Whoever thought cute, cuddly little creatures could be so mischievously dangerous? While being promoted with a lot of comical flair for multiple platforms, at its heart Rayman Raving Rabbids is a mini-game, platforming, multi-genre affair. The game will feature more than 70 different mini-games that must be completed in what appears to be a hilarious story mode. An additional trial mode can be played via single-player or with up to four-players. Ubisoft also seems to be aiming for almost every kind of gamer. As it appears the title will be ported to every current and next-gen system. Although recent rumors indicate that the Nintendo Wii version will be the only one launching this holiday, with the others to follow in 2007.
The story in this Rayman starts with a bit of a dark shadow over the premise. Raving rabbits, who for many years have lived deep underground, are restless of the world dwellers above. These little critters are large enough in number to overthrow the entire world and that’s exactly what they set out to do, resulting in a vicious war. During the fray, our limb-impaired hero, Rayman, is captured and put in prison. Instead of taking the direction of having players bust ‘ole Rayman out of prison and directing him through a course of platforming puzzles to end the war; players must play Rayman from prison. Participating in mini-games is Rayman’s key to victory and players will have to win mini-games to entice the attention of the rabbits and keep them entertained. The more entertained they are the more “political” jail power Rayman has. Rabbits will give Rayman special items, or allow him to decorate his cell, attain clothes, posters, or hip hop, rock, or pop gear. Some clothes will allow Rayman to “infiltrate” rabbit territory, according to the press release. Each item Rayman earns is an added element to winning the mini-games. Like the movie Gladiator, Rayman must win the crowd to gain an opportunity at dethroning the rabbits’ evil emperor.
Raving Rabbids, which will be a launch title for the Wii, fits closer into the category of Mario Party more than anything. According to the developers, the game will feature all sorts of mini-games that range from 10 seconds to several minutes. The game’s story will take place over the course of fifteen (virtual) days. Each day Rayman will wake in his cell, giving players the option to walk around and partake in up to five mini-games that day. Out of the five available mini-games for each day, one of them will be a boss battle.
Mini-games, as most party-game fans suspect, will take Rayman through a number of fun, odd, and hilarious tasks. Some of the mini-games include antics similar to Rayman’s classic platform adventures, whereas other mini-games have Rayman shooting at bunnies with a plunger in first-person. There’s a dancing mini-game; duels that take place in an arena; various racing mini-games, and much more. Each mini-game that’s unlocked in the Story mode can be played in the trial mode, either on single-player or with up to three other players. In regards to online play, there has yet to be any word whether this will be included. Hopefully Ubisoft will clarify this sometime soon.
Still, the game has fairly nifty features...one of which includes the ability to use Rayman to “tame” creatures. Taming the creatures allows Rayman to ride them, and each creature comes with a special attribute or unique capability that will aid players during battle. Ubisoft’s Paris team will also make great use of the Wii-remote. Hence, the team is allowing players to steer/control vehicles by turning the remote sideways and using it like a steering mechanism. It’ll definitely be interesting to see how the Wii-remote works with the dancing and fighting.
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