Raving Rabbids 2 trades in some of the innovative gameplay of the first for a more solid multi-player experience.
Beyond the opening cut-scene the game's story is almost non-existent , but I wasn't expecting a lot of story, just Rabbid insanity. On that point Raving Rabbids 2 provides it's share. The opening videos prior to most of the games are a riot and can be watched a couple times through before you start skipping through them.
In the mini-game department most of the games are solid, but the game mechanics are a little dumbed down from the first and the mechanics aren't as innovative in their execution. This isn't to say the games aren't fun, in fact they're now even better for group play. They seem a lot shorter then the first Raving Rabbids and it helps keep things lively, especially during multi-player competitions. As a whole there are fewer frustrating games this time around and fewer games that drag on too long.
The new music/song set up is great and to me more fun then the dance games in the original Raving Rabbids. I do miss the dancing bunnies, but they can still be watched in the Mall Plaza by the Jukebox. My main complaint is there are only 5 songs (one is un-lockable), but this is counterbalanced by the fact that each song has four separate parts that you can play.
The rail shooters are just as fun this time around. They are a little longer, and slower paced, but they have real world backgrounds that adds to the World Invasion theme. One major disapointment is that the nun-chuck is not used at all and the grappling mechanic has been dropped. On the plus side there are a larger variety of bunnies and special bunny targets that, when combined with a gold medal score, unlock new costumes.
I'm very pleased with the multi-player format and while I was initially disapointed you couldn't unlock items in multi-player, I realized this was this was done to give the single player portion more playability and to prevent exploitive cooperation in unlocking. They really excelled with the unlockable costume pieces. In addition you can unlock a couple more bunnies to dress up and an extra song to add to the four you start with. I wish they had included unlockable videos, but overall I'm content with the costume pieces.
I'm a little dissapointed they didn't have some of the innovative mechanics or variations of some of the games from the first Raving Rabbids but overall I think it's a solid game and one of the better mini-game collections right now. The games are fast paced and fun, and a blast to play with friends. Like the first game you will get a work out and watching people play is about as fun as playing the game itself.