Rayman Raving Rabbids
May 29,2007 - Bunnies are renowned for being one of nature’s harmless creatures. In the world of entertainment, however, bunnies aren’t always nice and cuddly. As Monty Python and the Holy Grail showed us, even the most innocent of rabbits can be deadly (“That's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on!”). In the latest Rayman installment, Raving Rabbids, that mini-tread is slightly continued upon.

There really isn’t too much story to Raving Rabbids. Rayman is seen having a picnic with the Globox kids when an earthquake rudely interrupts them. Unfortunately for them, those pesky rabbids show up, and kidnap everyone despite Rayman’s peace offering. Locked up in Cell 25, Rayman must complete daily trials for the dirty Rabbids to win over their praise, escape, and save the day. Collecting plungers along the way in order to escape out the window, as well as costumes for achievements, that’s essentially all there is to it.

There are over 70 minigames to complete in story mode, but there is only a limited variety of minigames you’ll be playing. The staple minigame to be found every day is the Shake Your Booty! trial. In this, you must tap the triggers in accordance to the beat of the song playing (remixed versions of Misirlou, La Bamba, etc.). It’s relatively easy if you have—at the least—decent coordination. However, it’s still fun and the least likely to get old. Other minigames will test you ability to score a certain amount of points in a given time, finding your way through mazes, or other sport-like games.

Most of the games handle relatively well, namely the dancing game, but there’s one obvious trait: this game was built for the Wii. This 360 version takes a small hit because of this, due to slight control issues. At times, moving the analog sticks will become tricky due to very high sensitivity. Most of the time they work just fine, but there are instances once in a while where it holds the potential of hindering your success. Difficulty-wise, you’ll be able to get most of these on the first shot. Some will take you a few tries, but after you get used to them, you’ll pass it with relative ease. The games will also get progressively harder the closer you get to the end, but it shouldn’t slow you down much.

One of the special features implemented into the 360 version of Raving Rabbids is the Xbox Live Vision Camera. A vast majority of the minigames is supported by the camera and can be activated by waving your hand in front of the camera. Your gestures will dictate your movements throughout the minigame. It works slightly similar to the Wii version, but it just doesn’t have the same pizzazz to it. One of the cheap shots—in reality though, it’s not cheap—is directly related to the camera, however, is one of the achievements. For a quick 50 points, you must use the camera for at least one minigame. If you don’t have the camera and want the achievement, it will set you back a cool $40. Nobody ever said gaming was cheap, right? But that’s enough about that.


As far as graphics go, Raving Rabbids won’t be going on any top 10 lists. The difference between this version and its Wii predecessor is noticeable enough, but since it is just a port, it doesn’t go too far. It’s just a tad bit smoother and shinier, so if that’s the sort of thing you’re looking for, by all means, go for this version.

The game boasts a small amount of multiplayer as well. In Score Mode, you can enter either solo or with three other players and compete to get the highest score/best time. The levels consist of most of the trials from story mode, but not all are available. It’s fun enough, and you’ll be able to get some achievements in here, but there’s one thing that hurts it: no Xbox Live support. You’ll be stuck with slightly archaic split screen sessions, when Ubisoft could have very well put in online multiplayer. It couldn’t have been that big of a deal to throw that in there, right? But if you have some friends over, there’s no reason this can’t be a good time killer.

One of the best elements of Raving Rabbids would be its odd sense of humor. While the minigames get a bit stale, it’s still fun to harass bunnies. For instance, one minigame will show you a group of singing bunnies, and it’s your job to find the one singing off key and smack him for it. Should a minigame require ammo, you’ll be shooting plungers left and right. There are also references to other games and such. Some bunnies are dressed like famed Ubisoft character Sam Fisher from the Splinter Cell series. Some bunnies are clear mock ups of Clark Kent in his Superman outfit, complete with a curly hair hanging down in front of his face. There are a few more things around the game, but we’ll leave that for you to find.

In all, Raving Rabbids is a decent game at least worth a rental. If you have the time, you’ll no doubt beat the game in a single sitting—but that’s about a 5 hour time frame of constant playing. You’ll probably want to split it up over time, however, because of the repetitiveness of the minigames. The game might garner a bit more fun if you have some friends to play with, but it isn’t too much of a party game, so you’re better off with something like Mario Party. So, if you’re looking for a quick rental for a bit of fun, Rayman Raving Rabbids is a pretty good choice, but not worth the purchase.

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