PixlBit

Let me get this out of the way. When Rayman Raving Rabbids was announced for the Nintendo Wii I was excited. In it's initial development Rayman was set for a 3D romp against a crazy mutant Rabbid invasion. What was originally set as a new 3D Rayman platformer became of all things a minigame compilation. This wouldn't be the first teaser for Rayman that Ubisoft failed to deliver on. Remember the initial teaser for Rayman Legends featuring  Rabbid esque amiibo? And that moment when the kid grabbed the Ezio figure to scan it? Nowhere to be found in the final product! But I'm getting off track here. You see the main problem that I have with the Rabbids is that they became popular. And when you get popular you get sequels. And boy there are a ton of Rabbid sequels. There are 4 Rabbid mini game compilations for the Wii, far more than I have time to get into and review, but what happens when one such Rabbid game deviates from the formula? The answer is Rabbids Go Home. A game I bought for $5!

Rabbids Go Home is a comedy-adventure game rather than a mini-game compilation which is a big change for the series. This change is one that was definitely needed since it first was initialized and then sequelized. In Rabbids Go Home you control the Raving Rabbids as they go  shoplifting for random crap in order to build a pile of junk to literally reach the moon. The plot is as wacky as you would expect from the lunatic Rabbids and if you liked their humor in the past you will definitely love it here.

The gameplay in Rabbids Go Home puts you in control of a Rabbid controlled shopping cart for the majority of the game, one Rabbid pushes the cart and the other collects the items. Your mission is simple: collect crap, collect it all! Take everything not nailed down including the kitchen sink! Just go out into the world and take stuff!

Your adventure to aquire crap starts off with no restriction on what you can collect. This means you will collect the strangest assortment of junk ever seen. The two Rabbids that you control will plow into everything and anyone in their way. Doing this will get you the useless crap you need such as tires, lights on streets, or clothing you literally smack right off of the poor citizens. If whacking into objects doesn't do it for you, your Rabbid can let out a scream that shakes down items. This shriek is even powerful enough to strip the clothes right off a person. And keep your dirty mind away...This game is rated E10+

You can also shoot a Rabbid anywhere in the game by pointing the controller at the screen and hitting the “Z” button. This allows you to get a quick hit on faster moving targets and it also is used to reach spots that are out of the reach of your cart. This is a good way to get extra items loaded into your cart and find a few secret areas.

The levels in Rabbids are littered with checkpoints which makes the game more accessible to younger players which is good because the game can get a little too crazy. Each level will give you a score at the end and you will be marked on how many items you collect. Each level has over 100 items or something, so load up your cart. Collecting items will take the Rabbids through 15 different levels including supermarkets, airports, sewers, and even into the swamp. As you might expect their take on these locations are insane. Even simple levels like the supermarket or the office can be really funny  and off the wall.

The best part about the action is that it is addictive and fast paced. The Rabbids are as frantic as they come, spitting out their crazy gibberish as they tear through each level. Where Rabbids Go Home suffers is its simplicity of only having the in-cart action. This makes the game feel repetitive and redundant after a while. To combat this Ubisoft added a few additional things, but what would have been great is a multiplayer mode. I would have even settled for a few co-op mini-games from early Rabbid games as unlockables... maybe even a best of 50 game compilation.

 Rabbids Go Home featurse the returning option to customize your Rabbids. To do so, you suck them into your Wii controller in one of the most interesting interactive menus I've seen. You can actually tilt the controller around while you watch the Rabbid tumble around inside the remote. It’s a neat gimmick and doesn’t enhance the game in anyway, but it’s a mindless time waster that put a smile on my face.

After you finish fooling around with having a Rabbid in your controller, the customizing begins. All you have to do is select a tool and apply it to your Rabbid. There are a variety of tools you can use to deform your Rabbids look, or paint all over their bodies. These tools are "fun" torture devices like a head-clamping vice, or an air pump that can be injected into their eyes! This was a neat feature back when WI-Fi was still in place as you could upload them to a optional Wii Channel. In this channel you could vote on other players Rabbids and choose to download them into your game. It was pretty neat, though sadly like many Nintendo Wii enabled online Wi-Fi games, no longer functions

Graphically, Rabbids takes a unique turn. The design of the overall game is purposely over-the-top, cartoonish, and poorly animated. From the poorly designed humans who have been stripped of their clothing to the bouncing mechanics, Rabbids is an interesting game to critique. The look keeps a simple cartoon appearance because it doesn’t try to be overly graphical. The only negative gripe I have is that it can be look a little too blocky and jagged when you are stuck in a certain level for too long, however it never takes away from the overall gameplay.  Rabbids wouldn’t be nearly as funny or clever if the graphics were grade "A" best of Wii presentation, and to Ubisoft’s credit they really have nailed this aspect down. The Rabbids' appearance, the animation, and the actions are all over the top and yet I enjoyed it.

Rabbids Go Home takes the Rabbids in a new direction. It keeps the action light and filled with ridiculous situational comedy. The gameplay is repetitive and it is also incredibly basic; however in small doses you will enjoy the Rabbids crazy antics. There are a few extras attached like the Rabbid customization, but really it's kind of a moot point since you can't share your crazy creations with similarly deranged Rabbid torture masters.

Rabbids Go Home is not just another Raving Rabbids game.. Rabbids Go Home is a fun alternative to the stale Rabbid sequels on the Wii and if you enjoy an offbeat, wacky, crazy antic driven adventure you should definitely check out Rabbids Go Home.

Personal Opinion: 7.9/10-

Critical Opinion: 7.7/10 Simple and effective, it's just what the Rabbids series need to prevent itself from becoming a tired series that we know of today. In short spurts It's just unique and different enough to seperate itself from the rest of the series. It's got frequent checkpoints to pick up and play at any time and the overall simplicity is great for younger players. This may turn away more experienced players though, and the create a Rabbid channel no longer works. The repetition also may be a bit too much to take in, which is why such short sittings for the short 15 levels the  game features is recommended. Also no multiplayer options is a letdown.

Overall Determination: 7.8/10- What a bargain!