Rayman's fourth installment in the series is filled with rabbit mashing mini games sprinkled with some unique charm. Ubisoft changes their direction and pumps out a more attention deficit version of their classic armless hero, Rayman. He might not have arms, and your arms might get tired, its time to pick up your plunger as we rave on about Rayman Raving Rabbids.

Michel Ancel the man behind the original Rayman and one of the best games no one played, Beyond Good and Evil thought up the Raving Rabbids idea and penned it out to work with the unique traits of the Nintendo Wii. Instantly the original and wacky Rayman Raving Rabbids is a must have game for the Nintendo Wii.

In Rayman Raving Rabbids you will face more than 70 trials which play out like little mini games. All the mini-games can be replayed in the Score mode, so if you unlocked a few you liked in the normal Story Mode you can retry your luck. High Scores and making it through the story mode is your main objective, but for those ultra competitive types you can even check your scores online with a unique web code on the Rayman official site.

In the Story Mode you have to complete three trails and a boss match up over a fifteen day period which follows Rayman being imprisoned. Winning means Rayman will get a plunger which he builds a ladder to escape from his cell. The plot isn't really much, but at least it sets up a good enough excuse to run through a bunch of varied games. Besides winning the game, you unlock more trials as you go along, and extra costumes and music. The costumes can be pretty funny and the usually have a cultural reference to them like music, Rayman also spoofs a number of games including Ubisoft's own Splinter Cell.

The enemy in Rayman is the Rabbids, yes, rabbids, and not rabbits, more like rabid rabbits (say that ten times fast). These rabbids provide a fun challenge for Rayman and range from the normal to Austin Powers Laser Rabbids, to insane toilet war fighters. No one ever said it had to make sense. Animals are the theme of this Rayman adventure and even though the rabbit creatures are focused you will spot other four legged creatures.

For more detail the mini games could be separated into four categories, Sports, Skill, First Person Shooter and Dancing games. The Sports games will have you hammering a Rabbids head, kicking a Rabbid into soccer net and more sport games. Skill games have you doing more precise actions like making Rabbids attack each other or just the simple act of throwing plungers at a wheeled up spinning Rabbid. The First Person Shooter levels are self explanatory with theme levels and lastly Shake Your Booty! With everything from Rock to Hip Hop and more. Ubisoft even went so far to license music tracks like the appropriately named "Hip Hop Hooray" by Naughty by Nature. It's hard to pick a favorite game and I'm sure every gamer will vary on what they like and don't like. It's good the assortment is wide, Rayman Raving Rabbids provides an activity to please every gamer.

One problem with Rayman Raving Rabbids is the contrived feeling it gives off as a gimmick game, but this is a natural feeling when dealing with the Nintendo Wii. Contrived or not, Raving Rabbids is still fun. Another issue which has been catching some slack is a misprinted manual that says the game can support 480 progressive scan mode. For me it's not a major issue since its running interlaced at 480, but it's a little sad that the PAL release was fully upgraded to run at the higher scan rate. For complaints Rayman Raving Rabbids doesn't do so badly and if you can accept a slightly lower resolution and a bunch of mini games you might not complain at all.

Served with a side dish of humor, Rayman Raving Rabbids makes use of the Nintendo Wii's motion sensor and gives the next best answer to a Wario game. Ubisoft made a wise choice switching their Rayman format to cash in on Nintendo's new console. Rayman Raving Rabbids is a treat and an unexpected hit. Highly Recommended.

Fun to Play, Good use of Wii controller, Original Concept

PAL Video Quality is Better, A Little Gimmicky, No Real Substance

• Combat the Ultra-Crazed Evil Rabbits - Take control of Rayman and his knack for attack to help save his world from the raving rabbids. They are mischievous, insane and completely out of control. There are several types of rabbids each with its own mischievous characteristics.
• Master and Ride Creatures - Tame and control various creatures such as sharks, eagles, rhinos, spiders and angelfish. Rayman can master each animal's unique capabilities to help in his battle against the devious rabbits.
• Dress to Impress - Customize and disguise Rayman. Go punk, pop, rock or hip hop to infiltrate the bunnies and foil their devious plans.
• Explore the Colorful Fantastic World of Rayman - Explore amazing free-roaming environments and beautiful epic landscapes that mix real and fantastical styles to create a visually stunning experience.
• With more than 16 million copies sold to date, Rayman is Ubisoft's best-selling and longest-running video game franchise. Created by Ubisoft's Game Designer Michel Ancel when he was only 19, the character with no arms and no legs has attracted gamers of all ages.