Title: Rabbids Go Home
Platform: Wii
ESRB: E
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier
Rating: 
Review by: Dan Braun
The adorably maniacal Rabbids from the Rayman series have finally emerged in their own epic platformer/adventure game, Rabbids Go Home. Fans of the Rabbids’ mischievous mini-games series Raving Rabbids will be disappointed, but following these freaks through their misguided efforts to reach their home is an entertaining and endearing effort, albeit a bit boring after all of the comedy and action starts getting looped.
The game opens up in the junkyard home of the titular terrors, where they brilliantly decide that the best way to return to their home is to invade the city and stack up a tower of garbage to reach the moon. That’s the premise of the game, plain and simple – collect stuff. Two Rabbids run around a variety of locations in a shopping cart, while grabbing everything they can find to build their tower of crap. Each level has 1,000 assorted items sprinkled about to franticly grab, while dodging enemies, traps and obstacles.
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Collectables include everything from light bulbs to security dogs, and include extra-large items that can involve kidnapping, hijacking and grand larceny. The whole time, Rabbids use screaming as their primary weapon to break open containers or scare the pants off of people (literally, as their garments magically turn to collectable pop-bottles for some reason). Additionally, the Rabbids can summon a third friend to be used as a gun for breaking open locations to hidden goodies.
The gameplay involves simple platforming elements, but the whole thing gets repetitive after the first few levels. The limited dialogue and items get rehashed ad infinitum, and the game really never gets much harder as it progresses. Load times are obnoxiously long and poorly masked by the same animation of Rabbids riding through sewers.
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The game does have some saving graces, as the art design and soundtrack are wonderful. Stale Musak and John Denver tunes sprinkle the game with the monotony of the city-dwellers’ lives to contrast the insanity of the Rabbids and their big band accompaniment. They all celebrate to it with fervor every time a large item is recovered.
There are also amusing features that allow players to interact with Rabbids who are “hiding” inside the Wii Remote. A mini-game is available in which Rabbids can be abused via shaking the Wii Remote and pressing buttons to flip them around incessantly. Rabbids can also be decorated and molded in a variety of fashions, depending on special items collected while completing levels. It’s a great feature, although it really doesn’t add much to the actual game.
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These cute and crazy characters deserve a game that showcases their madcap hilarity, and to some extent, Rabbids Go Home does that. Unfortunately, the repetition of levels, humor, items and action bog it down, making it a somewhat time-consuming chore. It will no doubt be a hit with kids, but anyone older than 13 will quickly tire of this one.
For more info, http://rabbids.us.ubi.com/rabbidsgohome
Pads & Panels received a copy of the game courtesy of the publisher for review purposes.
