ast year, Feel the Magic XY/XX made waves with its quirky design style and clever use of the DS’s touch screen and microphone. But a short main game and scarce replay value limited the game’s overall appeal. Sega seems to have heard the complaints loud and clear because The Rub Rabbits contains almost twice as many stages, enticing replay options, and an intriguing multiplayer mode.
Fans of the series should be happy to know that The Rub Rabbits’ storyline is just as off the wall as Feel the Magic. You compete against other dudes in an attempt to win the affection of a foxy filly. Along the way you manage to help out an obsessive bookworm and she, in turn, develops a crush on you. So you’ll be simultaneously avoiding one babe while trying to win over another.
Yes, clacking balls together is a necessary component of Rub Rabbits.
The presentation is almost exactly identical to the first game. Characters are pitch black with bright clothing and accessories to highlight certain characteristics. The points you earn still contribute to various outfits for your onscreen sweetheart to wear during the game’s “breaks.” And the four-part storyboard sequences are just as crazy as ever.
Some minigames will feel relatively familiar to players of the first title. For example, a few stages feature a chase scene where you must tap every charging bull or robot while avoiding the innocent “gentlemen” in top hats and canes. Other games will have you performing all kinds of crazy things. Shoot blow darts at falling rivals by blowing into the microphone, knock out buddies and bury them in the snow before a bear eats them, kick away hearts sent over by the chick you don’t like, or even lead piranhas away from your bathing gal by sticking your finger into the water. For most games you can score between 0-100 hearts. If you live through the mini game without screwing up, you’ll get the full amount. One mistake earns 60, two mistakes equals 30, and three mistakes means complete failure. But if you don’t get the full amount you can always go back and retry any stage.
To shake things up, some of the games can only be played by turning the DS sideways or even upside down. This way you can control your character on the right screen to fight a boss on the left one, for example. The upside down configuration is useful so that you can see enemies climbing up trees toward you and send some pain their way. Outside of these incorporated changes I found that it’s best to change up your setup to gain optimum performance on any certain game. Sometimes I’d grip the DS and write on it like a notepad. Other times it was much easier to lay the console flat on my desk and hunch over it. And this doesn’t even include the ridiculous variety of stylus strategies I had to use to take down what Rub Rabbits threw at me.
Sometimes I’d need the precision of the standard DS stylus, other times the power of a full pen stylus, or both of my thumbs at the same time. The weirdest tactic I had to incorporate was all due to a particularly nasty boss. In order to pop a screen full of hearts in time, I grabbed two pen caps, held the stick tips against the end of my index fingers, and then used them to perform a rapid fire drumming motion. I liked the fact that Rub Rabbits made me change up my tactics outside of the game itself instead of having to work within its rules. I can see gamers coming up with a million different little tricks to beat the game their own way.
If you can’t tell so far, it’s easy to get your emotions pulled into Rub Rabbits. You’ll definitely cuss and chuck your DS on the table after a series of humiliating defeats. On the flip side, you’ll be cheering every victory and chuckling at the next cutscene like nothing ever happened. This, in addition to the hefty amount of blowing, stroking, and tapping involved in the gameplay, probably qualifies the game for a “least advisable to be played in public” award.
If only girls fought over you in real life. Actually, no... if only girls talked to you in real life.
Even though Sonic Team doubled the number of mini games from 19 to 38, you should still be able to beat the main quest within 6 to 8 hours. But beating the game does unlock a couple of fun new modes that add to the story after the end of the game. Rub Rabbits also includes an all-new selection of local wireless games playable from one game cart (which we’re not allowed to talk about just yet). Better still, several gamers can work together at the same time on one DS in a few other multiplayer modes. Let’s just say it answers the question “Where Do Babies Come From?,” the original Japanese title for Rub Rabbits.
With its multitude of additional stages, gameplay modes, and multiplayer options, The Rub Rabbits is looking to outdo its predecessor by a long shot. One problem that has came along for the ride from Feel the Magic is the sometimes dodgy collision detection. Already challenging stages are sometimes made worse when your guy doesn’t do what you tell him. I ended up dying plenty of times just because he wouldn’t follow my stylus out of the way of impending doom. But overall I had a really good time with The Rub Rabbits, and can’t wait until we’re allowed to talk about more of the game’s secrets.