Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope creative director explains why Rosalina isn't playable

Those who’ve played Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope know that Rabbid Rosalina appears in the game and is playable, but her namesake is not. Wondering why Rosalina herself wasn’t a part of the playable roster? Creative director Davide Soliani has shared some insight.

In an interview with Nintendo Everything, Soliani shared a number of reasons why Rosalina didn’t make the playable cut. First up, Soliani says that Rosalina’s size would have presented some unique challenges. As you might know, Rosalina is quite a tall character, and that height would have caused numerous issues for the game’s cover system. Soliani said it was already hard enough to make things work for Bowser, but fitting in Rosalina and staying true lore-wise would have been incredibly challenging.

That’s not the only thing that kept Rosalina from being playable, as Soliani also pointed out that the character is simply too powerful. If they were to include Rosalina, they’d need a whole story to explain why her powers were lessened, or why her powers made sense when compared to everyone else. Again, a lot of work that would have removed a lot of who Rosalina is, so the team decided to offer Rabbid Rosalina instead.