Marsupilami is Back!
Having played, loved and collected every last hoob in Marsupilami: Hoobadventure, I couldn’t be more stoked that Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia exists (or, at least, will exist, as it’s due for launch on September 3, 2026, on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC).
I assumed that a sequel would be unlikely to the extreme: the original game was, after all, an adaptation of a TV series that very few remember, and a game that very few people seem to talk about. It felt like it was condemned to the saddest of places: the bin marked ‘excellent game, didn’t sell’. But I must have been wrong, and I am very happy to admit the fact. Because we live in a world where Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia is releasing soon, in a rather packed September.
When Ubisoft can only be bothered to drop a ‘Retold’ version of Rayman Legends, rather than a sequel, this news is a Very Good Thing. In our review of Marsupilami: Hoobadventure, we compared it very favourably to the classic Ubisoft series, and – having played three levels and 30 minutes of Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia, that trend looks incredibly likely to continue. Rayman can continue his vacation a little longer.
Character Swapping and Mechanics
Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia’s demo is quick to display what’s different this time round. Marsupilami is not alone. He comes with friends, and those friends can be tagged-in with a jab of the Y button. What makes that interesting is that they’re not just cosmetically different, or apply gentle variations on the platforming: they make Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia feel like a completely different game.
Take Punch: he’s a purple take on Marsupilami, and has the dubious superpower of turning into a ball and bouncing around the level. Everything is seen through a new lens: you’re not timing jumps, you’re making room for arcing bounces. Enemies and blocks are now trivial, as you’re a wrecking ball. But you’re also chaotic, and moments of precision will need another jab of the Y button.
In the three levels I’ve played, the character-switching is so impressive because Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia’s levels can absorb these wild changes in gameplay. It’s not like a LEGO game where you’re swapping characters for a quick grapple or high-jump, yet are ostensibly playing the same game. Each character makes you play and feel the level differently. And that’s pretty cool.
Reaching Inventive New Peaks
Our biggest criticism of the first game was that it didn’t quite reach the inventive peaks of Rayman Legends and Origins – the games that it most clearly resembles. We didn’t necessarily expect it to have some musical numbers, but there was still room for more than simple, fast-paced platforming. With Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia, that issue seems to be addressed.
Our favourite of the three levels shown so far is City Panic, which uses cars and roads to create something new. Roads crisscross through the game field, running parallel with the action before making a sharp turn into it. There are moments that resemble Crossy Road or Frogger, as you have to negotiate the traffic, while in other moments the road is the level, and you’re hopping on top of differently shaped cars to bounce and jump onto nearby platforms. This hokey-cokey of roads becoming background, mid-ground and foreground makes for a level that loves to surprise.
Can Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia keep it up? That’s going to be the key to whether it breaks into the mainstream, I suspect. The other two levels on show here are as vibrant and clever as always, but they don’t quite reach the peaks of City Panic (although they do tutorialise the character-swapping, so they should perhaps be given some leeway). If there are more of these wow moments – these memorable sections that will draw people in – then Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia may just punch through the September noise.
At the very least, we expect Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia to be a co-op, family-friendly, beautifully crafted platformer. It’s clear that the strong base of Marsupilami: Hoobadventure has been built on, rather than thrown away. The fluidity from the many different moves – jumping, tail-grabbing, rolling, firing through toucan-cannons – is still incredible, with barely a millisecond lost between animations. The palette is gorgeous, thriving in colour and vibrancy. And there are just so, so many collectibles, including Dojo challenges. We felt a pang of guilt whenever we left a hoob behind.
A Mario-Shaped Treat Worth Finding
I really hope that Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia finds its audience. If the world was a true meritocracy, it would. Because certainly on the basis of these three levels, we’re in for a vaguely Mario-shaped treat.
But the world is not like that, and Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia is launching in the most packed September in recent memory. Perhaps that Rayman Legends Retold reveal will help it: in a world where we’re lacking new, carefully crafted 2D platformers, perhaps there is room for Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia. We certainly hope so, because Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia deserves to be found, not lost.
Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia is due for release on September 3, 2026, on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Huge thanks go out to Microids for access to some of the game.
