The Rub Rabbits!

The Rub Rabbits!, known in Japan as Aka-chan wa Doko Kara Kuru no? (赤ちゃんはどこからくるの?, "Where do Babies Come From?"), is a minigame compilation video game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. It was first released in Japan on October 20, 2005, and was later released in North America on February 7, 2006, and in Europe three days later. It is a prequel to Feel the Magic: XY/XX.

The Rub Rabbits!
Developer(s)Sonic Team
Publisher(s)Sega
Director(s)Takumi Yoshinaga
Producer(s)Masahiro Kumono
Designer(s)Emiko Sunaga
Takako Nagase
Programmer(s)Yoshihiko Toyoshima
Artist(s)Nanako Yarimizu
Composer(s)Naofumi Hataya
Tomoko Sasaki
Platform(s)Nintendo DS
Release
  • JP: October 20, 2005
  • NA: February 7, 2006[1]
  • EU: February 10, 2006[2]
Genre(s)Mini-games
Mode(s)Single-player

Plot

The premise of the game is that the player's female love interest gets into perilous situations or is placed out of reach from the male protagonist. A minigame must be completed in order to rescue her, or sometimes, get the male protagonist out of trouble. All of these minigames require use of the stylus, and the DS to be held in a certain way, even upside-down. Some require use of the DS's built-in microphone.

Gameplay

Some examples of these minigames are:

  • The male protagonist runs up a downward moving escalator, and must avoid Sumo wrestlers along the way by moving left and right. There is a similar variation where he paddles up a river avoiding giant crocodiles.
  • The mysterious girl in lavender ties the protagonist to a chair and throws various food items at him. He must avoid eating the purple cakes, but can eat the other morsels like pizzas and white-iced cakes.
  • The female love interest performs yoga, while the male protagonist tries to keep a sweet-smelling rose within the range of her sense of smell.

The player's performance is graded as an amount of 'Hearts', which are given at the end of a minigame depending on how well they did.

There are a few multiplayer minigames which involve four differently coloured protagonists competing over the love interest, such as an elimination based game of catching an ever-growing beach ball which eventually explodes, and log rafting while trying to rescue the female from the water, while trying to steal her from other player's log rafts.

Reception

The game received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[3] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of two eights, one seven, and one nine for a total of 32 out of 40.[6]

Detroit Free Press gave it a score of three stars out of four and stated, "The music here and the design all are distinctly Japanese, with crazy refrains like "Rub it!" being shouted all the time. Don't ask me to explain. Just pick up and enjoy."[15] However, The A.V. Club gave it a C+, saying that "True love takes more than moony-eyed flirting; Sega needs to get the mechanics right to make the magic happen."[17] The Sydney Morning Herald gave it two-and-a-half stars out of five, stating that the game is "inventive, creative and strangely compelling, but the more difficult tasks can be frustrating and its lasting appeal is limited."[18] The Times gave it one star out of five and called it "mind-bogglingly shallow".[16]

References
  1. "Rabbits Rub To Retail - News". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  2. "Nintendo announces some dates". Eurogamer.net. 2006-01-25. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  3. "The Rub Rabbits! for DS Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  4. EGM staff (April 2006). "The Rub Rabbits!". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 202. Ziff Davis. p. 105.
  5. Walker, John (February 14, 2006). "The Rub Rabbits!". Eurogamer. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  6. "Japanese magazine scores". Nozomi (in Dutch). October 18, 2005. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  7. "The Rub Rabbits!". Game Informer. No. 156. GameStop. April 2006. p. 134.
  8. Johnny K. (February 7, 2006). "Review: The Rub Rabbits". GamePro. Archived from the original on September 4, 2006. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  9. Silverman, Ben (February 24, 2006). "The Rub Rabbits Review". Game Revolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on October 9, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  10. Gerstmann, Jeff (February 6, 2006). "The Rub Rabbits! Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  11. Theobald, Phil (February 13, 2006). "GameSpy: The Rub Rabbits!". GameSpy. Ziff Davis. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  12. Raymond, Justin (March 12, 2006). "The Rub Rabbits! - NDS - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on December 22, 2007. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  13. Harris, Craig (February 3, 2006). "The Rub Rabbits!". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  14. "The Rub Rabbits!". Nintendo Power. Vol. 201. March 2006. p. 87.
  15. Schaefer, Jim (March 19, 2006). "Crazy in love". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on September 3, 2006. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  16. Kendall, Nigel (February 25, 2006). "The Rub Rabbits". The Times. Archived from the original on September 29, 2006. Retrieved July 6, 2016.(subscription required)
  17. Dahlen, Chris (March 7, 2006). "The Rub Rabbits!". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on March 18, 2006. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  18. Hill, Jason (March 2, 2006). "The Rub Rabbits". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
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