Rayman Raving Rabbids is based almost entirely around a set of offbeat minigames, each more odd than the next. There's a story mode which we didn't get a chance to look at, but we were told that it involves something along the lines of Rayman and his friends being taken hostage by the furry terrorists of the game's title. The hostage is then forced by his captors to perform a series of minigames for their amusement and, we presume, to overcome his situation. The story doesn't sound like it's going to be studied as a final year high school text anytime soon, but it's definately not what is at the centre of Raving Rabbids, which is instead the frantic set of minigames you'll be treated to throughout your enslavement.
One third cute, one third terrifying, the other third utterly ridiculous, the Rabbids are incredibly well-created characters.
We got a chance to try out a great deal of the minigames on hand. These range from absurd to totally off the planet. With game titles such as 'Bunnies Don't Know What to do With Cows' and 'Bunnies Can't Close Doors' Raving Rabbids takes often simple premises such as closing doors and milking cows and turns them into extremely frantic and insane minigames. One game we played involved simply alternately shaking the Wiimote and the Nunchuck up and down to build up momentum as Rayman spun around a cow by a chain, as if competing in hammer toss; the A button is then pressed to let go of the bovine piece of sporting equipment, the aim being to get it as far as possible. The stylized cow ends up bouncing down the field, finally coming to a rest as you're finishing off giggling like a schoolkid at how silly and almost abstract what you've just witnessed was. Many of the minigames share this absurd style, and are quite reminiscent of the overly stylized ridiculousness you'd see in a Warner Brothers cartoon.
One game had us skydiving through clouds whilst we had to twist and turn the Wiimote as if it where our onscreen avater. Another game involved us trying to find Rabbids singing out of tune in a schoolboy choir by singling the perpetrators out with a point of the Wiimote. With their idiodic look ampified by wearing dorky looking uniforms this game was hilariously fun. There is also a rhythm-based set of minigames where the aim is to hit as many beats as possible to get a dancing army of the lunatic bunnies behind Rayman on the disco floor. In another game, we had to shake the Nunchuck to increase the pressure of a hose pumping out carrot juice and at the same time take aim at bunnies emerging from the sea to fill up their goggles with the juice, causing them to collapse before reaching us. When we were finally overwhelmed by the lunatics and they finally reached us it was with a mad scream from the encroaching Rabbids that the minigame ended, which left us in fits of laughter.
Disco Stu aint got nothing on these guys.
There are also FPS-esque minigames where you're tasked with rescuing one of Rayman's friends. Rather than being armed with a huge arsenal of firearms with skin-piercing bullets, you're given a gun that fires plungers to take out your furry foes. This game is quite simplistic - you progress on rails rather than through your own exploration, and it's a riot. Reloading with a shake of the Nunchuck and aiming with the Wiimote is great fun, especially when you manage to hit a Rabbid square in the face with a plunger leaving him to stumble backwards with your projectile lodged firmly over his face in an extremely comical way. Along these few minigames there is a bevy of others, almost all utilising the Wiimote in different ways, and the game does a great deal of justice to Nintendo's new vision for gaming. As simplistic as some of the controls seem, they allow for some great fun to be had.
Although the game's title features Rayman, the real stars of this game are the Rabbids. This is partly due to their slightly vacant look, one that sparks feelings built of both joy (stemming from their ridiculous visage) and fear (springing from their serial killer-like madness). From the moment you see them hold up random objects such as plungers or fruit and let out an inexplicable scream, you know you're in for a zany ride. The fantastic art direction extends beyond its characters and shows that even on the least graphically powerful console of the generation, given the right art style, a game can look incredibly polished.
That's one brave Rayman.
Rayman Raving Rabbids is not only a remarkable showcase for the possibilities that the Wiimote has for incredibly fun gaming, but it also looks as if it will work well beyond the 'tech-demoiness' that many other launch titles appear to suffer from. The art style of Raving Rabbids is perfect for the Wii. With it's quick in and out style and variety of minigames, it allows you to explore the new controller in new and unique ways never experienced before. Not only is it interesting to see how the new console works through the game, but it's also incredibly fun to place yourself within the frantic gameplay environment, insane character and art development and to just let go and have a wild time shaking your arms around like a madman. This looks to be one of the standout titles for the Wii launch and if you're a fan of minigames or offbeat releases, then Rayman Raving Rabbids looks to be definately worth beginning your Wii library with.
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