As A Co-Op Game, You Will Marsupi-Love It
Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia is the gaming equivalent of a family-bag of skittles. It’s ridiculously colourful, to the point that I wonder if any game has spanned the full RGB colour-picker as much as it has. It’s also a sugar-rush, dosing me up on adrenaline and the giggles. It’s great to share, particularly with kids, and while I wouldn’t eat it every day – ye gods, I don’t think my heart could take it – I’m entirely happy that it exists as the occasional treat.
As someone who played and loved the original Marsupilami: Hoobadventure, this tracks. That game was a delight and a complete surprise when it came out in 2021. We had absolutely zero hope for it when we reviewed it, but it managed to pulp Donkey Kong Country and Rayman Origins, feeding the mixture through a sausage machine to make something that we gobbled up in a couple of play-sessions (ugh, sausage and Skittle similes do NOT mix).
A Licenced Video Game That Surpasses Its Source Material
You can imagine the warm feeling in our bellies when Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia was announced. Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia takes the middle path when it comes to sequels. It’s not quite a ‘more of the same’ sequel, nor is it a complete reinvention. It’s somewhere between the two, adding some welcome characters and mechanics, while retaining much of what made the first game so delightful.
The most obvious addition to the first game is three Marsupilamis for the price of one. There are three characters to choose from in Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia, and they each have their specialisms. There’s Twister, who carries a lot of the abilities from the first game. He can dash through small gaps, as long as you time the move correctly, and can land with panache using a tailcopter. Hope is more of the vertical persuasion, as she can tailspin herself onto out-of-reach platforms, as well as make herself invincible when bottom-bouncing on glowing foes. Finally, there’s Punch, who barely seems to be playing the same game as the other two. He can turn himself into a bouncing ball that careens around the levels, ignoring most spikes and enemies. He’s utterly bonkers.
Three characters means some of the old character-switcheroo. In single-player, you can tap a button and replace Twister with Punch, perhaps, and negotiate a section that only one of them can pass. In co-op (Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia is an almost essential purchase for a family that likes a) platformers, b) fun and c) griefing each other), you get to choose from two characters per level. We found ourselves specialising, as I was a dab-hand at Hope, while my kids were much better at Twister and Punch.
Stop-Start Switching
Adding new characters does tinker with the simple, pure energy of Marsupilami. In terms of game speed, Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia is incredibly fast, and you can absolutely leather it through a level if you have reactions and willpower. But stopping to character-switch does kill that momentum somewhat. It’s almost a shame that there are sections that only one character can pass, as you will often hit walls.
We also found that Hope just wasn’t as enjoyable to play as the other two. Jumping higher isn’t enjoyable enough to beat the thrill of a Twister who can spin-float or a Punch who can bounce around like a wrecking ball. My kids turned their noses up at Hope, which meant that I got to play her. And I do have to admit that ‘being able to survive certain enemies’ isn’t a cracker of a perk.
On balance, though, we were happy to be playing new characters. The levels gain another dimension as you search for secrets – and Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia has plenty of them – and determine who is best to reach them. Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia also loves to create bifurcating routes, allowing a bouncy ball and spinning rodent to take two different routes.
Life Is Better In Co-Op
The levels have had a spruce, too. They are still as vibrant and fast-moving as ever, but there’s an increment more cleverness to them. I’m a fan of the town levels, where roads full of cars zigzag in and out of the game field. You can be avoiding cars, then bouncing on them, before dodging out of the way of an electrified tram.
When playing co-op, which is when Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia is at its best (not only because the character-switching is a non-issue), there’s the potential for some lovely emergent play. Most level sequences end with a toucan that fires you onto the next part of the level, and it becomes a race to reach them first. Whoever gets there has control of the toucan-firing that follows. But this philosophy continues over the whole game. Who can reach the avocado-like fruit at the end first? Who will be the last Marsupilami standing in the hidden dojos? Who is going to catch the last fruit, unlocking one of the collectible musical notes? None of these micro-competitions actually matter in the game, so they are low-stakes PvP for those who want them.
The final blow of the trumpet is for the sheer gorgeousness of the presentation. Outside of the Rayman games, there isn’t a family-friendly game experience that looks as stellar as Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia. Nor is there one that sounds as good, too. The ‘Salsa’ of the title is there for a reason: this is a carnival of colour and music, with every honking car and rustling grass adding a brick to the sonic wall. This is a game to play with the volume turned as high as possible.
We’re Already Eager For Marsupilami 3
If I’m being uber-critical, I do think that Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia has more gears to move through. When I think about its two big influences, Rayman and Donkey Kong, I think of the levels that keep breaking the formal structure of the game, that pull the rug from underneath you by introducing a wild new mechanic or delivering a completely new level type. I wonder if Microids and Ocellus Studios can shatter this ceiling in a third game. It’s Marsupilami’s final barrier: ditching its level template every so often and delivering something that makes everyone’s jaw drop. I’m thinking of the musical levels in Rayman Legends, or the minecart levels of Donkey Kong.
For now, I’m just going to be happy with what I’ve got. Because after playing Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia, we can still taste the rainbows. If you’ve got a family of platform fans, and co-op is what you’re after, then you won’t find an experience that is as vibrant, immediate and frantic as Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia.
If you’re a single-player, or old enough to remember when Rayman released games that weren’t remakes, then Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia is slightly less of a cast-iron recommendation. It can’t hold a candle to Silksong, for example (but then again, who can?). But it’s still one of the purest arcade 2D platforming adventures you can buy on the Xbox, and that was enough for me.
Important Links
Get Ready To Dance As Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia Launches – https://www.thexboxhub.com/get-ready-to-dance-as-marsupilami-2-salsa-palombia-launches/
Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia Shows Rayman How It’s Done – https://www.thexboxhub.com/marsupalami-2-salsa-palombia-shows-rayman-how-its-done/
Best New Xbox And Game Pass Games For September 2026 – https://www.thexboxhub.com/best-new-xbox-and-game-pass-games-for-september-2026/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/marsupilami-2-salsa-palombia/9n77cvtt1l9g
