I hoped for an awesome four player party game similar to Mario Party… then I was told it was a racing game. So I was hoping for something like a Mario Kart, Speed Punks, or Crash Team Racing type of game. You know a good race with lots of weapons to shoot your opponent with. But sadly this wasn’t it. Keep in mind while reading this that I am a big fan almost all party games. Also a big fan of Rayman platformers (Rayman 2 was incredible). So this game was a big disappointment to me.

In the gameplay department Rayman Arena fails miserably. To me it is the most important aspect of a game. You can run and jump and shoot, however, when you get shot it slows you down for maybe a second and then back to the race. The only strategy is in navigating the course. In the battle mode, all fights are timed and there is no way to out maneuver your opponent. I didn’t like this game at all. Unlike its predecessors, there's no platform jumping as the floating hero. Instead, you'll be fighting and racing your way through two modes of play; race and battle, each with different rule sets. As you continue, you'll unlock levels, leagues, skins, and four new characters to add to the original set of four. This sounds great at first, but a few minutes in the single player challenges was enough and then I was begging for a good multiplayer match, but guess what? Multi-player was just as boring. As you start your way through single p! layer, you'll be asked to choose a name and select one of four available characters. Now it's your chance to pick which mode of play you wish to be challenged by, racing or battle. There are three levels to choose from at the start, with three game rule challenges. To unlock the next game rule challenge, you must complete the previous one for that level. The races are terribly slow but fun for the first hour or so and the battle mode is boring from the start. So much more should have been put into this game.

Ubi Soft at least did pretty well with the graphics. The characters have smooth, clean, & simple looks. The Battle mode levels are as simple as they come, an arena with a few raised and lowered ground elevations here and there. I much preferred the constant jumping, twirling, and avoiding in racing levels than I did in simple arenas. They look much better. The sound quality is as smooth as the graphics design. All characters have been voice acted with grunts, laughs, and ones liners. The music is catchy with a type of country style but it seems that there are only one or two songs.

Conclusion:
Rayman Arena has one favorable mode out of the two with decent level design (that one being race), overly difficult gameplay, enjoyable characters, and no terrible multiplayer play. Even with some fun time the game manages to piss you off much more that make you happy. So I can not recommend a buy or even a rental. Well maybe a rental but you have to be the hardest or the hardcore Rayman fan. And also enjoy spending you 5 bucks at Blockbuster on this game to get some laughs instead of getting Not Another Teen Movie.