I played Rabbids Alive & Kicking first as a demo from Xbox Live and had a blast, though I thought the games offered were very limited (there were only 3). The full game on the other hand is totally different and has a vast array of mini-games to offer. The game is purely a mini-party-game pack and the more to join the fun, the more you'll enjoy the craziness of these rabbits...erm, rabbids.
I will not go into detail on all the different mini-games on the plate, but there are quite a number and they are very diverse. From stomping on rabbits coming out of the floor, to throwing cars and rabbits at a huge rabbid-bot, and then even a go on getting a crowd together while playing air guitar.
As this is essentially a party game - for old and young - many of the games focus on co-op or party mode (up to 4 players...or even up to 16!) What they have done which I like is include a party mode, and then you pre-select the number of people that will be playing. The game will then choose games randomly that will suit the number of people playing, which means you do not have to navigate around to select a new activity after you complete the current one. This makes the game flow very well and the party vibe stays. When I had played the demo I had done so solo, and though I was giggling to myself the whole time at the whackiness, it was only when we were a group of 4 that the laughs really started rolling out. From this I have no doubt that this is purely a party-game and should not be judged otherwise.
The menu itself can be a little difficult at times, as it is super sensitive and just a scratch of the nose will activate a selection. This is not annoying though and can be overlooked.
To sum up...and add:
CONS
- not really a solo player effort, could get pretty boring soon
- navigational controls sometimes a little over sensitive
- once you've gone through the game, the replay value goes down...keep this one purely for party time
NEUTRAL
= only one person signed in on Xbox can get achievements at a time (can learn from Dance Central and Kinect Sports 2)
PROS
+ fun, fun, fun (in a group)
+ awesome group function...normal play up to 4 people, but groups up to 16
+ play hard and you'll get some exercise too
+ games are fun and very cleverly done
+ really good at cheering up the gloomiest of people
Kinect boasts at the moment with quite a number of games out there featuring mini-games for a party, but Rabbids Alive and Kicking is probably in my opinion the most diverse at the moment. This makes it ideal for game night as we do not have to take out the disc. The fact that we can pre-select how many players and then the game will just keep on spewing different activities at us (without needed to navigate around the menu) is a pure bonus. Still looking for something to add a little sparkle to the Christmas or New Year's celebrations, then Rabbids Alive & Kicking comes highly recommended!
I gave it 5 stars as it does exactly what it is suppose to do: entertain and start the party in a crazy way. For fun I gave it 5 stars because in a group there is nothing to be have but fun.