Objective: Throw Daisy as far as possible. Controls: Swing the Wii Remote quickly above your head. Press A or B to throw the Cow.

The Wii Remote is swung about head like a lasso; the quicker the swinging, the greater the chance of winning. Rayman matches your movement, sending Daisy into a dizzying spin. Faster, faster, faster. Tiring, arms aching, shoulder making a distracting clicking noise. Press A! Daisy flies across what could be an Olympic discus field (one set in a graveyard), mooing all the way. Land, bounce. Each bounce is accompanied by further distressing moos. Daisy stops. 103 meters.

Round complete. Next: Bunnies like to stuff themselves.

Rayman Raving Rabbids is a gloriously random experience and though it aims for what is expected to be the token genre on the Wii, this mini-game extravagance is so confidently produced that any notion of it being filler until Wario Ware: Smooth Moves gets its world-wide release is quickly passed off.

Introducing the game with a picnic, Rayman finds his accompanying baby Globoxes (blobs) are captured and imprisoned by the Rabbids, who have risen from the ground. Rayman is then thrown into jail and must compete in various trials each day, simply for the Rabbids’ own amusement. For each day Rayman must successfully complete three of the four trials, before unlocking a final event. Complete the final event for the day and you’ll win a plunger. Remember: use it wisely.

Though Rayman is the star attraction, it is the Rabbids who steal the show. It’s hard to remember a game that has introduced a more likeable, funny and entertaining character set. From Cowboy Rabbids to Frog-men Rabbids, passing Sam Fisher and Super Rabbids along the way, these are genuinely comical characters that are fully realised thanks to some tremendous animation. It’s almost a shame they’ve appeared in both a Rayman title and within the mini-game genre – these characters deserve their own fully-fledged title. Ubisoft are sure to capitalise…we can but hope, anyway.

Though Rayman is polished for a launch title, of the 75 events there is too much repetition and a few too many duds. It’s not such a problem that the required movements are repeated across several events (for example anything which requires speed such as running, throwing, milking pigs, etc. has the player shaking the remote and nunchuk alternately as quickly as possible), rather the problem lies in how towards the end of the game many of the events seen earlier make a reappearance. Though they do introduce a twist, such as requiring an extra button press, they can tend to do so at the expense of playability.

An early event, for example, is skipping – flick the nunchuk to make Rayman jump. Later on this game is repeated, but as well as having to jump, you must make a circle motion with the remote which is acting as the rope itself - it’s the gaming equivalent of tapping your head and rubbing your tummy. However this is made more difficult by the controls not always responding appropriately. There are a handful of games that don’t seem to have been tested quite as much as they should have been, and this lets down the package as a whole.

Despite the distinctive looks and slapstick humour this is, for the most part, a very challenging experience. The games themselves are relatively straightforward but the bar for passing is raised surprisingly high, particularly when attempting the Score Attack mode. Long-term gamers will probably be thankful of this, but when played in a generic post-pub situation it may well be too difficult. Likewise, though the cute characters will attract a younger audience, the challenge may be too much for that particular demographic.

Indeed, despite its loveable exterior, Rayman suffers from all the problems you’d expect a game of its type to fall foul of. Repetition kicks in, inconsistency in quality and difficulty plus a rather limited single player experience, which surprisingly is the main focus of the product. Games can only be played in multiplayer when unlocked in single player and many of the games are turn-based rather than simultaneous.

Sheer enthusiasm is what carries this product though and, when played in the right environment, it’s absolutely hilarious. When playing on your own with the sole purpose of completing the game and seeing everything, the experience will indeed be short lived. Yes, it has problems, but as a launch title it is one of the best examples of what the remote can do. If Wii Sports gets your grandparents playing virtual golf then Rayman will get friends who retired from gaming long ago taking centre-stage, remote in one hand, nunchuk in the other and a huge grin on their face as they repeatedly bludgeon a bunny on the head with a mallet.