Respect the Rabbids from Rayman Raving Rabbids 1 and 2!
Not much is known from the fictional history of the rabbids; the Game Boy Advance version of the game states that the Rabbids used to be cute, friendly creatures, but they trusted nearly everybody, which made them the target of many jokes. After taking this for a long time, they went mad and are now trying to get their revenge on everybody who tricked them.
In their first game appearance, the Rabbids kidnap Rayman and the baby Globoxes, and imprison them in their Colosseum, in which Rayman must endure a number of minigames to gain the praise of the Rabbids. The Rabbids reward Rayman's efforts with plungers and an increasingly more comfortable jail cell. It is unknown how they react to Rayman's escape at the end of the game.
In the sequel to Rayman Raving Rabbids, the Rabbids attempt to invade Earth and set up their headquarters near a local shopping mall.
The bunnies became massively popular both through the teaser trailers and the game itself. IGN has stated that the Rabbids have "more personality and charisma than 10 of the most popular video game mascots combined", and that the bunnies have literally "upstaged Rayman himself". GameSpot has noted, "The Rabbids themselves are almost exclusively responsible for [selling the game's humor], as they are, without a doubt, hysterical. They're adorably designed, with their dumb stares, high-pitched shrieks, and a penchant for taking comedic bumps."
There has been speculation by reviewers that the success of the Rabbid character will probably inspire the developers to create more games of the franchise, possibly even without Rayman. This was first hinted in the launch trailer of the first game, where Rayman, despite being the title character, only appears for a fraction of a second, only to be squashed flat by a couch taken over by the bunnies, and became evident in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, in which case Rayman disguises himself as a Rabbid, causing the game to put more emphasis on them than on Rayman himself. In a recent video review, project lead Loïc Gounon confirmed the possibility of splitting the Rayman and Rabbid series apart, mentioning that the Rabbids seem to appeal more to older gamers, due to its slapstick humor and minigames deviating from the Rayman series' more fantasy-oriented style and action adventure gameplay.
However, on the official Ubisoft forums, many members seem to prefer Rayman over the Rabbids.
Dec 3rd, 2007 06:21 PM
