Raving Rabbids: Alive and Kicking

The Rabbids are back in Raving Rabbids: Alive and Kicking with all new mini-games for the Xbox 360 Kinect. This venture into the series is a Kinect exclusive offer with over 30 mini-games that present some variety, but for players looking for a deep fulfilling game experience this just may not be the game for them. The mini games are filled with cute rabbids that make strange noises and in general it can be sort of fun when playing with friends, that is the point of a party game anyway. This isn’t a perfect game as it does have several issues that are mind numbingly aggravating, but for those younger gamers who just want a game that is fun and entertaining this could be the silly game that you’ve been wanting for the Kinect.

Story:

The story is that there are Rabbids and they must be defeated through a series of several mini-games in which you will see yourself and whoever plays along with you in some pretty strange positions with the in game pictures. To be honest the pictures taken in game are more entertaining than the actual games at times, but for a party game having fun is what it’s all about so who could really hold that against Raving Rabbids. So you beat the games getting high scores in order to get unlocks on items for the extra features in the game.

Gameplay:

The gameplay is where the issues with sensor detection and menu navigation begin. To get into one of the game settings players will have to use a right hand swipe, this motion will have to be repeated over and over throughout the game. With 30 mini-games navigating which game to play and starting that game can be an extreme headache as the menu will skip past or move to far away far too easily. Most of the games are very simplistic requiring a certain pose, hand, or body movement in order to complete the game. If this were all there were this game would be no fun but as you make these motions it takes pictures and in some mini-games it includes the background into the game. This can make for some personally funny experiences that are captured for the viewing pleasure of everyone in the room.

The sensitivity issues also happen in some of the mini-games, where it just doesn’t pick up the player’s movements completely. This fault was the most annoying factor of the game as once you’ve gotten through the menu navigation fun you then get to try to play the game only it’s not reading your actions so you fail the game. Yet, when the sensor works correctly these games turned out to be pretty fun.

The mini-games are incredibly simple. If you want to know how simple my own 3 year old daughter wanted to play with me as I was reviewing this game so I put it on some simple matches, and I can state right here that she was able to beat me in two of these matches. For a father this brings me great pride and shame in my own gaming ability to be beaten by a three year old, but it shows the directions and movements are easy enough for just about anyone to play this game (if they can maneuver through those annoying menus).

The graphics, animations and sounds give this party game a quirky fun feel. This is a game that knows its audience and tries to entertain them. It’s not the most fun game to play alone, but get a group of people together and it can show everyone a good time.

There is a special feature where a Rabbid is on the screen and it shows the player and the room as an interactive background to this little extra. Players can interact with this Rabbid and it can be fun for kids or adults for about five minutes of slapping or kicking it around or using one of the interactive objects that are available. There are a number of unlockables that can be used with these interactions, but honestly the desire to unlock and use these is very low.

Conclusion:

This is a party game, and playing it any other way just doesn’t work. When all the features work correctly this is a pretty entertaining title. It would be nice to see a patch or something to fix the sensitivity issues of the Kinect as these were the biggest problems with this game. The amount of mini-games was really nice and offered a variety of playing modes that really went well together. The silly humor of these modes is infectious and can really liven up a group as they compete to see who can not only win a match, but also who can make the strangest pose for the in game pictures. For most this game can be recommended as a rental, but for those trying to find a holiday gift for a young teenager this could be a nice gift idea as it has silly humor that just appeals to that age range. Raving Rabbids: Alive and Kicking definitely isn’t for everyone, but it is for the young at heart that know how to have a fun time with lots of Rabbids.

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