Rabbids Go Home

Posted 3 years ago By - Zach R.

A few years ago, Ubisoft hit the jackpot, creating one of the most memorable minigame compilations on the Wii. Rayman: Raving Rabbids was, in fact, the premiere minigame franchise on the system. Its mad-cap cow tossing and outside-of-the-box puzzles were part of an equation that showed how to do minigames right. The other part of that equation were the characters themselves. When the Rabbids first took to the screen, the appeal of these alien rabbit-like creatures was immediately apparent.

It’s taken two sequels since their initial showing for it to happen, but Ubi have finally seen fit to give the Rabbids their own minigame-free game, in Rabbids Go Home. The only real question to be asked here is, what took ’em so long?

Gameplay

If you’ve played the Rabbids games in any form, the one thing you’ll know is that they pretty much always bring the funny. I’ll admit that I was skeptical about a full length game starring the Rabbids without the ridiculous minigames to back them up, but within minutes of starting the game, that fear lifted. I won’t give away the whole reason why, but let’s just say that you’ll never look at your Wii remote quite the same way again.

While most games will often try to introduce a ridiculous plot with an enormous amount of detail and jokes that mostly fall flat, Go Home’s protagonists generally don’t speak. This leaves the story to be told through humourous, but mostly silent (minus a few BWAAAAAH’s!!!!) cutscenes. In fact, it’s the silent nature of the cutscenes that really provide some laugh out loud moments. There were countless times throughout the game that I found myself laughing hysterically, and finding that kind of a humour in a videogame is a rare treat.

The basic gameplay is a simple affair that revolves around collecting a ton of items in order to build a tower to the moon, which is apparently where the Rabbids are originally from. In order to do this, your Rabbid is armed with a shopping cart to collect any manner of thing you can shove into it. Think of it as an inventive twist on the Katamari series, as you can literally grab almost anything in the level to add to the pile of junk that will eventually lead the Rabbids to their final destination. The sheer amount of things to pick up may seem daunting, but the sheer insanity of picking up a cow and shoving it into a cart is just so much fun that Ubi have managed to find a way to make the tediousness of collect missions a full-on blast to play for the games entirety.

The level layouts are very much based on platforming aspects, and each level is designed with a specific area in mind. You’ll wander your way through construction yards, airports, and malls, all with the intent of finding as many objects as possible in each level, each with a score based on their height. The taller the object the better, as they each bring the Rabbids one step closer to the moon.

If initially the premise still doesn’t sound like much, again the level of comedy found here is well worth the price of admission. The Rabbids will leap from the cart or "inside" your Wii remote and attack characters and animals throughout levels, comically bashing their heads, or even screaming the clothes off of people. On top of the usual civillians, the Rabbids encounter more hostile obstacles, such as guard dogs and "Verminators". The Verminators are exterminators out to destroy the Rabbids plans. Of course, as you can imagine, they’re mainly another form of comic relief as they roam through levels haplessly trying to stop the Rabbids only to get their rubber suits stolen right off their backs.

As you can tell, this isn’t exactly a game that goes for high-brow comedic appeal, and to be honest, that wouldn’t really fit here. This is a game that’s meant to be absurd. That said, the humour will likely appeal to a particular audience, mostly fans of the Cartoon Network or Teletoon. In other words, if you didn’t find the Rabbids funny in previous outings, you’re not likely to find them any funnier here.

One neat thing about the game is its Rabbid customization options. You can make any manner of Rabbid here, adjusting the size of their ears, the location of their eyes, and putting them in a ton of outfits that can make them look like anything from the Cookie Monster to Batman, in rough terms. The options are much more in-depth than the simple system that’s been in place since Rabbids 2.

One of the cooler aspects of the game is the premise that the Rabbids seem to live inside your Wii remote. What’s neat about this is that Ubi have designed it so that you can see your Rabbid while it inhabits the remote. You’ll be shown the inside of your Wii remote and the attention to detail here is excellent. If you tilt the Wii remote, the Rabbid will flop around on screen, reflecting your action pretty accurately. Pressing buttons or violently shaking the remote will also be reflected on screen, and your Rabbid can get pretty beat up as a result. It’s nice little touches like this that make the game an entirely different title than almost anything else out there for the Wii.

Graphics & Sound

Ubi have been bringing the Rabbids to the Wii since it launched, and with each game, the series imrpoves their look. That’s to be expected, of course, but Ubi have really perfected the look and feel of the Rabbids with this game. They look great, and there’s more personality here than ever before.

The animations are about what you’d expect, and watching a Rabbid wail on a human is entertaining, and looks great. Overall, the cartoonish aspects of previous titles appear here, but being that this game is more focused than the minigames of previous years, there’s something that really makes RGH feel more on par with a Saturday morning cartoon than ever.

While the Rabbids are incapable of actual speech, their grunts, groans and Bwaaaah’s are just as good as they ever were. There are some speaking parts from the humans, and while they can be a bit repetitive, they’re all as over-the-top as you’d expect them to be.

The games soundtrack mainly consists of an upbeat ska-like Rabbid diddy, though there are a few licensed tracks that add to the ambience of the levels. My only complaint here is that sometimes the sound seemed to cut out at odd times, and there would be nothing but the sound of the shopping cart for a few minutes. That may have been intentional, but overall it didn’t come across as intentional.

Value

The game itself should take most around 8 hours to complete, depending on how thoroughly they go through the levels. For sheer comedic value, the game is well worth the price of admission for Rabbids fans, and even if you’ve never played a Rabbids game before. Those who have, be warned that this is no mere Rabbids 4. This is an entirely separate entity from the Rayman presents series of minigames. That’s not a bad thing at all, however, as the humour and off-kilter nature of the characters is well represented here and should be enjoyed by anyone who found the Rayman titles even remotely enjoyable.

There’s also a co-op option for those who want to share the fun, with the second player shooting their Wii-mote Rabbid at anything they can to add to the cart. While it’s a nice option, it doesn’t necessarily add a lot of variety, though again, watching a Rabbid attack various objects and seeing them launch onto the screen is just as funny with two as it is for one.

Conclusion

A surprisingly fun romp from start to finish, Rabbids Go Home is a unique experience that takes what is usually the tedious task of collecting, and makes it entirely fun. If you own a Wii and love to laugh, you’ll definitely want to give these wacky Rabbids a shot.