The constructive reception to Kingdom Battle meant that Brillaud, Soliani, and Kirkhope have been quickly discussing plans for the sequel. Soliani needed to do what Nintendo does with all of its sequels: go larger. Sparks of Hope would have extra intense battles and boss fights, extra RPG components, extra places to discover, extra Rabbid caricatures of iconic Nintendo characters, and, a lot to Kirkhope’s shock, extra composers. 

“We wanted to keep Grant because he’s the musical identity of the first game and what it sounds like to blend the Mario universe with Rabbids,” Brillaud explains. “He brought the silliness of the Rabbids—Grant being Grant—and also these big, epic, and memorable narrative moments which results in the epic-friendly style to the game.” 

Sparks of Hope is a a lot larger recreation and has a darker tone than its predecessor, so Brillaud needed so as to add new components of musical coloration to the rating. This was particularly necessary given the various landscapes of the worlds you discover and a heavier deal with Marvel-esque narrative moments. With one legendary composer already onboard, Brillaud thought he’d attempt his possibilities and shoot for 2 extra. 

“As a director, I needed new colors, and we were lucky enough to have Yoko Shimomura and Gareth Coker both say yes,” Brillaud says. “I believe it’s a perfect mix of dedicated styles.”

Coker’s chargeable for driving the emotional ambiance in Ori and the Blind Forest, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and Halo Infinite, whereas industry veteran Yoko Shimomura is greatest identified for her iconic melodies in video games comparable to Street Fighter II, Kingdom Hearts, Legend of Mana, Final Fantasy XV, Super Mario RPG, and the Mario + Luigi video games on the Nintendo DS. 

“I was so happy to work on Mario again, to work with Ubisoft, and to work with great composers like Grant and Gareth,” Shimomura tells WIRED over e mail. “All in all, I feel incredibly fortunate and privileged to have worked on this project.” 

For Coker, the possibility to put in writing music for a Mario recreation somewhat than simply play one was a dream come true. One of probably the most attractive issues about engaged on Sparks of Hope was the potential to put in writing music that he isn’t sometimes accustomed to. 

“When you listen to my tracks, harmonically and melodically, this is unlike anything on my résumé—and I was definitely not expecting that when I came into this project,” he tells WIRED over a video name. “To be honest, I was expecting to write relatively simple music—and I don’t wanna say this is complex, because it isn’t—but if you’re a composer or musically inclined, you’ll hear a lot of interesting and fun stuff going on here.” 

He factors to a selected instance within the music he’s written for one of many recreation’s later planets that you simply discover, Terra Flora, a botanical backyard filled with alien colours. “Romain was like, ‘What if we explore something slightly French and impressionistic here,’ and I’m like, ‘Wait, what?! In a Mario Rabbids game?’ It’s that kind of thinking I wasn’t expecting from this, and that’s really exciting as a composer.”