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Platform: Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, GameBoy Advance, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, PC

Genre: Party

Number of Players: 1 - 4

When Rayman was released back in 1995 for the original PlayStation, it may not have been the hero that everyone was expecting, but the vibrant look to the platform game won over fans and critics and since then, Rayman just keeps appearing on just about every platform. Unlike the Mario’s and Link’s of the world, Rayman isn’t a character who is relegated just on one particular console, and he’s popping up once again as a part of the next generation of consoles.

Rayman Raving Rabbids finds our hero, Rayman, in quite a predicament. While out enjoying a picnic, the peace and quite is soon interrupted by an earthquake and from a hole in the ground, three Rabbids emerge and abduct our poor hero. Rayman is now a part of a series of deadly trials facing the Rabbids, and not just to free himself but also the Globox children who also were at the picnic and are now captives as well.

Raving Rabbids is your quintessential party game allowing up to four players if you’re playing the multiplayer mode, but the game also features a story mode as well as a score mode. The story mode however is what you will want to tackle first as it will allow the completed mini-games to be played in the score mode. The story itself consists of 75 different games, though many of these are simply more difficult versions of ones played before, and each round is a “day” in which you must complete three trials in order to move along to the next day.

There are a variety of different games, all of which use the Wii remote in a different way. Before each game, you will be instructed on how exactly to use the remote, and it’s fairly straight-forward. You’ll have to deal with dancing bunnies, try and keep them locked in the toilets, toss animals around, launch animals into the air and plenty of other things. Some of the games have you trying to reach a distance, others a certain score, and some are timed, and as you progress further into the game, even though you may be playing a game that you’ve played before, they become more and more difficult.

After you’ve completed a day of trials, you’ll be put back into your cell. Here, Rayman can see what’s happened already to him, and that’s all done by . . . looking in the toilet. Hopefully it’s been flushed prior to you using it as a looking glass. There’s also a jukebox, I know, it’s a cell, but the Rabbids aren’t completely heartless, and here you can listen to music from the game. There’s also a wardrobe where you change clothes and accessories and this can actually help you with gaining the affection of the Rabbids. Lastly, there is a window and by using plungers, you’ll get closer and closer to finally making it out of your cell and to freedom.

Once you’ve successfully completed the story portion, not only will you have plenty of mini-game available in score mode, you also will unlock the games challenge mode. These are even more challenging versions of the games found in Raving Rabbids and will tax your abilities as a player. Best of luck . . . you’ll need it. As mentioned, there is also the multiplayer mode where you can either challenge other players or work in a co-op mode or the organization mode where each player will take a turn at the selected game. The same mini-games are available here, so there’s really a little something for everyone.

The graphics for Raving Rabbids really stay true to the way that the Rayman series has looked from the very beginning of the series. The characters have a cute look to them, but probably the best are the Rabbids and their rather odd scream which is somewhat annoying at first, but after a while you’ll be trying to refrain from mimicking them. Raving Rabbids is quite colorful, and that’s something that is expected from the franchise at this point, though as with many games on the Wii, the limitations of the console are very clear, and there are moments when jagged edges can be seen and the lack of high definition visuals really detracts from the game. But, on a standard television, you shouldn’t see a huge issue with the graphics.

Raving Rabbids is a decent party game, though nowhere near as entertaining as what the Mario Party games have been. As for the single player mode though, this is a game that can be breezed through quite quickly by most gamers, but at least Ubisoft is making good use of the Wii controller instead of simply doing a couple of minor things. It’s not a party game for everyone, but those who do appreciate them will find quite a bit of fun lies within the inner workings of Raving Rabbids.

-mike-