Game Play: Rayman Raving Rabbids

I enjoy football enough - but I generally don't sit back and watch a whole game. Last night's Super Bowl attempt by the Bears wasn't really any different. As it seemed that by half time, the Bears were going to have a hard time getting the ball down the field without the aid of kind of turnover ... it seemed like it might be painful to watch the whole thing.

No, I like football with a healthy side of PlayStation. Or Halo, or anything, really, to entertain the brain while someone's offensive coordinator tries to figure out a new strategy. Rayman Raving Rabbids is a perfect game for this scenario.

Rabbids takes the veteran platformer and tosses him into a mini-game rabbid fest. The game is, as the kids would say, pretty whacked. Challenges range from a simplified version of DDR to rolling balls around a brain maze (literally) to whacking a bunny on the head with a hammer as quickly as possible. The design is just brilliant because there are lots of laughs to be had just by watching the insanity of that the makers thought up. The rabbids are great fun as hyperactive balls of furry (and often self-inflicted) damage.

Since most of the challenges only take a few minutes to play, it's a perfect game to have on in the background without needing to worry about save points or boss fights. We were just alternating playing the story mode, not the score mode - which I'm guessing is the multiplayer version of the same challenges.

Rabbids has gotten a lot of attention on the Wii and I can completely see why. It would very well suited for the new controller. However, it works pretty well with the standard PS2 controller and that includes the rail shooter sections. Actually, the rail shooter scenes are extremely well designed for the lack of light gun or other pointing device. The enemies signal their attacks and give you a chance to react with the crosshair. Honestly, the quality of the dance and shooter challenges alone make this title worth a try.

The story mode is crazy short - we just started yesterday afternoon and I think we were 90% done by the time the Bears managed defeat. We'll play around with the score mode soon and see if it's worth having around just as a social/party title.




tagged: game, gaming