David Soliani, Creative Director at Ubisoft Milan and co-founder of Mario + Rabbids, has been open with gamesindustry.biz When discussing the evolution of Kingdom Battle, the first title in the series. There is a general consensus, even among fans of the game, that the concept of Mario + Rapids is a strange one. A strange pairing of IP addresses of platforms combined together in a network-based strategy game. Soliani seriously expressed his skepticism while developing the 2017 title, saying: “I was very nervous and sure people would end up hating the game.”
He said he would even send emails to his co-workers half-joking about how this would be the last project he ever worked on. Ahead of the game’s reveal at E3 2017, a leak made the gaming audience aware of the concept, and recounted reading some not-so-nice messages from online commentators. However, there was a happy ending to the hardship. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle ended up being very popular, loved by both reviewers and users, and recently, Soliani revealed via Twitter that the game has reached over 10 million players, which is an achievement that cannot be taken lightly.
In the interview, Soliani expressed gratitude that Nintendo fans had changed their minds “because they saw the game was made by passionate people.” In his constant streak of humility, he said the team was “lucky,” describing the audience’s reaction as “a current you can’t control. You just hope for the best.” Now, for the next title, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, Soliani is feeling the pressure “300%” compared to Kingdom Battle. Not surprising, given that there are now fans’ expectations that the sequel will be as good or better than the original.
Another piece of noteworthy information revealed in the interview is how closely Ubisoft worked with Nintendo when developing these titles. Soliani explains how Nintendo has always commented on its builds. He revealed that having the robot Beep-O on the way in Kingdom Battle was not an arbitrary decision. The idea was for players to realize right away that it wasn’t a platform game, like most of them used to see with Mario. Soliani’s Direct Request Nintendo asked if the player could this time control the characters directly, and as it appears in the gameplay sequence, it’s clear that the request has been granted.
Perhaps this was due to the success of the game. There’s less potential for any confusion with the Mario + Rabbids brand now that it’s more established. The change brought more challenges to developing the sequel, with Solyani saying having straightforward controls meant “creating an entirely new experience.” Sparks of Hope also contains a new free-motion combat system, RPG elements, and various new movement mechanics. “It’s totally insane,” he admits when talking about the amount of change, but mentions that he thinks their constant desire to bring something new is the reason they’re compatible with Nintendo.
He ended the interview by offering heartfelt congratulations to his friend and composer Grant Kirkhope, noting that he had “incredibly advanced in terms of composition from Kingdom Battle to Sparks of Hope,” and cried while listening to orchestral recordings, that “If these composers don’t get awards for this, I’ll change My job.”
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope will be released on October 20, 2023, exclusively on Nintendo Switch.
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