Rayman Raving Rabbids

Bunnies most certainly love to dance

Platform	Presentation	Controls	Variety	Audio	Depth	Value & Fun	OVERALL
Wii	9.00	9.00	7.50	9.75	6.50	7.00	7.81

General Information

Multiplayer Importance: Low.

Previously played game in the series: None.

Television set-up: 19" Sylvania CRT, SDTV 480i, composite cables.

Gameplay Description

Rayman Raving Rabbids, while bearing the Rayman franchise name, has only that name in resemblance to the franchise. Raving Rabbids is a collection of minigames that make various use of the Wii remote.

Dedication Meter	10.00
You'll have to play through the story mode to unlock multiplayer and score mode, so to hop right in, you do have to put some time into the single player campaign, which only saves after you finish a round of 3 minigames (4 if you play the extra dancing game) and a longer "boss" style game. It's easy to get into and you don't have to spend long in a sitting. It really is a pick-up-and-play title.

Presentation

9.00

     The presentation has a big impact on the enjoyment of the game.  Undeniably, most people would not even consider this game if it were not for the bunnies, who are indeed the stars.  The game features raving "rabbids" (bunnies) who are trying to take over the world.  The bunnies are fairly incoherent and only seem to respond to dancing which they love and comes up often throughout the game.  The animation is simplified by very effective and entertaining, particularly in the dancing minigame.  More and more dancing bunnies all in rhythm with all their various moves makes it impossible not to smile.

     Technically speaking, Rayman looks fair, but does not particularly impress.  The visuals are good enough to show off the style of the rabbids, but there's definitely nothing particularly special on the technical side.  The menus are, for the most part, effective.  Before each game you'll not only get clear instructions on how the game will play out, but an animation of a bunny performing the controller movements.  It takes some getting used to the score mode menu, though, as it's very odd.  It could have been more clear, but its charms balance it out.  you select games from a jigsaw-puzzle style layout in which the pieces generally show what the game's about, but it's not exactly obvious and it could have been better displayed.

     The story in the game is the real disappointment.  If you go into the game without knowledge of the game, you'll be very confused.  The bunnies rising to take over the world isn't explained at all and there's only cinematics at the beginning and end, aren't aren't that great anyway.

     While there are flaws, the charm of the bunnies is undeniable.

Controls

9.00

Rayman Raving Rabbids is a great primer for the beginner Wii player because it puts the Wii remote and nunchuck through all the motions. When it comes to most minigames, the only thing to blame for failure is your own shaky hands, although most games you'll probably have to try once before the concept clicks and you can get a good enough score to advance. The range is very wide and may or may not use the nunchuck depending on the games. The games that use the nunchuck use a very "rub the belly and pat the head" type of mechanic which will have you switching hands and sitting positions to try and get the most effective technique for success. It's worth noting that in no game do you feel as though the result is a fluke or control is out of your hands at all.

The only detractors are just little problems that show up in certain games. For example, a game has you slamming a bathroom stall door on bunnies, which really doesn't show you how to properly close the door and can cause some problems -- the correct technique is to have your cursor over the bunny and not the door, which is confusing and unexplained. There's a knife-throwing style game that doesn't really come off as responsive. But the only game that is just poor because of it is a game in which you guide a pig to its parents by listening for underground bunnies through the Wii remote speaker -- it's hard to tell what you're hearing, what you hear is painful to listen to, and the harder version has portions where the noise intentionally is overwhelmed by another noise and makes it entirely luck. Avoiding the few games that are problematic, the controls are great, but there are little irks here and there.

Variety

7.50

The mini-game concepts are varied and fun and make good use of the Wiimote's features. There are many short minigames and a few long ones. The long ones (racing, shooting, dancing) have several different levels, but the smaller games typically have an easy version and a harder version. The harder versions basically take up the second half of the short story mode, so it feels a little depleted. There are several "move the Wiimote and nunchuck up and down quickly" games, that while humourous to see, don't really mix things up enough to make them feel like independent games. Aside from the up and down games, the rest feel independent which makes each interesting in its own right.

There is multiplayer, but this should not really be considered a party game. The multiplayer games are played independently and doesn't have any party game rules of who's the first to win so many or anything of the like. The number of simultaneous games are limited, and only includes two of the three long minigames. The minigames can only really be comparable to Mario Party, and having them not within the context of an actual game (and having far fewer games), it's more of an extra than a selling point.

Audio

9.75

The audio, just like the presentation, makes the experience far better than it would have without its charm. The bunnies' screams are hilarious, as is almost everything to do with the audio. There are bunny remixed tracks that include Jingle Bells and Beethoven's Ode to Joy. There's a good selection of songs for the dancing game, both in number and in selection. The only little qualms are just limited use of the bunny sounds in gameplay, which I think could have been pushed more. Overall it's brilliantly done.

Depth

6.50

Most games are to do one task, and there's not much beyond that. Where you'll find some strategy is in how you use the Wii remote and in select minigames. The longer minigames, while more fun, aren't exactly loaded with depth, but it doesn't hurt the experience in those cases. Racing has a few shortcuts and implementation of bursts, shooting has little objects throughout the world you can shoot, and dancing is just striking either right or left in rhythm. Games aren't too simple, but there aren't exactly chess, either.

Value & Fun

7.00

     Rayman Raving Rabbids acts as a fun diversion and is solid enough for a launch title, but lacks in games that are actually worth playing again.  The single-player campaign only takes about 4 hours to complete, with half of the games being harder repeats.  It's good unique fun to play through, but not to play through again.  Some games can be frustrating, although the frustration doesn't last as it's likely you'll find a solution to each game quickly.

     What holds the game together really are the longer minigames.  The shooting game is basically a rail-shooter.  You only control your aim and fire as bunnies pop out of every nook, ready to pounce.  You can find a music player in each level which will make all the bunnies on screen dance, which is particularly amusing (and useful).  It's not difficult, but it's entertaining, although not great for high-scores.  The racing game is perhaps the most challenging to win as you'll have to use shortcuts and the control of a large hog can be appropriately unwieldy.  Timely use of boost is integral.

     The highlight of the entire game is inarguably the dancing game.  The bunnies come from either side to a circle at which time you do a drum strike; it's simple, but the physical aspect really gets the player into the beat.  There are about seven songs which a an easy and hard version of each (a third difficulty for one) and is strangely addictive.  The songs themselves are great because not only do they lend themselves to rhythm games well, but they are also hilarious bunny remixes.  This is what I find to be the lasting value in the game and by far the most fun.

     There are also unlockable bonuses for playing score mode and getting cumulative points.  There are a lot of points to get, and to get them all is absurd as you have to be quite seriously perfect to get 1000/1000 - the rhythm game you do have to get every beat perfect.  It's a nice addition, but the rewards aren't really worth the input if you don't want to play all the games again while going for great scores (you need to land in the top 3 high scores to get any points).

Overall

7.81

Rayman Raving Rabbids is what it is -- a funny collection of minigames with bunnies. It's not anything amazing or spectactular, but it doesn't make many mistakes either. It's a fun little quirky game that works well as a launch title. The main mistake would be to take this as a party game, as it doesn't really work well that way at all. I doubt it will be disappointing to many, but its flaws are apparent.

Posted by Ellyoda Tue, 19 Dec 2006 00:00:00

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