When Santa brought a Wii to our house, he brought with it two games: Trauma Center for my daughter (read review here), and Red Steel for my girlfriend. Well, apparently Santa had not been keeping up on his game industry reading, which is understandable for the old chap during his very busy holiday season. If he had, he would have read the abhorrent reviews Red Steel had been receiving, and would have opted for another game: Rayman: Raving Rabbids. Ultimately, this is just what my girlfriend did: returned Red Steel in exchange for Rayman.

She brought it home Tuesday evening, and together we went to work battling bunnies!

Graphics: 75%
Let me just say, they graphics are not what they should be. Yes, this is a Wii game, and yes, the Wii does not have the same graphical horsepower as other next-gen consoles, but Nintendo has shown what their console is capable of with The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess. This game does not begin to tap that potential. To use a criticism too often used in the media lately: it looks like a GameCube game.

 Next-Gen comparisons aside, the art is done well, and the "rabbids" have some hilarious animations. Motion is fluid, even with real-time control during some of the sequences.

Sound: 80%
Nothing spectacular here, but the sound effects are well done, and listening to a bunny rendition of an old disco tune, or a Cyndi Lauper "classic" is ridiculously funny. No other voice-overs to speak of, but the sound that is here, is well done, and superbly implemented.

Control: 85%
The controls are good, and do an fine job of implementing the WiiMote and the Nunchuck controllers. You will be using both hands through quite a bit of the game. Control is accurate, with a few exceptions.

One of the mini-games requires the player to navigate a ball through a maze filled with traps within a rabbid's brain. The game closely resembles the old Brio Labyrinth game. Often times, and you fight the clock to complete the task, you will find the controller unresponsive, or will push the control past its boundaries, and find it will not tilt the board as expected. But, with some careful adjustments during gameplay, these can be easily worked through.

Gameplay: 60%
This game was a surprise: a joy to play. Essentially, Rayman is a collection of mini-games that have a perfect combination of humor and enjoyable, easy-to-learn game play. It is fun, and you'll find yourself playing non-stop into the Wii-hours of the morning. I know we did; knowing that a section will only take you a short time to master is one of the dangerous parts of purchasing a game such as Rayman: Raving Rabbids - you just can't stop playing!

Based on the above statements, this score may confuse many of you, but allow me to elaborate. This game is simply a collection of mini-games, albeit incredibly entertaining and rather amusing mini-games. This is not the problem. The problem is, the game is very short. It took approximately 10 hours to complete the game in story mode, with little replay value. Just plain too short for a $50 game. Yes, there are other modes of play, but you've really played it all before via story mode.

Here is the official gameplay trailer. It shows a few of the mini-games, and displays the insanity more accurately than I could possibly describe it.

Overall: 75%
Rayman: Raving Rabbids is an entertaining game that would be an excellent addition to anyone's Wii game library. It is appropriate for young and old (some rude humor is present - e.g. farting), and although it is entirely too short, it would be perfect for those who are not video game savants. Its easy to pick up and learn, and is not terribly difficult. For the rest of us, who game a little more often, I suggest renting it.

Did you enjoy this article? Please bookmark it onto: