Well, I got my Wii on Thursday last week, and I must say I’m surprised what game I’ve ended up playing more than any other. It hasn’t been The Ledgend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (though I have cranked 10-12 hard hours in on this one), it hasn’t been Excite Truck, Trauma Center: Second Opinion, WiiSports, nor has it been Red Steel.

No my friends, the game that has won out with a whopping 17 hours of game play has been UbiSoft’s most unique, interesting, and overall stupid-crazy-fun game Rayman Raving Rabbids that has stolen my play time.

This is not at all to say that any of the previously mentioned games aren’t good. Quite the contrary; Twilight Princess is an outstanding game. It’s beautifully crafted and a masterpiece to be sure… but that’s not why I’m insane about Wii.

Wii to me means a new way of playing my games. I can’t think of how many times I’ve been in my local GameCrazy asking my buddies there what is new to play… most of the time to a dismayed “not much” response. Wii changes all of that.

Rayman Raving Rabbids really strikes at the heart of this desire for me. I didn’t want a strictly linear game that was over when I finished the story. I wanted something where I could try many different things, have some good laughs, involve my family and my friends, and be able to walk away when I’m done satisfied. Rayman does this.

Instead of the platformer that Rayman has traditionally been, Raving Rabbids is a very loosely knit series of mini-games that really showcase the unique control capabilities of Wii, and are so silly that it put me and my wife in stitches. That is what gaming is supposed to be about. That’s what I wanted. That’s what Rayman delivered.

If you want my recommendation on a must-have for Wii, it would be Rayman Raving Rabbids.

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