By this point, you've seen it. So I'll make it smaller. |
Rayman Raving Rabbids - Bottom 12 / Top 12 Minigames
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 DS - Bottom 12 / Top 12 Minigames
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 Wii - Bottom 12 / Top 12 Minigames
Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party - Bottom 12 - Top 13 Minigames
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 DS - Bottom 12 / Top 12 Minigames
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 Wii - Bottom 12 / Top 12 Minigames
Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party - Bottom 12 - Top 13 Minigames
It
should be interesting to see the differences between the DS and Wii
versions of Rayman Raving Rabbids 2. How about we jump into it right now?
So many bunnies! Those aren't normal, either! |
"That's the best football movie I've ever seen!" "It's just a 2-second clip, dummy." |
You gotta wonder how exactly did they get that box, though. I'm betting they stole it from some no-life in a basement. |
When
the game starts, there's a few options on the main screen: Trip
Customization, Trips, Free Play, and Plaza, which we'll take a look
at later. The only actual option here, when you are playing for the
first time, is Trips. In there, four locations are available from the start: USA, Europe, Asia and South America. When you select a trip, you are tasked with completing
six minigames, one after the other. First, there will be five minigames picked among he ones in that location, and the last one will always be the music minigame. There
are 9 minigames in each location (counting the music one), and thus
you will need to play each trip at least twice in order to unlock
all the minigames.
Afterward,
the minigames you have played in Trips will be unlocked in Free Play.
There, you can play them at your leisure. There is a grand total of
51 minigames in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 for the Wii, counting the 6
music minigames and the 5 Bunny Hunt games. It's important to note,
however, that the Bunny Hunt minigames aren't available in the
minigame selection here; I'll explain why later.
If
there are minigames you really enjoy, you can create a selection of
them in Trip Customization. When you select that option, you're
brought to a menu containing all the minigames you've unlocked so
far, and you can pick as many of them as you want (even all 46, if
you think you can play them all in a single session). So, you customize your trip, and
once you've selected the minigames, you must then choose a rating
system. When you play a custom trip with friends, each of you will
receive an amount of points based on your ranking in the minigame.
Whoever has the most points wins.
You
can pick between three different rating systems.
-The
normal one, in which the player in first place gets 8 points, the one
in second place gets 6, the one in this place gets 4, and the one in
fourth place gets 2.
-The
extreme one, in which everyone will fight to be in first place. And
there's a damn good reason: The player in first place will get 10
points! In comparison, the one in second place will only get 4, the one in third
place only gets 2, and the one in fourth place gets 0.
-The
“Rabbid Way”. As you know, the Rabbids are dumb. They spy on us to
try and understand us, and they then try to mimic what we do with
their own messed-up perception of our actions. That's why we get all
these minigames. I suppose they once saw people playing a video game
and noticed that the player in second place was angrier. We know why:
Because he could have been in first place, and that same player may
have lost only by a few points. Here's how Rabbids understand it: The
one in second place is angry because the second place is the one that
gives the least points (which makes no sense, considering there's a
third and fourth place too). As a result, this system rewards
the player in first place with 8 points, the one in second place with
0, the one in third place with 4, and the one in second place with 2.
That's pretty clever, actually. Just goes to show us how Rabbids view
the world.
Now,
we can look at Free Play. In there, you can play any of the 46
minigames (again, the Bunny Hunt minigames are somewhere else). For
each minigame, there are two modes: Easy, where the score means
nothing and you're playing only for fun, and Normal, where the rules
and controls might change a bit, adding some difficulty to the minigame. You can only beat that minigame's high score in Normal
Mode. And the high score table is the same for every minigame, too:
Globox is the great champion, with his name resting by the Gold
medal. In every single minigame, Globox scored 12,000 points. Your
goal is to beat 12,000 points in every single minigame, in Normal
Mode of course. Gee, in spite of being such an idiot, Globox is kind
of an impressive player... Too bad he's a dumbass who runs away from real danger...
Oh,
by the way, there's also a high score for every trip. As is the case
for free play, you must play a Trip in Normal Mode to get a score.
And the score to beat is still 12,000 for each minigame, except
you're playing six minigames in a row, which means you have to beat
the high score of 72,000 points. It's a lot more difficult, but
possible nonetheless, for every Trip. Well, that's already a lot
better than the Challenges in RRR1Wii! Heck, in RR2Wii, beating
12,000 points in every minigame is a LOT easier than it was to reach
1,000 points in the first game. Some minigames are still tricky, but
it's nowhere as difficult as it was in the first Rabbids game. Here, you don't need to achieve Herculean feats!
The
first time you beat a minigame in a Trip, you can earn an alternate
costume for Rayman or for a Rabbid. When you start playing the game,
you can select your character: Rayman, or one of three Raving Rabbids
(this way, you can play a 4-Player match regardless of how far you
are in the game). Sometimes, you'll literally unlock a new playable
Rabbid! You can then dress it up with the clothes won by playing
minigames and beating high scores.
Rabbids Plaza: Choking risk for children 0-3 years old. May contain nuts. Common sense not included. |
The
Jukebox will replay any of the six songs that can be played in the
music minigames: Papa's Got A Brand New Bag, Satisfaction, Smoke On
The Water, Celebration, Teenager In Love and Funkytown. And the
Rabbids – including Rayman – will dance to the song, which will
be played in its entirety. By the way, Funkytown appears in the
Tropics but is not technically part of any location; you unlock it by
beating every minigame at least once in Easy or Normal mode.
Just a few examples of costumes in this game. |
I'll be back. Hasta la vista, bunneh. Somehow, this firearm looks cool despite the plunger in it. |
So,
how's Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 for the Wii? It's pretty great!
However, I have a few points of criticism.
-Less
minigames than in RRR1 for the Wii (that one had 75), but amore than in RRR2 for the Nintendo DS (it had 36).
-The
fact that there are no cutscenes aside from the intro. The bits from
the Bunny Hunt minigames don't really count. There's not even an
ending! It just... ends, after the last Bunny Hunt! Sure, having an
intro partly made in live-action is impressive, and it's also
impressive in the Bunny Hunt minigames, but I would have liked to see more.
-Also,
the named Rabbids from the original Rayman Raving Rabbids are barely
in the game. Barranco and Clark might make a few appearances here and
there, but Pink the robot-Rabbid isn't there, and Serguei is nowhere to be seen.
We even get our own test Rabbid who'll show us what has to be done in every minigame! Heh, soon you'll be one to suffer in the minigames... |
-And
of course, as is the case with every collection of minigames, there
are some that don't work quite right, others that have faulty
controls, yet others that I just plain don't like. That's perfectly
normal, and I'll discuss this in greater depth this Monday. Heck,
some minigames seem to have tricks here and there that you can't
quite grab the first times you play, and you need to find out by
yourself if you want to beat the highest score. In fact, even with
those “tricks”, nothing guarantees your victory in the minigames
that are harder to beat.
Aside
from those points of criticism, I don't think there is much negative
to say about this game. No major glitches that prevent 100%
completion, no superhuman abilities required, no insane challenges...
I wouldn't go as far as to say it's perfect, but it's pretty good,
that's for sure.
Now,
what are actually upgrades from RRR1Wii?
-Most
minigames can be played at the same time by everyone. No need to
wait!
-Playable,
customizable Rabbids, which means each player can dress up their
Rabbid just the way they want, and use it in the minigames. Heck, one
player can even use Rayman if they want!
-No
annoying Challenges with pre-determined minigames that you must all
ace in order to get more points. Well, aside from the Trip
challenges, but since you can get 12,000 points on each minigame more
easily, it's easier to beat those, not to mention that this time around it's actually possible.
-Following
the preceding line, bye-bye insane score requirements, bye-bye having
to get 1,000 points in every minigame, bye-bye bonuses that can only
be earned by getting greater scores on all minigames!
-RRR2Wii
relies a lot less on minigame sequels; aside from a few minigames
getting suspiciously similar substitutes, most minigame ideas aren't
actually re-used. Instead, every minigame is broken into two
difficulties: Easy, in which each minigame has simpler controls but
your score won't matter, and Normal, which adds a few twists and
turns, but you can compete for the highest score. That's pretty
smart, and it saves you some trouble.
Uh, Boss Rabbid? I don't understand your Rabbid language. |
-All
the minigames (aside from the musical ones, of course) have an
animated intro (Oh hey, maybe THAT's where all the budget for
cutscenes went!), and watching them is a lot of fun. Sometimes the
intros are funnier than the minigames themselves.
-I
honestly felt the minigames were better in this one. There was more
creativity involved, there were less gross-out minigames (No touching
a Rabbid's brain this time around! No picking worms out of Rabbids'
teeth either! Yay!), and overall I just felt like the minigames were
more enjoyable. I also felt there were less muscle-straining minigames
(Farewell, carrot juice pumpers! Farewell, cow tossers!). There are
still minigames for which it's difficult to score 12,000 points,
but at least you can do it with some practice. It's not impossible to
beat the high score, like it frequently was in RRR1Wii. Kinda sad,
though, that there are less minigames...
In
fact, I actually believe Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 for the Wii might be
the best of the four Rabbids games I'm reviewing this month. It has the
right balance of everything, and manages to get right at least one
thing that every other game reviewed this month has done wrong. Does
it have flaws? Of course. But it surpasses the other two games I've
reviewed so far, and it might even be better than TV Party, which
I'll be reviewing soon.
Stay
tuned, as I'm going to be listing my 12 least favorite minigames,
followed by my 12 favorite minigames in RRR2Wii, this Monday!
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