Rayman Raving Rabbids (GBA) Review

One thing I always found odd about the box art is Rayman's gloves, he usually has white gloves that cover his entire hand, not stupid fingerless gloves. Oh wait I'm supposed to be doing a review.

Story-6/10- This version probably has the best story of the three. The Rabbids attack and kidnap Rayman, but instead of forcing him to silly mini-games, or grueling tasks, Rayman escapes in the very first level with help from his flying bug friend Murphy. We also learn the back-story of the Rabbids, and why they became evil. They were peaceful, gullible creatures that were constantly made fun of and hurt by others, so they decided to get their revenge.



Graphics-9/10- The graphics are done in traditional colorful sprites, and have nice, smooth animations. The real fun comes in the levels, which each have their own bizarre theme, the first being the toy world, where everything is made of toys and art supplies, then comes the forest world, which has tons of references to the first Rayman game, after that is the organic world, which is really gross looking, the sweets world is made up of candy and pastries and looks very delicious, and finally is the dark world which is very dreary and, well, dark. Rayman himself has some smooth animation, especially when swinging from hooks. The enemies are also varied and bizarre, with backpack beasts, super bunnies, and clown chefs roaming the levels.

Gameplay-7/10-  Despite the decent story, and great graphics, the game is just kind of, well, bland, to say the least. You do things you would in a Rayman game, jump, punch, collect Lums, break cages, and I'm not saying that's bad or anything, it is a fun game and is a good waste of a few hours, but it takes all that from 2003's Rayman 3 for the GBA, but with improved game-play and way less frustration.

Like in the DS version, Rayman gets a variety of costumes which grant him new abilities. Only this time, they aren't based around the elements, instead having a power based slightly around the costume itself. The first is the "Gangsta" costume, which allows Rayman to pound objects into the ground, then the "Goth" costume which can shoot bubble gum to make certain objects sticky, then the "Granny" costume, which can get pass gates without being detected, then the "Elvis" costume, which has a powerful-but-short-ranged attack, and finally the "Disco" costume which can fire an incredibly powerful shot at long distance. Unlike the DS version however, the costumes are only used for the world after they are gained, making some of them virtually useless.

Overall-7/10- While the game-play itself is bland, it is probably the closest we'll ever get to the original RRR, and to me, that is a thing to admire. Also the bosses are really stupid and I hate them.