Rayman Raving Rabids 2

[eyeoftruth 2]

Ign posted some new info consernign Rayman 2 for wii, in USA game is released in the fall;

Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 Hands-on

The insane rabbits are back in an all-new mini-game packed Wii-fest and we've got hands-on impressions.

by Matt Casamassina

May 23, 2007 - Ubisoft hit upon a winning formula with Rayman Raving Rabbids for Wii. The title, a compilation of fun mini-games, only barely made use of the Rayman license -- really, it could have ditched the limb-less wonder altogether and nobody would have noticed. And yet the end experience was refreshing in the innovative way it made use of the Wii remote and funny thanks to the inclusion of the evil rabbids, psychotic little critters bent on the destruction of the planet. The development studio behind the project -- incidentally the same group responsible for the underrated action-adventure Beyond Good & Evil -- got it right on Wii, but pointless ports of the project to other systems void of pixel-perfect control weren't even half as good. The good news -- and hardly a surprise since every magazine in the known universe has already published screens and info on the project -- is that the team wasted no time jumping into Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, the official sequel to the sleeper hit. The better news is that the game has this time been created exclusively for Wii, which means that the crew can go all out without worry of porting the controls over to another platform. We recently had the chance to sample a small portion of the minis included in the new effort and there's little doubt that anybody who liked the first game will find much more to smile about there.

Raving Rabbids 2 concerns itself even less with Rayman and much more with the rabbids, which is frankly the right design choice since the insane bunnies are far more appealing. Ubisoft hasn't offered up too much about the storyline, and we don't expect it to be all-too deep, but according to the developer the game will follows the rabbids as they prepare to wage war on another enemy threat. This time the critters are invading earth. They have set up a scouting base near a shopping mall and are in the process of training for the battles ahead. You'll still play as Rayman, but in disguise. In an attempt to stop the bunnies, the character has become one of them and sneaked inside their earthly operations.

The title features some 60 brand new mini-games designed completely and totally for the Wii remote, sometimes by itself and sometimes with the nunchuk attachment. The majority of these new minis have been built to enable simultaneous two-, three- or four-player competitions. A welcomed addition, especially since we complained that too many of the minis in the first game lacked simultaneous play.

Returning to Raving Rabbids 2 are the on-rails shooter/plunger levels from the game's predecessor. We have unfortunately not been able to play any of these new quasi-light-gun-style offerings as they weren't present in the recent sample demo Ubisoft previewed. In addition to these, the title will include more Dance Dance Revolution-like music minis where Rayman (presumably in disguise this time around) will out-dance the bunnies to brand new songs that are very likely to be just as campy as those in the first title. Remember the rabbids humming Girls Just Wanna Have Fun? Something along those lines lies in store for you as the title draws closer to launch.

You can see a couple of first Raving Rabbids 2 screens in our media section and you will notice that at least one of the minis has something to do with the critters using cell phones in a movie theater. We have no idea how that mode plays but the theme alone has us smiling. In another screen, we see the rabbids being zapped by lighting bolts as they sit captive in chairs. Some of the minis we did try are just as humorous. In our personal favorite, you control one of the rabbits as he carries a plateful of hamburgers, sometimes piled ceiling high in a leaning tower of meat and bread, to a nearby table. The hamburgers have actual weight to them so you have to use the Wii remote, turning it left and right, to balance the plate or it will tip over. If you're not extra careful, the top side of the burger tower will begin to spill off and you'll lose some of your burgers, which means you won't get as many points when the delivery is finally made. This mode is compatible with four players and we were cracking up as we all tried to keep our rabbids from toppling over their burger towers, especially since each character can knock into one another, effectively spilling a competitor's tower.

Since you don't play as Rayman -- remember, he's in disguise as one of the rabbids -- Ubisoft has created a wide roster of the critters to choose from. Some we saw in the demo were decked out in cowboy gear, another was wearing a rabbids-ized version of a Spider-Man costume and one more looked exactly like a rabbids version of Darth Vader. It's clear the that development studio is having fun with the project.

We asked all the usual questions? Will the game run in progressive-scan and 16:9 widescreen mode this time around? The first game omitted one in favor of the other -- a real disappointment. A development team representative on-hand wouldn't confirm one way or the other, but he did suggest that because Raving Rabbids 2 is being development specifically and only for Wii, the team is going to maximize on the console's capabilities and that we should expect a noticeable bump in graphics. From what we saw, the visuals looked about the same as the first game -- still very stylized, charming and even hilarious at points, but nothing that's going to overheat your Wii anytime soon. And what about an online mode? At the very least, the ability to trade high scores over WiiConnect24. Unfortunately, nobody from Ubisoft is talking yet.

We're big Raving Rabbids fans so we'll be tracking this one closely in the coming months.

[Gingerlink 2]

yer i've seen this, although funny i was a bit meh about the first one though, borrowed it for a short while, but got tired of it fairly quickly.

Anyway, im in a good mood and you've been posting a lot of news stuff (just needing to expand on them a bit) so im going to recommend you as a news submitter to dustin if that's ok with you.

[eyeoftruth 2]

that would be great

[Embear 0]

Its kind of cool how you can choose the creature

[True Gamer 19]

I'm stil not so sure about this game...the rayman games I've played were good, but nothing special...

[eyeoftruth 2]

i thought rayman raving rabids was hillarious=)

[Eka 387]

i thought rayman raving rabids was hillarious=)

Yeah same here, that was a great game ^-^ I loved the sky diving and the plunger shooting

[Embear 0]

Yeah same here, that was a great game ^-^ I loved the sky diving and the plunger shooting

Sky diving??? plunger shooting?? I really REALLY need to buy that game!