| Rayman Raving Rabbids | |
| Developer: | Ubisoft Montpellier Ubisoft Sofia (PC) |
| Publisher: | Ubisoft |
| Director: | Patrick Bodard Jacques Exertier Yoan Fanise Florent Sacré |
| Producer: | Pierre-Arnaud Lambert |
| Artist: | Florent Sacré |
| Composer: | Mark Griskey |
| Series: | Rayman Rabbids |
| Engine: | Jade |
| Released: | Wii PlayStation 2 Windows Xbox 360 |
| Genre: | Party |
| Modes: | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Platforms: | Wii PlayStation 2 Windows Xbox 360 |
Rayman Raving Rabbids (French: Rayman contre les lapins crétins) is a 2006 party video game developed and published by Ubisoft. It is a spinoff for the Rayman series and the debut title for the Rabbids franchise. The story follows Rayman as he was interrupted by an earthquake, in which he was also kidnapped and forced to play minigames with the Rabbids. The game received generally positive reviews from critics, with some criticizing the minigames either being broken or unenjoyable.
Rayman Raving Rabbids is a party video game in which omit as Rayman, the player was assigned to played minigames and takes advantage of motion controls and comedy elements. The minigames are designed to be short and some have multiplayer support. In single-player mode, the player have to tossing in variants of minigames that they already played and each segment fall into four minigames or at least three.[1]
Rayman was having a picnic with Globox's local children. The picnic is interrupted by an earthquake and the Globox's children sink into the ground and transform into Rabbids. The Rabbids' commander Sergueï kidnaps Rayman and throws him in an arena with Rabbids. Rayman must complete his first trials now, and afterwards Sergueï takes him to his cell and gives him a plunger. Initially the Rabbids jeer him however, as Rayman completes more trials, they became bored, and eventually he becomes popular among the Rabbids as they cheer him. In addition, they also make his jail cell more hospitable.
Eventually, Rayman amasses a collection of plungers as rewards for completing the trials. By building a ladder of his plungers to reach the window and settling with a bird who defecating on him, Rayman manages to escape and free himself. Once liberated, he remembers the Globox's children and attempts to return through one of the Rabbid holes to rescue them, but winds up getting stuck in the hole. In a post-credits scene, Rayman is still stuck in the hole through the night, and sheep come to eat the leftovers of his picnic.
In 2005, Phoenix Interactive Entertainment, a studio who also developed King Kong for the PlayStation Portable initially began development of Rayman 4. The game was intended to capture elements from the 1995 video game Rayman and the characters are self-aware that they exist inside a video game and being controlled by players from the outside world. The game used Pixar as the main source of inspiration for the plot. During development of the game, Nintendo unveiled their new Wii console, which members of Ubisoft worried the seventh generation consoles could give negative effects to the performance of the game, and made the decision to restart development.[2] [3] On October 2017, series' creator Michel Ancel posted on Instagram that he wants the game to happen.[4]
Rayman Raving Rabbids received positively mixed reviews from critics. IGN writer Matt Casamassina complimented the game's impressive sense of humor and a heavy emphasis on fun, as well as the design of the Rabbids and the game in general. Both reviews highlighted the story, music and sound, and said that gameplay is addictive and optimized for the Wii. A few critics claimed that other developers of Wii launch titles had simply ported their games and "tacked on" Wii controls. It is one of the highest-selling third party games for the Wii. The game was subsequently released on other platforms, including the PC, PS2, and Xbox 360. Reviewers in general found these versions to play at an inferior level to the Wii version due to the game's controls having been optimized with the Wii in mind.[5] [6]