Retro Review: Rayman Raving Rabbids

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There is just something about the Rabbids in this game that makes it an instant classic. They are cute, adorable, insane, and absolutely nonsensical. This combination leads to all sorts of fun mini-games that make very good use of the Wii Remote.

The game itself has about 70 mini-games, though this is fairly misleading. Many of the games are repeated at least once in a more difficult version, therefore leaving the true mini-game count at about 50 or so. Still, that is a fairly good amount, and there is nothing wrong with that. Due to the insanity of the Rabbids, most every mini-game is unique, funny and genuinely enjoyable. You have games such as forcing a Rabbid to remain in a toilet, plucking worms out of a Rabbid's teeth or delivering an explosive present to a hapless Rabbid as soon as possible. These normally quirky games, along with the very fun DDR-style rhythm games and the rail-shooter (similar to games like Time Crisis and House of the Dead) games, make this set of minigames very solid.

©Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. ©Ubisoft Montpellier

The main problem that arises from these minigames is what defines a party game: multiplayer. The majority of minigames must be played in turns. The rail-shooters must be played with 1 or 2 people only; there are only a handful of games that can be played simultaneously. This is a major flaw, because being able to play at the same time as others in zany games is what makes a party game most fun (like Mario Party for example). On the bright side, the games are over-the-top funny, meaning the waiting players will be having a good laugh watching. Another seemingly minor point is that you don't need 4 remotes and Nunchuk to play this game. You can get away with having just one pair, since most of the games will merely be played by turns.

The games control absolutely fine, and in fact, use the Wii Remote in more ways than I could have every thought of (at the time). You will find wonderful variety here in controls, and all of them are very intuitive and generally very responsive, which is impressive out of a console launch game.

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The story is utterly lame, but gets the job done and also at least makes the single-player make some sense. Basically Rayman gets kidnapped by Rabbids while he is on a picnic and then is thrown into a colosseum. Rayman then needs to complete events to gain the favor of the Rabbids while finding a way to escape. Simple as that. The events are of course your minigames.

The game can range from looking great, to looking kind of bland. Overall the graphics don't ever exceed the looks of an Xbox game, sometimes looking like a decent GCN game. That isn't very good coming out of the Wii, a more powerful console. When a game has bad graphics like that, it can usually make up for it in artistic direction. Well this game does and doesn't do that at the same time. At times the game will look absolutely wonderful, with varied Rabbid designs and fun environments. More often than not, you will find the game to have wonderful artistic ideas, but to be implemented in extremely bland ways. At least the animations are fairly fluid, though rarely you will notice a stutter in framerate (usually during cut scenes, not gameplay). Sometimes I wonder whether this game was rushed near the end, which is why some of these issues exist that could have been polished otherwise.

©Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. ©Ubisoft Montpellier

As for the sound, well this is a mixed bag as well. The sound effects overall are fantastic, especially with any sounds involving the Rabbids. The music is generally easily forgettable, with a notable exception. The rhythm game has fun songs to play to, and that is the only exception. The rhythm game contains songs you’ll likely be familiar with, but with the silly blabbering language of the Rabbids in place of singing in English.

The main question here is whether the game is fun and will last you an acceptable amount of time. Well the story-mode will likely take you anywhere from 3-6 hours, depending on your skill, adaptive capabilities and speed. That's not bad, considering that's how you unlock the minigames for multiplayer. The multiplayer is very fun, and this is one of those games where you will want to pull out every once in a while with friends just for the sake of mad fun. Regarding extras, there are some Challenges you can unlock, which usually consist of playing 3 different minigames in a row. Nothing big, but more ways to score points in multiplayer (known as score mode). These points unlock all sorts of quirky bonus stuff, like random promo videos (that are funny) and artwork. These unlockables are a definite bonus to a game that doesn't need an incentive of bonus features in order to be fun.

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Overall, this game is a solid party game that is a worthy purchase for your Wii. Be warned though, as amusing as this game is, it will likely not be worth your time unless you have at least one person to play with, unless you are the type of person who is addicted to getting high scores. Considering the extremely low price point you’ll likely find the game now, it’ll make a solid addition to almost any Wii collection.

Note: This game was released on Game Boy Advance, Wii, PlayStation 2, Windows, DS and Xbox 360. The portable versions are almost entirely different games. The other versions were released later and so I never got a chance to play them. Based on research, they look to provide similar experiences, but I recommend the Wii version the most due to the creative use of the Wii’s motion technology.
 
Graphics: GREAT
Sound: GOOD
Gameplay: GREAT
Value: AMAZING
 
OVERALL: GREAT
 
- Teepu