Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this mini-games collection involves a lot of comic mischief and mayhem. The violence is mainly directed toward the Rabbids, a group of humanoid rabbits. Players will hit and shoot the Rabbids (with toilet plungers) in many mini-games, but the violence is never graphic. The humor is usually juvenile and sometimes bathroom-humor crude, but players won't see anything that they wouldn't see in a PG-rated animated movie.
Families can talk about slapstick silliness. Why is it funny to whack these bunny-like creatures over the head with hammers, or throw a cow? What keeps it from being cruel instead, or is the idea still a little cruel? What makes the laughs more kid-friendly than parent-friendly? What else would you like to see Rayman encounter in the arena? Who can think of the most off-the-wall challenge for him? Families who play this game together can also discuss and share strategies for beating each mini-game.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Chris Jozefowicz
If the early releases for the Wii are a good indication, the touted ease of the new console's control scheme and the pick-up-and-play simplicity of mini-games are a natural match. RAYMAN RAVING RABBIDS, one of the early-release mini-games collections for the system, does an admirable job of putting the Wii remote through almost every conceivable shake and spin in dozens of short (on the order of a couple minutes or less) challenges. Like many such compilations, Raving Rabbids is brief and a bit shallow, but its cast of crazy characters just about makes up for the shortcomings.
The mini-games are held together by a wisp of a story: Rayman has been captured by a horde of mad bunny creatures (the titular Rabbids) and forced to entertain the masses in a gladiator-style arena. The single-player campaign comprises 15 levels. In each level, gamers can take Rayman through five challenges. The overall flow of the game is surprisingly calm, since each challenge plays like an isolated game, although the action within individual challenges can become quite frantic.
Most of the challenges involve just a few simple actions. For example, one challenge asks players to whack a Rabbid over and over with a hammer by shaking the remote up and down; the goal is to raise the biggest lump possible. The charm of the game comes from the absurd nature of such activities and the lovable, cartoon-y idiocy of the Rabbid characters. Players never know which species of insanity might be lurking in the next level's challenges (Pulling worms from rotten teeth? Riding a bat? Throwing a cow?).
Nevertheless, two of the best challenges are repeated multiple times throughout the game. One is a rhythm game that asks players hold the two parts of the controller like drumsticks and beat them in time to music. The other is a rail-shooter -- imagine a shooting gallery on wheels -- in which players aim with the remote and launch toilet plungers at the Rabbids that dash across the screen.
But for all the zany fun of the mini-games, the single-player game requires only four to five hours to finish. And even before that point is reached, many mini-games are recycled. The multiplayer versions of the challenges breathe a bit more life into the game, but not much. Most of the multiplayer matches simply alternate the challenges of the one player game among up to four players.
Still, it's hard to deny the wacky charm of the Rabbids. They have dopey, wide-set eyes and are prone to enact Looney Tunes-style mayhem on Rayman and one another. Fans of slapstick antics will certainly laugh out loud more than once as they play the game. Rayman Raving Rabbids is an undeniably fun game, but the short and sometimes shallow gameplay suggest that interested gamers might want to try a rental before purchasing it.
Players looking for more intense mini-game action should check out one of Nintendo's WarioWare games (for the Gameboy, DS, Gamecube, or Wii), or try the DS's Big Brain Academy for a more thoughtful mini-games collection. For another good Wii game, look to Elebits.
Reviewed: 01/29/2007
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ViolenceLots of cartoon mayhem: shooting (with plungers), pounding with hammers, kicking like soccer balls, blowing up with exploding gifts, Rabbids hit each other with clubs, etc. |
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Social BehaviorSome jokes revolve around bathroom humor. Most of the violence is directed against Rabbids, which seem to be animals, but players also rescue and protect other animals. |
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CommercialismPart of the Rayman franchise. |
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Educational ValuePlayers will develop some coordination; some mini-games are puzzles that take ingenuity to solve. |
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