By: Johner Riehl
FamilyFriendlyVideoGames.com Founder / Editorial Director
This collection of “augmented reality” mini-games places you and your family right alongside Ubisoft’s Raving Rabbids in games that can support up to four-players onscreen at once.
For those not familiar with Ubisoft’s Rabbids, they’re a wacky bunch who speak in screaming gibberish and have the kind of sense of humor that a 10-year-old boy would love. Screams, yells, potty humor – the Rabbids excel at all of these.
With more than 20 different mini-games to choose from, Rabbids Alive & Kicking offers a number of ways for families to play against and with each other. Each game on the menu easily shows whether or not it can be played by 1, 2, 3 or 4 players, with options that don’t work simply x’ed out. It makes choosing specific games really easy. Even easier is the mode which randomly selects games to play based on the amount of people in front of the Kinect Camera.
Some of our favorite games were the ones in which the Rabbids and gameplay seemed to be taking place in our own living space. These augmented reality games involved Rabbids spilling stuff on the floor or popping through holes and needing to be stomped on. There’s also a great game in which everyone on screen must team up to try and make different shadows. The pictures that result from this one are especially priceless.
Rabbids Alive & Kicking also has a Party Mode which allows up to 16 players to register their names and pictures and take part in a “tournament” that generates a random games list progressively eliminates players who lose until one is let victorious. It’s a great mode for slumber parties or large gatherings.
Although the game’s rated E 10+ for the sometimes crude potty humor and cartoonish violence, we have no problems playing this game with elementary aged kids. If your kid has graduated to Nickelodeon from Nick Jr., then they’re probably okay with the Rabbids.
We love Rabbids Alive & Kicking as a great game for playing together. Boys will especially love the Rabbids juvenile slapstick humor, but the whole family can enjoy working together in certain mini-games, and against each other in others. With the ability for up to four-players to actively compete in a number of games at a time, Rabbids Alive & Kicking is a must-have game for families with Kinect.