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Davide Soliani

Mario Rayman Rayman

Mario + Rabbids creative director Davide Soliani, who worked on the original Kingdom Battle and last year’s Sparks of Hope, has significant interest in working on a new Rayman game.

In an interview with Nintendo Everything, Soliani said he would be “crazy to not take that chance” if given the opportunity. He also told us that from a developer standpoint, it’s the “pinnacle of all the possibilities”.

Rabbids speak

The Rabbids speak in Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, but they didn’t in the previous title – Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. As it turns out, the team was explicitly told by Ubisoft that the Rabbids don’t talk. To get around that a bit, the Phantom was included in Kingdom Battle with a music number.

Mario + Rabbids creative director Davide Soliani told IGN:

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle director Davide Soliani has spoken about the pressure faced while making the game, and actually thought that people would end up hating it. He even believed it’d be the last game he’d work on.

To be fair, when the title leaked before its official reveal, many had doubts that a crossover between the Mario and Rabbids franchises would work. Soliani told GamesIndustry that he initially saw “the worst messages” on forums, but the consensus changed once the official announcement was made.

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope

Ubisoft has posted a developer discussion for Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope following today’s reveal. Creative director Davide Soliani, lead producer Xavier Manzanares, and associate producer Cristina Nava all chat about the game.

Gameplay, heroes, and the villain are among the topics discussed. Additionally, it’s confirmed that Grant Kirkhope is returning as the composer.

Watch the full video below.

With the impending release of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle – Donkey Kong Adventure, Ubisoft had composer Grant Kirkhope and creative director Davide Soliani interview each other. In the video below, you’ll learn about how the two ended up coming together for the Switch game.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle - Donkey Kong Adventure

The Donkey Kong Adventure DLC for Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is pretty massive. Ubisoft has said that it’ll contain around ten hours of gameplay, but that wasn’t always the plan.

In an interview with Eurogamer, developer Davide Soliani revealed that the original plan was for the DLC to be “a small experience, two to three hours, one world.” That’s in contrast to how the content is now, with tons of gameplay, new music, and new elements for the combat system.

During this month’s Nintendo Direct Mini, Ubisoft unveiled the newest character for Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. Donkey Kong will be added via the upcoming story DLC.

Creative director Davide Soliani says Donkey Kong’s arms will be used “extensively” in combat. Being a gorilla also affords him more mobility options.

You may know Davide Soliani as the creative director behind Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. But many years before that Switch game, Soliani wanted to work on another Nintendo franchise: Zelda.

During the GBA era, Soliani says he and artist Fabio Pagetti “almost convinced our managing director to let us produce a demo for a GBA version of Wind Waker.” Unfortunately, it didn’t get very far. There is also no working demo sadly.

Soliani shared the following on Twitter:

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle was a monumental game for a number of reasons. Perhaps most significantly, Nintendo allowed Ubisoft to use the Mario IP and its various characters.

Leading the way on the project was creative director Davide Soliani. Throughout development, Soliani and the rest of the team needed to work and collaborate with Nintendo to make sure everything was just right.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a crazy concept in its premise, yet Nintendo ended up signing off on the project. Creative director Davide Soliani told IGN that the company is actually “quite open-minded” to new ideas. You just need to come up with a concept that can justify its existence.

As many of you know, Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto didn’t want Ubisoft to create a platformer. Instead, he wanted them to come up with their own concept. Ubisoft ran wild with the challenge, and created a turn-based strategy game and gave guns to Mario and the rest of the gang.


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