With friends coming over for a party, we went out and looked at various party games that could incorporate multiplayer mode, and allow for hours of fun. The gaming range is not very wide in PE, but recently our Toys R Us have expanded, which stock the biggest range of titles.
I managed to get my hands on Raving Rabbids 2 - Party Collection, which I have enjoyed immensely.
The game allows three main modes of play:
Rayman mode, where you play as Rayman, and unlock various other aspects to the game (such as outfits, new songs to play etc). The challenges are fun, they include shooting games, balance games, racing games etc. All very engaging and physically demanding (your arms get tired really quickly). I've only played solo on this mode - I don't think you can play with others here, but I stand to be corrected. I'll have to check it out, but Souper is hogging the Wii (Star Wars games
). There is a storyline that you follow in this mode, but I haven't gotten far enough to work out what it is. Raving Rabbids II mode allows you to travel, either alone or with up to 4 other players (all requiring their own controllers + numchucks), to various countries. In each country you compete in 6 mini game challenges - such as shooting, racing, balancing and moving, band hero, etc. They are all very enjoyable and highly entertaining to play and watch (Drusky and myself competed last night, with Souper rolling on the couch shouting in laughter
) You can also customize your own trip, and combine the 6 games from various countries that you enjoy the most.Party Mode allows you to play solo, multiplayer, train or share your scores online. The solo mode allows you to open up various games (there are 50 mini games) that range from moose-sledding, shooting zombie rabbids, dancing, band-hero, running and posing etc. The games are hilarious, keeping in tradition with the craziness of the rabbids. The multiplayer mode allows you to compete in all the mentioned games together.
The main idea behind the party mode is that the bunnies have taken over the tv (as they get trapped inside - there is a little mini movie to watch) and you have to complete a game that fills up a time slot - once successfully completed it allows you to go onto the next time slot - eventually opening up 8 time slots for 5 week days. You can choose what type of game you want to play for each time slot, i.e. I enjoyed the "band-hero" and dance ones, so I alternated between those until they ran out - then I moved onto the other ones. Once you have completed all time-slots for each day successfully the bunnies finally break free - and you have completed the story for party mode. We haven't played all days yet, I've only completed 17% of party mode so far, and I've played a lot!
It's perfect for group gatherings, but those who prefer "real" games such as Star Wars and Need for Speed will find the quirkiness of the game tends to get very frustrating after a while and you long for "normality" - cue Souperman's review
The game requires both controller + numchucks to be attached for all games - even though you don't always use the numchuck, it won't allow you to play until it is connected. You can use your balance board for a lot of the games, but you don't have to have one or use it. It's quite fun for driving and sledding and you sit on the board and steer with your bum, but if you don't have a board you simply use your controller as a steering wheel.
It is lots of fun for the whole family, although I don't think that little ones (7 or below) will be able to do well in some games as they required a lot of fine motor co-ordination. I suppose it depends on your toddlers abilities.
Trailer below:
Menu
Facebook Page