- Also Read | Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope review by Luma
- Also Read | Grant Kirkhope, Yoko Shimomura and Gareth Coker: the “Rare” pearls from Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope.
Who’s next ?
released at the beginning of the year, The Tower of Dooooom opens the ball by ignoring any script coating. The objective is simple: climb the ten floors of a tower with one side roguelitechoices of enemies and loot taking place between each wave. The goal is to defeat the opponents housed on the tenth floor in order to save Spawny – a character glimpsed in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle – of the multidimensional world of the clairvoyant Madame Bwahstrella.
From our point of view, this is the least thrilling section of the lot and unless you’re a completer, you probably won’t play dozens of games to unlock all the collectables : thirty different Sparks, nine playable Heroes and as many weapon skins. At least the runs are renewed a minimum according to your choices and we are led to meet twenty-five different enemies on the battlefield.
“Spark” my fault…
Appeared exactly on summer’s day, The Last Spark Hunter features our characters on the planet of Melodious Gardens, a new environment to explore in the same way as the main story, in other words by alternating fights with small puzzle solving. The opportunity to come across exclusive enemies like the Polluter, a giant Rabbit that resists all effects (freezing, toxicity, burns, cyclones, etc.) and sprays the battlefield with “Confusi-Ombre” randomly. Beware of travel because if you accidentally pass over one of the tasks stuck to the ground, it’s easily 1,200 life points that go right away.
The Sparks are all available immediately and the Ubisoft teams have added five for the occasion. Once unlocked, do not hesitate to keep “Caco-Phonie” preciously in your team as it is useful against enemies and particularly the final boss. Indeed, once improved to the maximum, the wag hypnotizes a targeted monster and gives it the “confusion” effect, after which it turns around facing its congeners. Always funny to see Rabbids and other Golems killing each other.
In terms of exploration, this world is intended to be less dense than the forest in the sky of Terra Flora and the snow-capped mountain of Perfect Peaks. Divided into several small areas, the Melodious Gardens offer a level design less varied and exhilarating, despite a sequence by boat right in the middle to reach several islets. We also expected to see more puzzles and interactions related to the music, given the developed scenario and the name of the place. It will be necessary to be satisfied with a few notes to be validated by tapping on instruments of the decoration.
Anyway, the story remains pleasant to follow and the character of Beep-O is generally more discreet, which is not so bad as he commented on the slightest actions of the troop in the initial game. . As for the fights, they are still thrilling and we enjoyed finding the right team and the best offensive approach during the mid-term confrontation, mixing protection from critters and attacking enemies. Same observation of learning by failure in the face of the final boss, who signs the return of King Bomb-omb. The bugger puts pressure on you in a circular arena and you have to use his bombs to unlock his shield so that you can finally do some damage to him.
Rayman on Fire
Accompanied exclusively by Rabbit Mario and Rabbit Peach, Rayman is back in this third and final DLCs titled Rayman in the Phantom Show, which therefore marks the return of the Ghost, this chubby Rabbid already seen in Mario + The Rabbids Kingdom Battle. Having become a director, he manages the Space Opera Network, a television network whose audiences are not looking good. Invited to the scene, the memberless hero will have to restore the image of the channel by visiting three film sets with various atmospheres: pirate ship, medieval castle and far west. The opportunity to discover the powers inherited from more than twenty-five years of tribute to the platform / action genre: fist throwing to burst boxes and recover distant objects – achievable in normal or charged attack for more power -, THE haircopter to glide over the playing area by clinging to the rings, not to mention its two rows of special moves. Very practical, its tornado makes it possible to repatriate enemies towards oneself while making them some fall damage, where the torpedo, which one directs manually, destroys everything in its path, enemies as elements of the decor.
In terms of level designthis third DLCs is clearly the one that allows itself the most variety, in particular by playing on the verticality of the environments. Thus, Rayman’s helicopter is a perfect excuse to climb from platform to platform during the exploration and enigma phases, always present between fights. Designed as a pathfinder, Rayman is really the character who leads the way, advancing far enough to press a switch that will allow the two Rabbids to take a pipe, for example. As for these two zigotos, they complete the formula with close combat (Rabbit Mario) and a healer at ease at a distance (Rabbit Peach). On the one hand, we somewhat regret the absence of the rest of the cast to vary the approaches, but on the other hand, this requires making the most of the complementary skills of the three characters.
My city goes Kraken
Full of nods to Rayman Legends (the allusion to the level Slaps’n’rock at the turn of a dialogue) and license in general, Rayman in the Phantom Show benefits from the return of Christophe Héral to the compositions, alongside those of Grant Kirkhope. Recognizable among a thousand, its quirky leg is still just as jubilant to the ear. The sonic references to Rayman Legends are distilled amidst well-felt new themes, when it’s not jew’s harp melodies in the form of mosquito noise that make us nod. We remain a little more mixed on the bestiary, at least on the small fry. Indeed, there is almost no new enemy to face, except the snipers revisited in cowboy in the western decoration.
Fortunately, the bosses make you forget that quickly as they are fun to face. If we will be careful not to reveal the ending one – avoid typing the name of the DLCs in YouTube -, we will take the liberty of mentioning at least that of the pirates, which features a giant kraken whose weak points in the back rotate with each turn of the game. a bit like a Paper Mario. Completed in about five hours depending on the level of difficulty chosen – the basic one remains quite full-bodied due to the imposed trio -, Rayman in the Phantom Show is clearly the most interesting part of this season pass. We clearly feel that the Ubisoft Milan team masters its subject and there is no doubt that for the creative director Davide Soliani, the circle is complete, he who started his Ubisoft career on the Game Boy Color version of Rayman. Chick, are we meeting in “Rayman 4”?