Davide Soliani, who was in charge of making Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, has talked about how hard it was and how he thought people would hate it. He even thought it would be the last game he ever made.
To be fair, when the title leaked before it was officially announced, many people doubted that a Mario and Rabbids crossover would work. Soliani told GamesIndustry that he first saw “the worst messages” on forums, but once the official announcement was made, the general opinion changed.
Davide Soliani noted:
“I am always doubtful. Do people really want what I’m doing? On the last game, I was so nervous and sure that people would hate it that I sent some of my teammates messages saying, “Oh god, this will be the last game I ever do.” So even for a game with no expectations, I felt a lot of pressure even back then. After four years of working on it with all of our hearts, you can feel the pressure.
Just one small thing out of place is all it takes. Or for just one person to say the wrong thing. Even with Kingdom Battle, there was a leak a few months before the official announcement at E3. And I remember going on forums and getting the worst messages from people, which I won’t repeat. But they changed their minds when they saw that the game was made by people who cared about what they were doing. So we were lucky. It’s a tide you can’t control. You just keep your fingers crossed.”
You might have thought that with the next game, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, the pressure would be off, but that’s not the case. Soliani knows that the team has changed a lot in terms of exploring and fighting, and that there are now more RPG elements. Because of this, he’s “been very worried” at different times, and it seems that the game’s producer has been as well.
Soliani said in the interview, “I was listening to the orchestral recordings we made, and I was crying. If these composers don’t win awards for this, I’ll quit my job.”
About Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
Mario and the Rabbids work together to save the Mushroom Kingdom.
- AN EPIC QUEST
- Find chests, secrets, and puzzles in four well-known lands.
- CRAZY COMBAT
- Mario uses weapons for the first time to beat enemies in crazy turn-based combat and co-op challenges.
- AN LEGENDARY TEAM
- Meet eight heroes who all have their own traits and skills.
- WHEN TWO WORLDS MEET
- Find the Mushroom Kingdom like you’ve never seen it before. The mischievous Rabbids have messed it up, but there are lots of references to old Mario games.
About Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope
Join Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Rabbid Peach, Rabbid Luigi, and their other friends on a journey across the galaxy to stop a bad guy and save your Spark friends. Explore planets all over the galaxy and find out about strange secrets and exciting quests.
- Choose three heroes from a group of nine different ones to make your dream team.
- Kill all of the new bosses and some of the old enemies all over the galaxy.
- Save the cute Sparks all over the galaxy. They have special abilities that will help you in battle.
- Use your heroes’ skills, but be smart as you dash into your enemies, team jump on your allies, and hide behind covers.
