Rayman Raving Rabbids

Rayman Raving Rabbids despite being designed for more modern consoles has made it's way onto the Playstation 2. In this review I will tell you about this game on the PS2.

The game's plot is that Rayman has been taken prisoner by the rabbids and has to play games against them in order to get freedom. The game consists solely of mini games so you can't get very engrossed into a challenge. The games get harder as the level goes on but I can't help feeling that even though this game is for young audiences it seems fairly challenging.

Every day Rayman must complete several challenges. When he completes all the day's challenges he will be taken back to his cell where you can play music, change outfits and save your game as well as retrying any challenges you think you can improve on.

This game is quite addictive. You'll find yourself wanting to complete another day on the game a lot. It's fairly fun and some of the games are mad and funny.

The games graphics are very good. They're about the best you'll get out of the PS2 anyway. The images even seem ok on modern LCD TVs. The menu system has clearly been designed for young audiences because it is so easy to use.

There is a party mode in which up to 4 players (using Multi Tap) can compete against each other on challenges which you have completed. High Scores are awarded and codes can be entered online to compete with the world, although I've never tried that myself.

So, overall this is a decent enough game which children will particularly enjoy. At least being hard means it will take them longer to finish it. I would recommend this game for a bit of fun for the whole family or fun with your friends if you're throwing a party.

(Also published on Dooyoo)

I have taken Rayman Raving Rabbids round to friends houses and they have been completely fixated by the wacky, funny mini games that the game has to offer. It makes everyone laugh and it has lots of different content to keep everyone interested.

I have purchased all of these games since playing the first. Great for having friends to play and enjoy. Not the best game for small children as they may tend to ask why are you doing that.

Rayman Raving Rabbids is a well thought through game- by this a mean the controllers are very intuitive to use. It is not very challenging, however which does, muchly, shorten how long it takes you to finish it. Unlike the other Rayman games this is not an adventure game but a game full of little mini-games where you have to work through a series of challenges to escape from the rabbids, who have you imprisoned. So overall this game will have you up on you feet... but then back on your seat as it is not very long. 7/10. Thanks

Rayman Raving Rabbids on the PS2 is yet another mini-game collection, however the Wii version, although essentially the same, is a completely different beast due to the sheer difference in the way it's played which just brings it to life.

The entire idea is that Rayman is kidnapped by the evil Bunnies, or 'Rabbids' who are intent on taking over the world, and for entertainment value put poor Rayman into an arena where he must endure a series of tasks - if he succeeds he is rewarded with a sink plunger. Bizarre, but so is the rest of the game, but it's always so funny and genuinely laugh-out-loud. Rayman starts using the plungers to create a ladder up to a window high in his jail cell and ultimately to freedom, that's more-or-less the entire story. Unfortunately the single player mode quickly starts to get boring, as although the game boasts dozens of mini-games you'll quickly notice they do repeat themselves with only slightly different versions, you'll be disco-dancing and plunger-shooting an awful lot. Some of the games are brilliant though. Whether you're hammer throwing cows or sketching objects for a Rabbid to eat all of the games are completely bonkers and the antics the Rabbids get up to are down-right hysterical. Unfortunately not all the games are good - the one where you have to slam doors shut as they gradually open is funny but very fiddly and quickly becomes annoying if you keep failing. And as it's supposed to be a party game it's a little odd that very few games actually have you playing at the same time - instead you usually end up taking turns watching somebody make a fool of themselves. Although there are a lot of games, because so many are repeats there isn't as many different ones as you think, and ultimately it all feels a little shallow - had there been a full adventure with these games merged in this would have been something brilliant, instead it's simply another party game, but on the Wii at least it offers some amusement thanks to the controls but it still isn't enough.

The graphics aren't too bad, but they still look far too much like the PS2 version, the Wii is never going to be able to pull off XBox 360 graphics but it can do a lot better than this. However the graphics are good whatever system you play it on because of the great art design, the Rabbids are fantastic and most of the games show great imagination and the hilarious animations are enough to make up for the lazily ported graphics.

There's not an awful lot more to say about the game, despite seeming simple enough it does take annoyingly long to load, it could have benefited from some more game modes as it feels a little shallow and the way the mini-games are laid-out once you've unlocked them is confusing, which leads to another downside, you must have played a mini-game in single player before you can play it on multiplayer. This means you can't just dive straight into a multiplayer party like the game's supposed to be, instead you have to slug through the single player mode which will annoy some gamers who just want a multiplayer game.

However despite it's shortcomings, it is fun to play in short bursts, is a great introduction to party games on the Wii and is one of the funniest games I've played in a long time - just don't place your expectations too high. Warioware is another party style game that despite some similar problems, is more fun and more likely to keep your attention for longer.