Rayman : Raving Rabbids for Wii Review by Ben Jacobs for Snackbar Games
The [i]Rayman[/i] franchise has been a mainstay in the video game world for a long time now. It made the transition to 3D successfully and is now entering a new generation. Depending on how you feel about party games you might be very excited about this. This is no platformer, this is a party game ala-[i]Mario Party[/i] with all of the attitude of the [i]Rayman[/i] franchise. An innovative ad-campaign has been heralding this game for months and expectations were very high.
The main draw of [i]Raving Rabbids[/i] for most people is going to be the Wii remote controls. I noticed that [i]Rabbids[/i] was released on the PS2 as well as the Wii, but I can’t figure out for the life of me how it would work since most of the games herein use the Wii Remote in several different, fun ways. That is probably the reason you are reading this review. Do the controls live up to the pre-release hype? Often, they do. There are several minigames that control beautifully and wave Nintendo’s Innovation flag quite fervently, but there are others that left me boggled.
Most notable of the bunch are the boss levels, where most of the time you will be playing a shooter game ala [i]Lethal Enforcers[/i]. Like all the minigames, you unlock this in single player mode, but after that you can trounce through it with a friend. These games are worth the price of admission alone. The control is pixel-perfect and it will take you all of a minute to get used to blasting the bunnies away. These are just the boss levels, although there are several of them. Most of the levels in Rabbids involve a single task that must be completed quickly. Some are fun and novel, like the dance levels and one in which you must draw food on the screen for a Rabbid to eat, and others fall flat, like most of the Exercise levels (Where you have to move the remote really quickly). It is a very mixed bag.
The graphics are a mixed bag as well. Some of the minigames look gorgeous (The shooting levels spring to mind), but others have bland textures and crappy models. The single player game is also a little lacking. It is short, of course, but the hub area is very ugly. It is kind of fun to watch your room get increasingly nicer as the [i]Rabbids[/i] take to you. The main problem I have with the presentation is that it lacks polish. Everything is very minimal in the interface, loading takes just a bit too long and the multiplayer mode is a little awkward to get set up.
Should you buy this game? Not yet. At 50 bucks, it is just not worth it yet. There is going to be a period between [i]Wario Ware[/i] and [i]Mario Party[/i], and in there, [i]Rabbids[/i] might get a price drop. If you are into party games, pick it up then, because it has a lot to offer. Otherwise, go back to [i]Twilight Princess[/i].
