The Wii is back! Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 finally gives us a good reason to dust off that Wii!
The Bad: This great game really deserves better graphics.
The Wii had a few great launch titles, Rayman Raving Rabbids (the first edition) being one of them. But there has not been even ONE post-launch title that has appealled to me or that I have enjoyed until now, a year later. (Note: I picked up RRR2 and Super Mario Galaxy on the same trip as they both were released this week, and was having to much fun with RRR2 I haven't had a chance to try SMG yet, so I am not including SMG in the "disappointing" post launch title category). I had high hopes for Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, but I had faith because the first edition was hilarious fun, and I am not let down by the sequel that is even better. (I enjoyed the first edition so much I played the Wii and the Xbox360 versions!). My poor, lonely Wii has been collecting dust for almost a year, shunned because of the games coming out, while I revelled in Xbox360 goodness but now I have a good, solid reason to put down that xbox360 remote and pick up the Wii-mote.
The "raving rabbids" or rabbits in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 are truly my favorite characters EVER in a video game. Rayman Raving Rabbids 1 won "funniest videogame game character 2006" voted by Gamespot members last year for very good reason. This is the funniest game I've ever played, and with funny naturally is FUN. I find myself laughing out loud constantly while playing this game. The rabbits, their antics, their voices, and their mannerisms are gut-bustingly hilarious, and I want to keep playing to see what they do next. In this second installment, once you unlock minigames by beating them, they become available in Free Mode, and this time you can BE the bunnies! Even better, you have a plethora of costumes to unlock for the bunnies that you can use on them in free mode, in addition to Rayman's costumes... but everyone knows this game is all about the Rabbids now (sorry, Rayman!).
The minigames are different and fun, and use the Wii-mote in different ways. This game really offers excellent wii-mote control and takes full advantage of it's potential. Anything you can do with a wii-mote, this game has it covered! The frantic nature of most of the minigames gives a great level of excitement. You can play them alone, or play multiplayer with friends for a real party experience. But this is definitely a minigame that does not require additional players to be great fun, like some others.
The graphics don't seem to live up to potential, and it's the biggest reason my score is not higher. True, wii games don't stand out for graphics compared to HD-compatible consoles. But I really would have liked to have seen better... this game deserves it. But when all is said and done, it's not a big deal compared to the fun and hilarity, and it should not stop anyone from buying the game.
As far as Wii games go this is an absolute must-buy. This week we finally have the best game (maybe games plural - I still need to pop Mario Galaxy in and try it) for the Wii in a very long time. If your Wii is collecting dust like mine was, it's time to pick up Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 and dust it off!