As it turns out, building a junk ladder to the moon is a lot of fun.
Rayman's Raving Rabbids has often been the brunt of many jokes and often looked down upon for its shallow mini-game collection that mostly appeals to casual Wii owners.
But, these aren't Rayman's Raving Rabbids, no these are independent Rabbids who just want to travel back to their home on the moon. Both the trailer and demonstration at the Ubisoft conference had me less than interested in ever playing the game. But today I figured I'd give the game a try and was pleasantly surprised at how simply entertaining it actually was.
The demo was the same depicted at the Ubisoft Press Conference and I was in control of a Rabbid pushing another Rabbid in a shopping cart. The ultimate goal: gather as much crap as I could possibly handle. The first thing I noticed was how well the controls responded. There was no unresponsiveness when swerving around corners or pulling off a tight turn and even frantic sporadic movements in random directions didn't throw off the smooth flow of the cart. The shopping cart itself is equipped with a boost that helps catch up to speedy creatures that really don't want to become part of that trash pile. When a certain speed is reached, blue sparks will shoot from beneath the car indicating that a super boost can now be released. I didn't really see any good reason to use the super boost other than for shooting really high into the air off of one of the skateboarding ramps and making my Rabbid scream like hell.
When a player is faced with enemies, shaking the Wii Remote attacks and renders the enemy vulnerable at which point they can then be picked up by the Rabbids. Basically players should ride around in their cart attempting to hit everything and anything they can see. You never know when hitting a seamlessly unimportant object will net you some more junk for the moon pile.
While the graphics weren't incredibly impressive they don't really have any reason to be. The bright and cartoony art style that accompanies the game fits the personality well. The subtle aspects of the game are what make it incredibly hilarious at times. It was pretty humorous to smash a wandering human and knock all of their clothes off as they scream in shame and fear. Although the demo was short and not incredibly packed with action, Raving Rabbids has potential to be quite an entertaining game.