Beyond all the hype for Twilight Princess, Red Steel and Banana Blitz lies a cute expansion to the Rayman series. Now kudos to Ubisoft here for not just dishing out a standard Rayman platformer with a couple of controls mapped to the motion sensor of the Wiimote and creating something a little more original.

Developed by the Beyond Good and Evil team you could aptly give Rayman Raving Rabbids the title of “mega microgame$” or something. Wait, that’s been done before. Wario Ware ring any bells? Ok, so it’s not so original after all but this might keep you playing until Nintendo’s own Wario Ware does finally land on the Wii next year. Besides, even if it is a bit of a rip-off, this game looks insanely fun.

There will be a selection of about 70 minigames which are all linked loosely by a storyline which takes a bit of a backseat to the main action, but is enough to keep everything flowing nicely.

Basically the story goes that Rayman has been captured by some rather ridiculous looking dancing bunnies. They are pretty unpleasant rabbits and so require Rayman to complete a number of tasks for their entertainment. Completing them will mean Rayman’s popularity grows and he will also receive plungers of which he can use to build a ladder to escape from the jail.

It’s all pretty simple stuff in the storyline sense, yet it’s so well executed it’s actually very enjoyable. The rabbits themselves are brought to life by some superb voice acting along with the excellent design and animation. This creates a really solid basis for a really comical game which is extended by the hilarious gameplay itself.

With 70 minigames on offer it would have been easy for Ubisoft to develop a game that was more of quantity than quality but from what has been shown from the Ubisoft camp so far every mini game looks immersive and is well mapped to the unique features of the Wiimote.

The range of games is excellent, both in terms of the games content and also the way in which they play. One of the easier games sees you using the controller to spin a cow around in circles and then using the A button to throw the cow. In another game you are given a bomb by a rather mean rabbit. You must then run through an island to ensure you give the bomb to a faraway rabbit before it explodes. This sees you making a running motion with the nunchuck and the Wiimote, the quicker you make the motion, the quicker Rayman runs on screen.

One of the really fun minigames in Rayman Raving Rabbids pits you with the challenge of slamming toilet doors shut before a urinating rabbit is exposed and embarrassed. To complete this minigame you must simply hover of the door that is opening, grab a hold of it with the A button, and then make a door slamming motion in order to shut it. It’s really good fun and obviously the longer you survive in the minigame, the harder it becomes.

All this fun aside, graphically Ubisoft have created a really stunning looking game. Everything is well animated and is displayed in bright vibrant colours. The fact that the Wii doesn’t have HD compatibility really will go unnoticed if games continue to look this good on the Wii. Besides you will be having so much fun with the Wii graphical discrepancies really will go unnoticed.

While Rayman Raving Rabbids probably won’t make a big impact on the charts, if genuinely fun games appeal to you and want something that is fairly easy to pick up and play – this game will definitely be for you.

If you don’t pick it up on December 8th, you should definitely be asking Santa for a copy of this.