Rabbids (Series)

The ***Rabbids* series**, also known as ***Raving Rabbids*** and ***Rayman Raving Rabbids*** until 2009, is a party and platformer video game series developed and published by Ubisoft. It began with *Rayman Raving Rabbids* in 2006. The series branched apart after the general positive reception of the antagonists known as the Rabbids in their video games and media, and the very small involvement that Rayman had in the first three games. During this branching process, the Rabbids started their own adventures in *Rabbids Go Home*, while Rayman returned to his platforming roots in *Rayman Origins*. The Rabbids are still part of the Rayman universe, as can be seen in *Rayman Adventures* where they made several appearances, but their role has been diminished since then. Unlike the Rayman series, the Rabbids series features a universe more focused on real life human civilization, pop culture and satire on society, with the Rabbids exploring Earth and trying to conquer it with the little knowledge they have on the complex human lifestyle.

## *Rayman Raving Rabbids*

The first game in the series is titled *Rayman Raving Rabbids* and was released in 2006. It features Rayman as the main protagonist and is the first game in the Rayman series to have a party games focus. The game was originally released for the newly released Nintendo Wii and had most of the minigames centered around the Wii Remote. The game was later ported to Windows PC, Sony PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 with the controls being adapted for analog control and mouse movement. The game begins with Rayman taking some baby Globoxes out for a picnic, which is quickly disrupted by the sudden invasion of a species new to him - the Rabbids. He and the babies are captured and taken to a Colosseum, where he becomes the Rabbids' source of entertainment. The objective of the game is to pass the many challenges that the Rabbids give to Rayman in the form of minigames. The minigames were originally designed to demonstrate the possibilities of the Wii's motion controls, but were soon after adapted to other consoles with regular controls.The game is split into fifteen in-game days, with each of these days containing five new challenges. At the start of each day there are four challenges to chose between, with only three of those being obligatory to continue. Once at least three are finished, the fifth challenge opens up which acts as a sort of final test of the day. When that challenge is finished, Rayman is taken back to his cell with his new award - a plunger. After beating all of the challenges, Rayman is able to escape using the plungers he has earned after each day of success. He soon realizes that he had left the babies behind, and tries to return for them through a hole a Rabbid had made, but he gets stuck for some time, leading to the ending of the game. The game also features a multiplayer mode for most of the minigames, in which the players take turns to play the same minigame and try to obtain the highest score.

### *Rayman Raving Rabbids* (Game Boy Advance)

The Game Boy Advance version is, unlike the console versions, a 2D side-scrolling platform, similarly to that of the Game Boy Advance version of *Rayman 3*. It also features a more familiar cast of characters, including Ly, Globox, Teensies and Murfy. Unlike the console versions it features a backstory for the Rabbids explaining the reason for their behavior. Apparently they were once a very kind species, to the point where others made fun of them. They have since plotted their revenge.

### *Rayman Raving Rabbids* (DS)

The Nintendo DS version is, similarly to the Game Boy Advance version, a game focusing mainly on 2D side-scrolling. Unlike the Game Boy Advance version, it does also have a big emphasis on minigames and other styles of gameplay, including one where the player has to use the stylus to clear obstacles for Rayman on the screen. The story this time around is more in line with the console versions, having Rayman being captured and taken to a Colosseum and forced to entertain the Rabbids. However, the baby Globoxes are nowhere to be seen, and Rayman instead has to defeat the Rabble Droid to escape, rather than earning Plungers.

## *Rayman Raving Rabbids 2*

In 2007 a sequel was released for the Nintendo Wii under the name *Rayman Raving Rabbids 2*. The game takes place soon after the events of *Rayman Raving Rabbids* where Rayman learns that the Rabbids are planning to take over Earth. He attempts to infiltrate their base by dressing up as one and imitating their behavior, while following them all over the world and collecting as much information as possible to use as a warning to the Earth's inhabitants. This is the first game in the series to not take place in the Glade of Dreams, and the first one to be entirely focused on 4-player minigames. The game doesn't have a defined ending.

### *Rayman Raving Rabbids 2* (DS)

A Nintendo DS version was released in 2007. Similarly to the console version it focuses entirely on minigames. Most minigames this time around require the usage of the stylus and take advantage of the dual screens. The game also features a local multiplayer mode where up to four players can connect their systems using WiFi.

## *Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party*

*Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party* is the third game in the original trilogy and the final game in the series to use the Raving Rabbids title. The game was released in 2008 for the Nintendo Wii. In the game Rayman is being chased by the Rabbids, as he hides in a small house in the forest. The Rabbids mysteriously travel into the television set inside the house, after a strike of lightening crashes into them. The Rabbids harass him and even creatures living outside the home for an entire week, by meddling around with the TV. Rayman attempts several ways of keeping the Rabbids stuck inside the TV from annoying him, including throwing the TV outside, but to no avail. It is then that the TV cracks and the Rabbids are set free to chase Rayman again. This game is similar to the previous game, but has an 8-player mode and balance support for some of the minigames. It is also the first game in the series to not feature Rayman as a playable character. His main appearances are in the cutscenes.

### *Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party* (DS)

A Nintendo DS version was released in 2008.

## *Rabbids Go Home*

*Rabbids Go Home* was released for the Nintendo Wii in 2009. It was the first game in the series to not have Rayman's name in the title and to not feature him in the game. The game takes place on the outskirts of a bustling city set on Earth where a group of Rabbids hang around in a junkyard, bored of partying, and wanting to go home. The problem is, they don't even know where they came from, so they cast the moon as their new home. They notice the piles of junk around them and decide that by making one pile bigger with even more junk, they could reach it. Two Rabbids then take a shopping trolley and search around for things to toss onto the pile, before setting off to the city to look for more junk. This is the game that separated the Rayman series from the Rabbids series, as it takes place in a more realistic and civilized universe. This is also the first home-console Rabbids game to not be focused on minigames. The player takes control of two Rabbids who run a shopping trolley collecting all the things they can in a similar way to *Katamari Damacy*. When the last level is beaten, the game shows the ending, in which a Rabbid who stands on a globe to see how far the moon is, attempts to hug the moon, but realizes that they do not have enough stuff. Then, bombs appear on the pile, in which the pile blows up, sending the stuff back to the humans. The explosion however also sent the Rabbids up to the moon.

### *Rabbids Lab*

*Rabbids Lab* is a standalone version of *In Ze Wii Remote*, a customization feature in *Rabbids Go Home*, which was released for Wii-Ware in 2009. It costs 500 Wii points and takes up one channel in the Wii menu.

### *Rabbids Go Home* (DS)

A Nintendo DS version was released in 2009. Unlike the console version of the game, it is a strategy based puzzle game, It is also the first and only game in the series to have enhanced features only for use on the Nintendo DSi, and is the last game in the series to be released on the Nintendo DS.

### *Rabbids Go Phone*

*Rabbids Go Phone* is an app for iOS devices which was released in 2009. The game was created to help promote *Rabbids Go Home*. In this game the player plays with a Rabbid trapped inside the phone. Players can stretch the ears, shake the phone, or blow through the phone receiver to mess with the Rabbid. The game is quite similar to the In Ze Wii Remote activity in *Rabbids Go Home*. The menu to the game also allows the player to customize a Rabbid to send to friends via emailing and read comic strips and watch video for *Rabbids Go Home*. The game has since been removed from the Apple App Store.

### *Rabbids Go Phone Again*

*Rabbids Go Phone Again* is a sequel to *Rabbids Go Phone* and was released in 2012.

## *Raving Rabbids: Travel in Time*

*Raving Rabbids: Travel in Time* was released in 2010 for the Nintendo Wii.

The game begins in the year 2012 where the Rabbids discover a Time Washing Machine. In the intro to the game, a Rabbid is traveling through time, from a prehistoric setting, to ancient Egypt and other time periods. The Time Washing Machine gets damaged in the traveling. The Rabbid then travels to a history museum where he and other Rabbids access time periods through pictures of the event. As they alter time, they create different scenarios, such as giant Rabbids and the Earth under water and in space. At the end of the game, the Golden Time Washing Machine can be accessed. The Rabbid then travels to future, into the year of 4096 and ends up in a large facility. He explores the facility and finds some pants on the wire of one of the giant robots and pulls the pants off, making the robot shoot a laser and open up a door. Professor Barranco 3 is drilling Rabbids in using time machines to conquer history. The main Rabbid pulls the plug on one of the machines, sending him and the machines into time, making a very fast version of the game intro. This sends the Rabbid back to the history museum.

### *Rabbids Travel in Time 3D*

*Rabbids Travel in Time 3D*, known as *Rabbids 3D* in Europe and *Rabbids: Time Travel* in Japan, was released in 2011 for the Nintendo 3DS. The game is a 2.5D side-scrolling platform game rather than a minigame collection. The game follows a similar plot to that of its Wii counterpart, except that a Rabbid emerges from the Time Washing Machine into the Museum, with a rubber duck ring on its body. The other Rabbids surrounding it become distracted from messing about, and start to fight over the inflatable, causing one of them (not the one originally wearing it) to be flung into the Time Washing Machine along with it. It is then their mission to find the lost Rabbid and recover the rubber duck ring by travelling through several time zones in history with the Time Washing Machine.

## *Rabbids Rumble*

*Rabbids Rumble* was released in 2012 for the Nintendo 3DS. Unlike past games it is a turn-based fighting game. The game centers around battling within 7 differently-themed worlds, in which the player's party and the current foe's party take turns attacking each other until only one side remains with health. The game features 102 playable Rabbids, who are earned by playing the different modes. The modes are StreetPass or the packaged AR card, each with their own simple moveset. StreetPass can be used to battle against friends. The game contains various mini-games, alongside the main fighting mode.

## *Raving Rabbids: Alive and Kicking*

*Raving Rabbids: Alive and Kicking* was released in 2011 for the Xbox 360. The game was exclusively developed for the Kinect and is the only game in the series not released on a Nintendo platform. It consists of mini-games with up to 4 players. The game has the player using the Kinect to play the role of the humans, trying to defend their city from the destructive Rabbids. The game includes various minigames that can be controlled by the player's body using the peripheral's built-in camera.

## *Rabbids Land*

*Rabbids Land* was released in 2012 for the Nintendo Wii U. The game takes place on Earth where the Rabbids find themselves taking over an amusement park. Two Rabbids are attempting to go on one of the rides, but are thrown out by an unseen person. One of the Rabbids contact the Rabbid spaceship through a smartphone. He tries to call the Rabbid in the spaceship, but the Rabbid in the spaceship is too busy playing with the Wii U Gamepad. Unaware of the consequences, the Rabbid in the spaceship continues to play with the Gamepad, which was actually controlling the whole ship. The Rabbid turns the Gamepad upside down, which causes the ship to land in the amusement park. The gameplay is similar to the *Mario Party* series. It features a board game-like scenario. The player will have to roll a dice with the Wii U Gamepad and depending on the number the dice lands, the Rabbid will move to the corresponding square. These squares trigger a different feature and can be easily told apart just by looking at the symbol drawn on the square. The primary goal is to win the board game by winning trophies, which can be collected by playing and winning minigames. Only two players can play at a time. Once a player has collected all trophies needed, the player needs to get to the center. Once the player gets to the center, the game is over and the player can win prizes.

## *Rabbids Invasion*

*Rabbids Invasion* is an animated TV-series developed by Ubisoft Motion Pictures. It was first showed on August 3, 2013 on Nickelodeon. It currently consists of 4 seasons, with 26 episodes each.

### *Rabbids Invasion (Facebook game)*

In 2012 a game called *Rabbids Invasion* launched for Facebook. The aim of this game was to invade human properties such as houses and farms, and use the converted buildings to generate resources and expand the invasion, while taking on numerous quests - the more it spreads, the more types of buildings and other items are made available. The game depended on two virtual currencies - coins, which could be generated from certain buildings and used to buy the in-game items, and toiler paper rolls, which had to be purchased either with Facebook credits, or earned through certain factors, such as taking up an offer for a shopping site or installing another Facebook application. Toilet paper rolls could also be used to speed up the time it takes for each building to generate the resources it makes, or to finish a quest without the assistance of a Facebook friend.

### *Rabbids Invasion: The Interactive TV Show*

*Rabbids Invasion: The Interactive TV Show* was released in 2014 for the Xbox 360, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The game requires a Kinect or PlayStation Camera to be played.The game has the user interacting with various *Rabbids Invasion* episodes.

### *Rabbids Appisodes*

*Rabbids Appisodes* was released in 2015 as an app for iOS and Android. The app has the user interacting with various *Rabbids Invasion* episodes.

### *Rabbids Big Bang*

*Rabbids Big Bang* was released in 2013 on iOS, Android, PC and Windows Phone. The game received two updates, each adding another level to the game. The game currently consists of 12 levels, each with 15 missions to complete. Every mission starts with a Rabbid launching being hit out into space by another Rabbid. The player can then hold down their finger on the screen to use the jetpack to move forward. The Rabbid, while not using the jetpack, will constantly rotate, meaning that the timing matters when deciding which direction to move in. The jetpack does however only have a limit amount of fuel, meaning that it will become inoperable after a certain amount of usage. The player can however refill the fuel by collecting green orbs within the levels. Each level also has coins scattered across and the player can earn more by finishing missions. These coins can be used to purchase new outfits and upgrade the jetpack.

### *Rabbids Heroes*

*Rabbids Heroes* soft-launched in 2016 on iOS and Android in selective countries, such as Canada. The game was a turn-based RPG where the player got to compete with other players online and earn more cards and characters. In October 2016 it was announced that the game would be discontinued on November 15.

### *Rabbids Crazy Rush*

*Rabbids Crazy Rush* was released in 2017 oniOS and Android. The game has the player controlling a Rabbid who is constantly running forward, with the player being able to switch the lane, jump, slide and control various vehicles which can be customized. The game has a world map with levels, each of which can be 3-starred by completing varying objectives.

### *Rabbids Stickers*

*Rabbids Stickers* are available to download on iOS devices to use as iMessage stickers.

### *Rabbids (film)*

The *Rabbids (film)* is an upcoming movie that is being worked on by Ubisoft motion pictures and Sony pictures.

## *Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle*

*Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle* was released in 2017 for the Nintendo Switch. It is a crossover between Nintento's Super Mario and Ubisoft Raving Rabbids Series

## Reception

The Rabbids from *the Raving Rabbids series* 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 Rabbids, 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. *Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party* was considered further evidence, as Rayman, who is no longer playable, only appears in the game's cutscenes. This was then proven to be true with the announcement of *Rabbids Go Home*, which does not feature Rayman at all.

## Merchandise

Several *Raving Rabbids* products have been made and sold in the past few years, and include the following.

* A set of 4 figurines, consisting of a normal Rabbid, a screaming one, one dressed as Sam Fisher from *Splinter Cell*, and one dressed as Altair from *Assassin's Creed*. Many more figurines had been produced, most of which are based on *Rabbids Go Home*.
* Another set of figurines were available at least in the United Kingdom, where they were given as free gifts for every purchase of *Rayman Raving Rabbids* for the Wii. [1]
* In many countries across Europe, a collection of 30 small Rabbids figurines are available, called "Rabbids Invade the World" and each Rabbid follows a certain geographical stereotype.
* Also a collection of 30 Rabbids figurines called "Rabbids invade the sports" in which each Rabbid play a particular sport is available in many countries of Europe.
* Another Rabbids collection of 9 figurines called "Rabbids invade football" is available in many countries in Europe. Each Rabbid represent a football player from an international team or a referee or an ultras.
* In France and Germany, a CD single was released in 2007 to coincide with the release of *Rayman Raving Rabbids 2*, called *Making Fun (Of Everyday Life)*.
* Several plush dolls, phone straps and the like can be found on auction sites such as eBay, mainly originating from Australia and Hong Kong, but whether or not they are official is currently unknown.
* An official Ubi Art bag.
* In Germany, a calender for 2010 is available courtesy of Panini.
* Other official merchandise, such as T-shirts, was given as prizes in Ubisoft competitions.

## Cameos

The Rabbids have made cameos in several Ubisoft titles.

* A picture of a Rabbid can be seen on a purchasable cot as a cameo in the Nintendo DS game *Imagine: Babies*, which was developed by Visual Impact Productions, the developing studio behind the Game Boy Advance version of *Rayman Raving Rabbids*. The game was also published by Ubisoft.
* Three Rabbids - two of which dress as a ninja and Sam Fisher from *Splinter Cell* - are playable characters in the Ubisoft title, *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up!*.
* Some Rabbids make appearances as toys in the game *Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction* and in the game *I Am Alive*
* In *Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag*, a cheat called "Shiver me Timbers" in which enemies are turned into Rabbids can be unlocked by completing 80 Abstergo challenges. These Rabbids appear to look as if they are scarecrows and standing on a stick.
* In *Just Dance 4* there is a playable song called *Make the Party (Don't Stop)* by Bunny Beatz in which a Rabbid is seen DJing around the area. A music video was made to accompany this.
* In Watch Dogs, Raving Rabbid remote control robot toys can be found in homes or shops which can be hacked to bwaaaaa.
* In Tom Clancy's The Division, a *Rayman Raving Rabbids* board game is present in a house. Strangely, Rayman does not appear.