Just 10 minutes into “Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party” and the squeaks and high-pitched squeals of the tiny cartoon characters will have you turning your Wii system off.
In “TV Party,” the character, Rayman, finds himself trapped and forced to watch critter television — a week’s worth of network programming that has been invaded by the Rabbids. This idea lies as the premise for a variety of more than 65 mini-games, including snowboarding, race car driving, flying through space and a list of other odd ball activities in which the player is the master in charge of deciding which programming makes the airwaves. What that then requires is completion of a mini-game to fill a timeslot, which then unlocks a batch of shows to play during the next hour.
“TV Party” is one of the few Wii games that make use of Nintendo’s Wii Balance Board, but it is also possible to play the game if you have yet to pick up a Wii Fit.The good thing about this game is that it is designed so that essentially anyone can participate and follow along, which was comforting to a newbie like myself.
When played alone, the point of the game is to achieve high scores, either against other saved results on your system or online scoreboards, in order to release locked games. It is definitely more entertaining to play this game with friends, as “TV Party” allows for up to eight players at a time.
The snowboarding spoof, probably the most popular activity on the game, in which a Rabbid rides a bull down an icy path of slopes, is comical and fairly easy to play, but lacked the more realistic graphics abundantly present in so many other Wii games. Similarly, the boxing activity presented very fictionalized characters that were rather typical and unimpressive. Another game will have you acting as a fashion-designer, dressing up your Rabbid in articles of clothing according to random criteria such as “cool and hairy, but not funny,” and then submitting your absurd design to a panel of judges.
“TV Party” also includes other fun spoofs of popular TV and movies, from trashy reality shows to Rabbid-ized remakes of blockbuster hits such as “The Untouchables” and “Night of the Living Dead,” but these must all be unlocked through high scores and found through the various “channels” of programming on the game.
While it may take some time getting used to, before you know it you too will be swinging the Wii Remote and Nunchuck around profusely in efforts to accomplish some ridiculous goal.
The fun one-minute activities had innovative ideas, but the horrific sounds throughout are enough to leave you despising bunnies forever. You’ll be thankful for the quiet spots in the menu which will allow you to actually think straight for a second.
Overall, the game has its laugh-out-loud moments and quirky sense of humor, but it won’t be enough to make you leave it on for too long, unless of course, you find controlling vehicles with your butt while sitting on a balance board particularly appealing.
The game is aimed for ages 10 and up, and does warn of animated blood, cartoon violence, crude humor and mild language, but it is all probably very meek in comparison to what you’ve seen before.
“TV Party” is the third installment in the series by Ubisoft. The game was released November 18 in the U.S. and retails for $49.99. The game is also available for the Nintendo DS system for $29.99
