More 'Hare' Brained Adventures - Preview
by Alex St-Amour , posted on 08 June 2012 / 2,251 Views
If there is one third party series that has helped define the Wii these past six years then a very strong argument could be made for Ubisoft’s Rayman spin-off, the Rabbids. Their zany antics, desire for random junk, and of course their trademark ‘bwaaaaah!’ has made them household names. So it only made sense that those crazy critters would be making an early appearance for the launch of Nintendo’s new system.
Rabbids Land brings the series back to what it does best: random, bizarre mini-games. This time, however, Nintendo’s ‘asymmetric gameplay’ is on full display. The game is played with the Wii U Gamepad and Wii Remote Plus controllers, with the two games that were being demoed both using motion controls as their input of choice.
The first game tasked four Rabbids who were balancing on balls to collect jewels scattered around a level. These Rabbids were controlled with the Wii U controller’s gyroscopes and accelerometers. The other player controlled a large ball with the Wii Remote Plus and tried to crush the Rabbids a la Temple of Doom. I tried both options and really liked what I played. It’s a simple concept but it goes a long way to showing that the Wii U Gamepad can be integrated into older game designs and innovate without changing the core of the idea.
The second mini-game I tried had two Rabbids driving a car on some space rails, while another Rabbid is being pulled behind them. Here the Rabbids in the car must shoot fireballs out of the exhaust by shaking the Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuck in time with some Guitar Hero style beats. The second player then uses the Wii U Gamepad to steer left and right to avoid the fireballs. Again, it’s a fun concept that really shows that the new controller is perfect for both new and old experiences.
Visually the game is pretty active. Bringing the wacky world of the Rabbids to high definition has allowed the artists to put a lot more craziness into the designs, animations, environments and backgrounds. The game also borrows somewhat from the Mario Party series in that the overworld is laid out like a boardgame, and while this feature was only mentioned in passing, my guide at Ubisoft assured me that it would be a major component of the final game. I was also told that the game will support up to four players and have 26 activities once it finally arrives.
Rabbids Land is being positioned as a Wii U launch title and is expected to launch sometime this holiday season.
