Excellent party fun to be had, but be aware that it may not last. Your best bet is go for the sequel or W
The story breaks out with you, Rayman, having a picnic with these "Globoxes" when suddenly, these rabbits come out and take Rayman and the globoxes prisoners. The rabbits are really crazy, idiotic, invasive beings known as Rabbids. Once you're held prisoner, the Rabbids keep you for their entertainment purposes which sees you undergoing challenges in a colloseum. Everyday you are taken out and forced to complete these minigames. Upon completion of 3 or 4 minigames a final objective concludes the day. You are rewarded a plunger for surviving a day which may not seem much use at first. However there is hope to escape: Rayman sees it, and all he knows to do is to keep surviving and he'll get out.
The game is controlled with a Wiimote and nunchuck: before every minigame, you need to read how to control and what needs to be done to pass the minigame. The games are short and fun, particularly with a few friends in the room. The lunatic Rabbids have such a cute look;bursts of 'AAARGH!!' screams breaks the silence with impactful timing. Throughout the game, the charm and cartoon nature of the characters all flow together really nicely. However, as simple and fun as things are, it grows bored and tired by the end of the game; much earlier if you were to play by yourself. The trouble here is that the first person shooter 'minigame' lasts far too long even though it is a 'boss-minigame'. It is far too easy, it has its moments but as a whole it is repeated too many times and for too long.
There are a few good minigames. In one game, you are pumping up your squirt gun by 'pumping' with the nunchuck and aiming with the wiimote. Not only does it test your arm stamina but shows how good your technique in aiming is under this condition. The excitement and thrill really comes into play when you compete with a few friends; people will get fatigued. :lol: . In another game, a few rabbids go to the loo at the beach but the toilet doors have no locks! You have to aim your hand at the doors and then slam them shut by flicking the nunchuck: as if to motion a slap. If you let a door stay open, a Rabbid will punish you and it'll be game over. They really nailed the controls for this game by simulating a slapping motion. A few game requires tilt sensing such as sky-diving; although confusing at first, it tilt controls hold up really well. Other tilt games include rolling a ball and flying around picking up pigs: the reason you do these are particularly stupid and pointless, yet comical.
There are a few games that are generic and uninteresting and are mostly those which have no/little difference for the Wiimote to the typical gamepad. For example, the racing games are controlled by the analogue stick and 'attack' is just wiimote waggle. Another game requires you walking up to dancing rabbids and hitting them with waggle. These do nothing to take advantage of the Wiimote, and what's changed about those are merely gimmicky. I do have to praise the dancing/rhythm games though, they're well done with a few catchy tunes and i found them to be just the right difficulty. My friend on the other hand was hopeless at it. I have to admit that at the later dance games as the pace and difficulty really ramps up, the motion controls start to feel a bit hap-hazard as it registers multiple 'hits' with one frantic waggle - something you'll often do as the pace become a lot, lot faster. For someone who just can't do rhtythm games though, these may seem impossible. Having said that, in one game i couldn't get past was when navigating through a 'minefield' by listening to the wiimote for 'squeals of alarm'. My same friend got through no problems in a few seconds. >_>
When all is played out though, this is when the experience will waver hugely. The games you unlock don't have many simultaneous multiplayer (more than one controller at the same time). What you are treated to however, are the exact same games but for everyone to take turns to compare scores - not exactly riveting stuff. To be harsh, the multiplayer aspect was already being played during the singleplayer as you took turns or watched in laughter at your friends as they make towards the end of the single player campaign. Even harsher still, other things which may prolong the game (unlikely) is the codes they give you for getting high scores, codes which you can submit at the ubisoft website to compare scores with other people around the world. The lack of integration of the wii's online connectivity here underlines how much of a PORT this game is. The game is not a graphical powerhouse, rather than that, this aspect bolds out the PORT, as aspect ratio is not true and neither are the FMV are particularly optimised.
In the end, i paid £20 for this of which i feel a tad 'ripped-off'. Despite £20 being a reduced price, i have to feel sorry for many who did pay full price as the game can be picked up for other platforms such as the PC and PS2 for half of what i paid for. But then again, i'm talking from the perspective of a dedicated gamer. There are other games offering the same experience such as the sequel, RRR2, or Warioware. I would probably have had a better time playing those ones which i've been told have better multiplayer options and so i can't really recommend this game as a buy for other players. It's a nice rental at best; but a good buy if you can get the Wii version for £10 pounds, not £20 - Even better still, rent Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 or find a good deal for Warioware. During the writeup of this, i have now traded the game in (which i rarely do) for £14. So it's not all that bad considering the fun to be had out of it.