The backtracking and repetitive nature of the level designs might be forgivable were the gameplay more inventive or enjoyable, but none of that is the case. And even when you do beat an entire level in one shot, you still tend to cross the same ground multiple times to get to the end, which feels more than a bit like an artificial lengthening process for an otherwise fairly short game. You'll sometimes find an exit and then have to go back to that level later with your new ability to trek through the new path. However, this isn't a case where you end up crossing all the paths in one sitting. The trick with the costumes is that there are frequently multiple paths to explore within a stage, and some of them can't be accessed until you have one or another of these abilities. His grandma outfit lets him create huge boulders for some inexplicable reason, which can then be pushed along to the proper spot and used as a platform to reach areas too high to access otherwise. Rayman's goth-punk outfit, for instance, lets him generate bombs at specific stations within a stage, which can then be tossed at impassible barriers. Most of these new abilities come from costumes you pick up at various points in the game. Rayman can jump, hover in midair, punch enemies, launch glowing projectiles, and gain a few new abilities along the way. Occasionally they pop up to fight you, and you'll get a few moments of silliness with them during the minigames between levels, but that's about it. It's not much of a setup, and the rabbids don't get nearly enough screen time here.
These rabbids are out to take over the world for some reason, and you have to stop them by traveling through a series of stages, collecting trophies and finding hidden exits as you go. They're rabbitlike creatures with a penchant for self-injuring antics, plungers, and high-pitched screams that are equal parts adorable and frightening. Like the console and GBA games before it, Raving Rabbids on the DS has Ubisoft's armless and legless hero up against an invasion of brain-dead rabbids. Rayman's back at his old platforming antics in Raving Rabbids for the DS-pity it's not a better adventure. Certainly, there is the boon of those creepy, cuddly rabbids to the game's credit, but even they aren't quite enough to pull Rayman's latest DS adventure out of mediocrity. It also must be said that Raving Rabbids for the DS is a rather middling platformer that relies more on repetition and backtracking than it does solid controls or an interesting adventure.
This is a pure and simple side-scrolling platformer with a few touch-screen-oriented minigames sprinkled in-not a minigame collection, as was the case with all of the console versions of Raving Rabbids. Rayman Raving Rabbids for the Nintendo DS has a lot more in common with the Game Boy Advance version of Raving Rabbids than any of its console counterparts.