Raving Rabbids: Travel in Time Review

With five franchise entries in a span of four years, Ubisoft’s Rabbids are nearly as fertile as their cotton-tailed, real world counterparts. While last year’s Rabbids Go Home offered players a capable platformer,  recent release Travel in Time brings the mischievous mammals back to their mini-game roots. This means that the bunnies are competing in one of the Wii’s most saturated genres- where competition comes from both a multitude of budget-priced rivals as well as the Rabbid’s own back catalog. While Travel in Time‘s slapstick humor and responsive controls are irrefutably charming, the game’s inability to outshine its predecessors may disappoint franchise fans.

As the title indicates, Travel in Time sends the rabbids hurtling through history, via a front-loading washing machine. Repeatedly, the protagonists stumble upon mankind’s pivotal moments, and as the rabbids do best- muck things up. Here, two teams vie for victory in a mini-game that decides the fate of  the universe: the orange team corrects any gaffes in the space-time continuum, while a win by the purple team offers a new, alternate reality. Overwhelming, the introductory scenarios will yield a chuckle or two- such as when a flatulent rabbid errantly diverts the attention of the Titanic’s captain, or a jammed door on the Apollo 11 prohibits even the smallest leap for mankind. Regrettably, both the history shifting and preserving cinematics seem woefully abbreviated; the developers missed a  opportunity  to punctuate each activity with a fulfilling laugh.

An intricate museum serves as the title’s hub, presenting players with five main areas, each with a different type of activity. The Shootarium offers different variants from building pyramids to destroying space-borne disco balls; unfortunately, it’s not immediately clear what players should be doing from the title’s truncated instructions. The Bouncearium offers a bit of platforming, as players collect items or avoid rabbid crushing dangers within a scrolling environment. Two rabbids are linked by a roll of toilet paper in the Runarium, which challenges players to navigate a twisting course or gather collectables. The best of the bunch is clearly the Flyarium, where players use Wiimote and nunchuck to adjust the angle of on their Di Vinci-esque flying machine. Unlike similar motion-based control schemes, soaring around environments is consistently graceful, with no drops in responsiveness or other Wiimote wonkiness. A Wiimotion Plus is needed to navigate the Hookarium, which tasks players with casting the bunnies out like fishing lines.

Artificial intelligence controlled bunnies will fill in any gaps left by a shortage of local players, presenting a single, intermediate level of challenge. For solitary players, Travel boasts the ability to play against online competitors, without the need for friend codes or similar obstacles. As with previous titles in the series, the games are at their best when enjoyed by a group of participants.

Cleverly, Travel in Time‘s museum is overflying with diminutive diversions to be discovered. From vases that defy players to shatter them, throwing rabbids through impromptu basketball hoops, or locating collectable clock tokens hidden ubiquitously, the developers at Ubisoft Paris didn’t miss an opportunity to occupy gamers with a barrage of brief reprieves. Additionally, players are rewarded with both an in-game accomplishment system and a robust wardrobe of unlockable period costumes to deck your bunny out.

Although each mini-game is proceeded by a sluggish data load, players are able to pass the time by making their rabbids scream, run around, and generally be obnoxious- which is infinitely better than staring at the familiar “now loading” notice. Considering the game’s animation and well-drawn environments, the waits are worth it- Travel in Time upholds the series’ keen, cartoonish visuals.