating new weapon called the Mecha King Bob-Omb, all in a bid to unleash another Darkmess invasion. The DLC takes us to the Melodic Gardens to find the source of the threat, and as the name suggests, it's a musical-themed jungle. Saving the gardens means facing off against Kanya, who Ubisoft describes as a "highly dangerous and techy villain".
With the new DLC comes the return of the beloved Rayman, one of Ubisoft's flagship mascots. His return is a little mixed in-universe, as Rabbid Mario isn't too fussed--meaning he probably hasn't heard about all of the atrocities Rayman has enacted against his people. But Rabbid Peach isn't nearly as friendly. She points a gun right at his face, as she probably should. Rayman looks shocked but he's still smiling. Always smiling.
It's been a long time since we've seen Rayman in anything, so this was a huge moment for the initial reveal. But before now, all we knew is that the DLC would be launching at some point in mid-2023. Halfway through the year, Ubisoft has delivered on that promise, as the DLC launches today.
In other Mario + Rabbids news, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot revealed that Sparks of Hope underperformed financially, which came as a shock to the company. Initially, it believed that this was due to a changing trend in what consumers want, but it now believes that it has something to do with advice that Nintendo gave the company - don't launch more than one Mario game per console.
"We had already released a Mario Rabbids game [on Nintendo Switch], so by doing another we had two similar experiences on one machine," Guillemot said. "On Nintendo, games like this never die. There are 25 Mario games on Switch. Nintendo [has advised] that it's better to do one iteration on each machine. We were a bit too early, we should have waited for [the next console]."