Adam Wolf

IGN

Ubisoft shows what Wii can do. Gorgeous new screenshots complement a wealth of new details about the ambitious new generation action-platformer.
by Matt Casamassina

Nintendo fans still wondering if the company's upcoming Wii console will be kind to action-platformers can likely put their fears to rest. Not only does Super Mario Galaxy look to be one of the hottest entries into the Big N's lucrative franchise yet, but publishing giant Ubisoft is planning what could very well be the most ambitious Rayman game ever conceived - and it's coming to Nintendo's new system. Actually, that's something of an understatement. Rayman Raving Rabbids, which is developed by Michel Ancel and team (the same folks behind not only Rayman 2, but the cult hit Beyond Good & Evil and more recently, King Kong), is being designed first and foremost for Wii, which is the lead platform; the other versions for current and next generation consoles are ports.

Why start with the Wii version and go from there? According to a recent Nintendo Power interview with Ancel, it's because he was so impressed with Nintendo's innovative new controller. He reportedly tested the device out and was simply blown away. Ancel said to the magazine: "We believe in the Wii and building gameplay around the controller." With this in mind, the team set out to revolutionize the Rayman franchise - not simply with flashier graphics, which incidentally Raving Rabbids does sport - but with a control scheme so radically different and enhanced that players would not want to leave Rayman's world. A lofty goal, yes, but Ancel is no game design amateur.


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Ubisoft jumped headfirst into Rayman Raving Rabbids immediately after work was completed on King Kong. Ancel amassed a large team and began the process of recreating the Rayman universe for a new generation of gamers. Of course, the core of this new title is an advanced and fundamentally new control configuration, which is made possible by the motion-sensitive functionality of the Wii-mote. But the team needed a new Rayman adversary to which a storyline could cling, and so it banged its collective head and came up with… evil bunnies?

If you're scratching your head, you're probably not alone. One doesn't often conjure images of bunnies when they think of evil nemeses. However, Rayman's foes are no ordinary evil bunnies. The crazed critters have lived their lives underground for years, all the while planning an attack on the world above, and they're deadly in numbers. As Raving Rabbids begins, the war has started and Rayman himself has become a prisoner of the enemy. Luckily for the limbless hero, the bunnies have no idea who he is, or that he is capable of single-handedly mounting a rebellion. Ancel revealed that the setup is inspired by the movie Gladiator, and that eventually Rayman himself will grow in popularity, challenging the leadership of the Rabbids' grotesque emperor. To do this, Rayman will need to take part in more than 70 contests and entertain the bunnies. For instance, the character may need to run races on animals, fight in the arena, dance, or even engage in first-person-style plunger-shooting challenges.


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Popularity seems to be a key goal in Raving Rabbids. As the character becomes more recognized by the (admittedly) insane community of bunnies, he is able to unlock items and customize his jail cell. According to Ubisoft, players can deck out the cell and give it a unique style. "Go punk, pop, rock or hip hop and use your funky dance moves to outwit the bunnies," the studio states in an official release about the game.

Ubi has really capitalized on the potential of the Wii-mote. In one challenge, the character must steer a warthog through a race and to do so players turn the controller on their side and simply turn left and right, gesturing forward to pick up speed. This design is very similar to the setup in Excite Truck for Wii, by comparison. Rayman can swing chained cows around. To execute this bizarre move, players simply hold down the B trigger and swing the remote around, increasing momentum; when the B trigger is depressed, the cows take a ride. And in another entirely different mode, the action switches to a first-person view and the Wii-mote becomes a reticule aim, to which Rayman can fire plungers. Hordes of evil bunnies fill his screen, so it won't be difficult to find something to shoot at.

Rayman Raving Rabbids will also boast an offline four-player multiplayer mode in which gamers can take part in various trials, presumably against each other. As for compatibility with Nintendo's WiiConnect24 service, the chances are not likely, mostly because Ubisoft is still waiting for the specifics of the network from Nintendo.

The new screens featured in today's article are representative of the Wii version, which is the farthest along. Although Nintendo's console is not as powerful as Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, it does have an edge over the current generation, and Ancel believes that Ubisoft will be able to deliver a beautiful experience. "We did a lot of good looking games on this generation of graphics processors," he explained to Nintendo Power. "The Wii hardware is more powerful than those, so that's good enough for us." The team is concentrating less on polygonal benchmarks and putting its artistic foot forward for Raving Rabbids, and the in-game shots really do speak for themselves.

Rayman Raving Rabbids is a Wii launch game and a project that every platformer fan should already have placed at the top of their must-have list. IGN Wii will keep readers updated as the game advances, but in the meantime feel free to click over to our media section for updated screenshots and some new artwork.