Creative, charming, polished, and overly enjoyable - the Rabbids at their very best.
In two subsequent party titles (Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 and Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party respectively), it became increasingly clear that the immense popularity of the Rabbids started pushing Rayman, the initial protagonist of this spinoff series, to the background. This resulted in the Rabbids and Rayman being split altogether eventually, continuing as two separate series. And rightfully so, seeing as the Rabbids have become some of the most recognisable characters identified with the Wii, and the obligatory inclusion of Rayman seemed more pointless with every new installment of their series. The result was Rabbids Go Home, which is not only the first 'all-Rabbids' title, but the first game in the series that breaks away from the minigame concept. This game can best be described as a platformer that, while retaining the wacky feel of the previous games, offers a rather unique experience that is quite different from what we've seen from the quirky critters thus far.
In Rabbids Go Home, you control two Rabbids in a shopping cart, and the goal is to collect enough junk to build a tower to the moon - which the Rabbids now believe to be their home. Concretely, this has you guiding your two Rabbids through tons of levels, collecting all kinds of everyday objects as you go, from coke bottles to traffic cones, in order to make your garbage tower high enough for the Rabbids to reach their presumed home. Some objects, such as trash bins, need to be smashed in order for items to fall out, and even humans can be attacked (by yelling 'BWAAAH' at them), so that all of their clothes will fall off, for you to be collected as well - except for the underwear of course. All collectable objects are highlighted by a white circle, so it's easy to spot which items are yours for the taking. The collectable junk that is hidden in containers will have to be uncovered before it is identified as such, though, forcing perfectionists to keep their eyes open at all times, as it's all too easy to overlook a vending machine or a garbage bin. Each level also has an XL item, one major object (such as a Christmas tree or a safe), usually found near the end of the level, that is needed to complete the stage.
The controls do a good job at making the abovementioned process a true joy. Ubisoft certainly didn't ignore the potential of the motion controls, but they didn't overdo it either. Navigating through the levels is mostly done with the buttons and the Nunchuck's analog stick, while flicking the Wiimote will make your Rabbids use a scream attack, as well as some other actions in certain contexts. The pointer can be used to aim at the screen, while you can shoot a Rabbid into that direction with the Z-button, in order to activate switches and reveal secret areas. The controls are extremely slick, which is a necessity in a platforming game with such a strong focus on precision. The fixed camera rarely gets in the way, although it would have been nice to be able to rotate the camera in certain situations, as it can be rather difficult at times to see where you're supposed to be going, and whether you've missed out on any objects. But in most cases, both the controls and the camera succeed in facilitating the gameplay experience.
Even though the game kicks off at a rather laid-back pace, with simple levels and easy-to-reach junk, the difficulty level will rise as your adventure progresses, which means that the most interesting levels are to be found in the more advanced stages of the game. Fortunately, the types of levels you'll have to play are varied and well-dosed throughout the game. There's the standard, linear levels; stages in which you have to keep up with a truck transporting the cow you're after; free roaming levels which have all the junk in one major area; levels in which you have to slide down a hill in a rubber tie, and many more variations. My personal favourites were the free roaming stages, as I could take my time to collect all the junk I needed: backtracking is not possible in most of the other levels, so if you forgot something, you'll either have to completely restart the level, or accept that you're not gonna get the full 1000 points for that level. There are about 40 different levels, so naturally, things will start to get a bit repetitive eventually, but it's impressive that new gameplay applications keep being introduced, even in the late stages of the game.
The above paragraph might make Rabbids Go Home sound like a difficult game, but it can truly be played by anyone. In order to complete the game, you generally won't even have to come close to a perfect score. It's not even necessary to beat every level in order to reach the final stage. Casual gamers will thus be able to beat this game without too much of a hassle, but for completionists, the game will prove to offer quite a challenge. The scores are not mere arbitrary numbers with satisfaction being the only reward, however: each level has four presents which can be unlocked by getting a certain amount of points. Normally, 900 points (out of 1000) are needed to unlock all 4 presents. The presents are actually extra accessories for the game's incredibly deep character editor, but we'll get to that in a bit.
Because before you even get to use the character editor, you'll notice how technically refined this game is. The artistic design, for one, is as solid as it is varied. During your adventure, you'll visit airports, malls, offices, suburbs, building sites, and you'll even make a dangerous 'balloon' trip (you use a flatulent intensive care patient instead of an actual balloon, but still) above Las Vegas. While not always as sharp, the cartoony graphics do their job well, and along with some very pretty lightning effects and colourful environments, the game just looks very attractive.
These environments are actually meant to represent the everyday life of us humans in a satirical way, and while attempts at mocking the monotony of our existence have often resulted in cringe worthy pseudo-humour that fails because it tries too hard, Rabbids Go Home does a surprisingly good job at making fun of our culture. Especially the voice acting is noteworthy, with the announcer in the airport levels often parodying its ridiculous security measures ('due to security reasons, nothing is to be moved in or out of this zone'). It also proves that Rabbids Go Home, while focussing on a young audience, isn't exclusively for kids, as many of them will not understand some of the jokes. The humans you'll have to attack along the way will also blurt out some lines, and while enjoyable, there's a bit too much repetition, and some of it is too over the top.
However amusing some of the voice acting may be, it's the music that really manages to elevate this game aurally. Apart from a dozen licensed tracks, among which John Denver and Boney M., Rabbids Go Home features many frantic slapstick tunes, written and performed by a Romanian gypsy band called Fanfare Vagabontu. This speedy, wacky, and cheery music really underlines the ridiculous nature of the protagonists perfectly, giving the whole game an even more hyperactive touch than it already had. There were a bit too many silent moments for my liking, as the music generally only plays when the tension builds up, for example during fighting scenes and risky platforming sequences, but other than that, the soundtrack is perfect.
The combination of solid, addictive gameplay, and a technically impressive presentation, the adventure mode of Rabbids Go Home in itself is interesting enough to warrant a few playthroughs, but the real icing on the cake is supplied by an additional mode - the character editor. Upon entering the editor, you'll first have to use your Wiimote as some kind of vacuum cleaner to suck up one of the three Rabbids you'll get to use in your adventure (the third one you can use as a projectile during gameplay), after which it will 'enter' your Wiimote, meaning that the Rabbid is depicted in a representation of the Wiimote's interior. Before you even enter the editing menu, you can have a lot of fun by rotating your Wiimote, causing him to fall, or by grabbing his attention by pushing some buttons on the Wiimote. One thing you'll definitely end up doing is giving your Wiimote a good shake, so your Rabbid gets to see every corner of it (literally) in a way that is rather unpleasant - for the Rabbid, that is. While this fooling around ultimately serves no purpose other than your own amusement, it is one of the most interesting control applications of the Wiimote I've seen in recent years.
Things only get better once you enter the actual menu for editing your Rabbid. Here, you can change the colour of parts of his skin, making it look like he's wearing - for example - a t-shirt, pants, shoes, gloves, or whatever you may desire. It sounds a bit goofy at first, but you'd be surprised at how limitless the options are. Without going through too much trouble, you can make your Rabbid resemble pretty much anyone or anything you wish. I have created a pretty decent bunny equivalent of The Joker, and on the free Rabbids channel, which actually hosts online competitions for the Rabbid editor, you can see many awesome creations from users all over the world.
Rabbids Go Home managed to not only cut the Rabbids from Rayman's life support (or is it the other way around?), but to offer us one of the most refreshing, innovative, and downright fun platforming experiences in many years. Ubisoft did well to not try and copy Mario, because it would be impossible to beat the fat plumber at his own game, nor Rayman, which would undermine the existence of the Rabbids' own franchise. The result is a unique game which has something in store for everyone, while impressing us with highly polished, technically refined design that feels familiar, even if the gameplay has little in common with the Rabbids' previous offerings. So Wii gamers, grab an energy drink and forget about your Ritalin - the Rabbids are back!