When the insane rabbit-like creatures called Rabbids first appeared in Rayman Raving Rabbids three years ago, I don’t know if anyone expected that they would soon become the stars of the series. It wasn’t long before the maniacal bunnies overshadowed the limbless former platforming star, and this holiday season, the Rabbids are ditching Rayman entirely and starring in their own game, entitled Rabbids Go Home. In addition to losing their old protagonist, Rabbids Go Home is also vacating mini-games in favor of linear, vehicle-based gameplay. No, it’s not a racing game; instead, Rabbids will ride around on shopping carts, hospital beds, rockets, and other zany contraptions in order to achieve their goal of getting to the moon, which they have decided is their home. In other words, it makes about as much sense as the Rabbids ever have.

Of course, that’s hardly a complaint. The one thing I have always liked about the Rabbids games is their zany, absurd sense of humor. I wasn’t on board with Rayman Raving Rabbids because the Rayman series I knew was all about platforming, not mini-games. However, it was hard not to be charmed and amused by the playfulness and insanity of the series, which was apparent in every promo and commercial. Even though I never truly accepted that the series had been turned into a mini-game compilation, the Rabbids remained a constant source of humor. Now that Rabbids Go Home is changing up the gameplay, it has a chance of attracting a wider range of Wii owners, in addition to keeping fans of the three Raving Rabbids games.



In Rabbids Go Home, through some silly series of events, the antagonistic creatures decided that they came from the moon, and they need to get back by building a giant pile of Earthly crap. To accomplish their goal, the Rabbids ride around Earth collecting anything and everything they can get their hands on. Of course, those pesky, overthinking, neurotic humans are always in the way, so the Rabbids take them out by running them over with shopping carts and collecting their clothes for the moon pile. Don’t worry, the game is still family-friendly and the humans are fine, though a bit embarrassed about being stripped down to their underwear.

As I said earlier, Rabbids Go Home involves several different vehicles, though mostly a shopping cart loaded up with various items. The gameplay is mainly action-driven with some platforming elements, though there will be the occasional time trial in which you need to get around an environment before the clock runs down. All of the vehicles that I tried controlled slightly differently, and the shopping cart itself feels different depending on what’s in (or on) it. For example, at one point a giant hospital bubble bed was strapped to the cart, which allowed it to float for a brief amount of times, getting past some tricky obstacles on the hospital roof. Other heavy objects will slow the cart down, making it more difficult to turn or pick up speed. Another time, I was controlling the Rabbids on a giant rocket, which, as you might expect, went a lot faster than the shopping cart.



In addition to being used for transportation and carrying cargo, vehicles serve as weapons, knocking the clothes off humans and disposing of foes (namely, dogs that get increasingly more vicious). Blasting through them with the turbo move or spinning the Wii remote for a spin attack can both be used in most cases. Other challenges involve navigating over tricky terrain, which isn’t always as easy as it looks. There might be deadly obstacles, narrow paths high above the ground, or jumps that need strategic timing to clear. The variety in gameplay helps keep Rabbids Go Home fun and interesting.

Rabbids Go Home isn’t a deep or serious experience, nor does it pretend to be. It’s silly, zany fun, and even those who weren’t a fan of the Raving Rabbids games should be able to at least appreciate the humor and animated cut scenes. Personally, I found Rabbids Go Home more intriguing than the mini-game compilations that came before it, though it may not have the challenge factor to attract more experienced gamers—of course, only having test driven a few areas, there’s no way I can say that for sure. Being able to customize your Rabbids and put them in silly outfits (like a red lace thong) just adds to the appeal. At the very least, Ubisoft is giving the family friendly and casual crowds something different this holiday season, and it should be an entertaining experience. Though I only played the Wii installment, Rabbids Go Home will also be out for the DS and DSi this November, with console-specific gameplay for each version.