Rabbids 3D

BWAAH! Right, now that’s out of the way I can get on with the review. Despite the fact that Rabbids 3D shares cover art with the Wii title “Travel in Time” it is not a port. It’s not even the same genre. Rabbids 3D is a side scrolling platform game, a first for the Rabbids but inevitable when you consider their origins in the world of Rayman. I’ll set the scene, the Rabbids have gotten hold of a time traveling device in the form of a washing machine, being the way they are they all fight over it (and the rubber duck ring of its inhabitant) and end up getting lost in time. Your mission (and this is quoted from the manual) is to travel through  time and ‘Find Rubber Duck Rings’. Okay, so it’s no ‘Assassins Creed’ but Rabbids are simple creatures so it suits them well enough.

The game is spread across four different time zones each having around 15 levels. In classic side scrolling platformer style you start at the start and need to get to the end, grabbing as many coins, rubber ducks and rubber rings as you can along the way. The platforming itself is fairly basic, taking much from the Sonic series and while nowhere near as fast the pace is not sluggish; your Rabbid moves at a decent speed and responds to the controls well. While the first zone begins to drag a little, things really start to pick up after that with much more interesting obstacles and challenges to overcome. While there are around 60 levels to play they won’t take long to get through and it would have been nice to have more timezones and less levels per zone; once you’ve played ten levels in a zone you’re more than ready for a change.

While the platforming itself is purely 2D as far as movement goes the levels themselves use a nice 3D layered effect that doesn’t get in the way but gives a real feeling of depth. There are also some nice random touches such as a scarab beetle seemingly landing on the inside of your screen, it’s just a shame they don’t happen more often or with more variety. You can mix up the look of your Rabbid by putting on various costumes you find throughout the level. While the costumes don’t affect gameplay I think we can all agree that a Rabbid dressed as a cowboy is far more awesome than a naked one. In addition to the story mode there are time trials and challenges to keep you busy and plenty of 3D statues and puzzle pieces to unlock.

There is very little wrong with the game mechanics apart from the odd section where grabbing a power up will lock you into an animation that means you lose control of your jump ark for a short time. This can leave you falling to your death by over-shooting a jump that you could have corrected for had you not been stuck in an animation. There are also no control options;  jump is fixed to the A button and I found that uncomfortable over long periods of time. With jump and attack your most commonly used buttons it would have been nice to have them bound to Y & B. This is just my personal preference and you may prefer things different, but customisable controls would be have been an easy fix.