Most comedic games go like this: you play, there’s a cutscene, then you laugh. While this has been a satisfying formula since the first comedy PC and console games were made, it doesn’t quite break the barrier of interactivity. By keeping the laughter separate from actual gameplay, the experience has more in common with a sitcom.

Rayman Raving Rabbids, the latest from developer Michel Ancel (creator of Rayman, the grossly underrated Beyond Good & Evil, and worked on Peter Jackson’s King Kong), the game is an upbeat and literal throw-your-hands-in-the-air adventure with loads of interesting challenges. Funny animation sequences precede or follow gameplay, but those only account for half the laughs. In Rayman Raving Rabbids you play, you laugh, and then you laugh some more.

Mini-Game Madness

Let me preface this by saying that I don’t like mini-games. (There are exceptions, but how often do they occur? Once every 18 months?) I think it’s important for you to know that because it shows just how much this game accomplishes.

Rayman Raving Rabbids is a wild ‘n’ crazy, over-the-top collection of missions where you have to, in all but the simplest cases, frantically move the Wii remote to score a minimum point value. This is where the majority of Rayman’s humor comes from. To throw a cow, you hold the remote over your head and swing several times – similar to how a cowboy swings a lasso – and release with the A button. It begins with an amusing sequence of a cow’s legs clamped to a chain. He shakes a little, looking very frightened.

The trick is to swing the cow fast enough to reach a great distance when thrown. You also have to make sure the cow is aimed forward when you throw, otherwise he’ll be tossed to the side and never reach his destination.

There goes another cow.

On the train tracks, Rayman has to control a man-powered car, and that means you have to move the remote and nunchuck up and down as fast as possible. I’m not kidding when I say you can’t wave the controllers fast enough. It sounds simple, and really isn’t that much of an exercise. But when you’re jumping from mission to mission, each with varying degrees of motions involved, it is possible to be caught off guard, if only for a brief moment.

At the nightclub, Rayman looks like a DDR knock-off but has more in common with Drum Mania (arcade game) and Taiko Drum Master (PS2). As several raving rabbids are ushered on to the dance floor, you have to swing both controller pieces – the nunchuck for left rabbids, and the remote for right rabbids – to make them disappear. The speed and patterns that are created as the rabbids appear form a sequence that, if you’re able to keep up, will have you drumming to the beat of the song.

And what songs will you be drumming to? Rabid remakes of hits from the 80s and 90s, including “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and Naughty By Nature’s “Hip Hop Hooray.” Ridiculous? 100%. This game couldn’t get any crazier. But it’s hilarious, catchy, and having grown up with Hip Hop Hooray, embarrassingly nostalgic.

Rayman also contains mini-games where you’ll make pigs fly (motion controls), race using a warthog (analog steering; swing remote for a speed boost), sneak past a security guard (frantic swinging), and keep the stalls from opening in a whack-y restroom game. These few are several other game types – some following the themes already mentioned, others going in a completely different direction.

Silly Rabbid, Wii remotes are for…gamers!

One of the best recurring boss battles (none are rehashed – you get different levels every time) is the on-rails, lightgun-inspired shooting gallery. It looks like a first-person shooter, with gameplay being conducted from a first-person view. But you don’t have any control over where Rayman moves, only where he aims. These stages are short, but have just the right amount of thrills and depth to keep players excited.

Though this game pushes boundaries with cow and Rabbid torture, the series does not stray from its family-friendly roots. As such, Rayman doesn’t fire a gun. Weapon substitutes aren’t usually cool, but this is a game that loves to defy the norm. Rayman’s “weapon” of choice: a plunger launcher. Comical, semi-automatic and very effective, the plunger launcher makes Rabbids wish they had never poked their heads onto the screen.

What’s most striking about this particular mini-game is how accurately the game reacts to your attacks. We all remember the lightgun ports, right? The Terminator 2 arcade game comes to mind. It rocked in arcades; it was a little slow and not entirely accurate on the Genesis. The Wii remote uses much better technology, giving the Rayman team a chance to create a new and exciting lightgun experience that’s over long before it has a chance to get repetitive.

Like most of Wii’s best titles, Rayman Raving Rabbids is an experience that’s vastly different from the norm. The action-packed, motion-driven mini-games are an absolute blast to play (repeatedly, until your arms just can’t take it anymore. Or your thumbs, if you accidentally smack a controller against the back of one – ouch). You’ll laugh, be thoroughly entertained, and start to wonder what wonderful things Michel Ancel will come up with next.

Gameplay: 8.5
Super fun. Rayman Raving Rabbids is the closest a game has ever gotten to achieving mini-game perfection. Whether you’re waving your hands feverishly, shooting plungers precisely, or racing warthogs intensely, this game doesn’t quit.  And once you get your hands on it, you won’t want to either.

Graphics: 8.0
Creatively uses the console’s power to produce a ton of beautiful and respectable scenarios. One of the best-looking Wii titles thus far.

Sound: 7.9
Quirky, silly fun that borders on annoying, but doesn’t quite cross over into bugging territory.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Given that this is a family-friendly game for all ages, Rayman Raving Rabbids doesn’t have many uber-challenging moments.

Concept: 8.4
I’ve never been a full-fledged Rayman fan, but I think that’s about to change. Rayman Raving Rabbids produces more than a rarity in gaming – it’s the first of its kind in concept (mini-game gameplay) and in entertainment value. Mini-games aren’t usually this fun or addictive, and almost never this rewarding. Michel Ancel should be proud of his creation.

Multiplayer: 7.9
Some of these great mini-games are playable with others, but you’ll have more fun taking turns to see who can get the highest score.

Overall: 8.4
Wii owners might be breaking the bank with so many must-play titles available, but don’t let that prevent you from playing this mini-game masterpiece. Whoever thought the word “masterpiece” could ever be in the same sentence as “mini-game”?