Review of Rayman Raving Rabbids for Nintendo Wii

By Richard Southam

The Game: Rayman Raving Rabbids

Published by: Ubisoft
Developed by: Ubisoft Montpellier (France)
Genre: Platformer
Number of Players: 1-4
Release Date:
US: November 19, 2006
Japan: December 31, 2006
Europe: December 8, 2006
ESRB Content Descriptors: Cartoon Violence, Comic Mischief

The Premise from Ubisoft:

Hordes of crazed out-of control bunnies have invaded, enslaving Rayman and forcing him to participate in “gladiator” style trials. Help Rayman win his freedom back by entertaining and outwitting these fury foes. Use the most hilarious fighting moves imaginable. Run races on animals, fight in the arena, mesmerize the bunnies with your dance moves or use the Wii controller to throw cows, milk pigs or engage in plunger shooting madness! The possibilities for fun are endless.

The Game:

Rayman Raving Rabbids will not capture your heart and mind with an amazing premise. However, the premise does its job by getting you involved in mini-games. Yes, mini-games. This is not a traditional Rayman game. Although its official genre is Platformer, it is more of a Party game than Platformer. That is not to say that it does not contain any Platforming elements, because it does. The mini-games are connected via traditional Platform gaming, and the boss fights are also done in a traditional Platforming style of play.

Gameplay:

The mini-games are, for the most part, extremely fun to play. It does have a few misses, but overall they’re great. The comedic aspect of the game is also fun, and actually quite funny. You just need to watch a trailer of the game to see what I mean. However like most games whose gameplay is almost exclusively mini-games, the single-player experience does get a bit tiresome after a while. The real joy of the game is its multi-player features. Not all mini-games can be played in multi-player mode, but there are more than enough to quench your appetite. Some of the multi-player mini-games require only 1 remote, which is then passed around from player to player. However, this style of multi-player isn’t quite as fun as the 4-player mayhem. That is, all 4 players playing simultaneously. This requires each player to have their own remote.

The Controls:

Ubisoft really hit the nail on the head with Rayman Raving Rabbids’ control scheme. The use of motion sensing technology is on full display in this game. Some games require more physical effort than others, but unless you’re completely out of shape, you shouldn’t have any problems. Simple gestures and motions are usually more than enough for the majority of the mini-games.

Graphics:

The graphics are not revolutionary. In fact, it can be compared to an above-average GameCube game. However, this does not mean that the game is ugly. It is well polished and its use of a great animated style is a plus. The levels and characters are well designed which adds a lot in terms of the overall game.

Audio:

The game has nothing groundbreaking in terms of sound effects, but they are quite solid. The soundtrack is actually quite impressive. It contains such songs as “Girls Just Want to have Fun” and “La Bamba”.

Pros and Cons:

+ Generally fantastic mini-games + Quirky humor + Great control scheme - Although it is helped by the style, the overall graphics aren’t that great - Single-player experience tends to get boring too fast

The verdict:

8.4 / 10

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