So I was checking out the new releases on eShop the other day, and I came across some game called Rabi Laby 3. It looked kinda like App Store shovelware based on the art style, but I was feeling somewhat adventurous (and had some leftover eShop credit in my account) so I decided to try out the first game in the series for DSiWare.
You play as this girl named Alice and her pet rabbit Rabi, and you have to get through a whole lotta puzzle-filled rooms to make your way back home after accidentally falling into Wonderland. To do this, you have to get Alice to the door at the end of each level, but aside from her ability to open locks with keys she's pretty useless on her own. Luckily you can switch between her and Rabi, who has a higher jump, can let Alice bounce on her head, and self-destruct to break blocks. Beating the levels requires you to make use of all of these powers, along with the various stage gimmicks you come across. (Also, while all this is happening on the top screen, the duo will have some hints and/or comedic banter on the bottom screen in some unintentionally amusing Engrish.)
The puzzles start off pretty simple but get pretty clever as you go through, and some stages really require you to manipulate the game's mechanics in interesting ways. One of my favorites was a level where Rabi is on a conveyor belt that keeps moving her towards keys, but Alice has to walk on a floor made of locks - if she opens one, she'll drop into some spikes. You have to keep moving Rabi backwards to avoid keys while making strategic jumps with Alice.
There's 50 levels, and the two sequels (the former of which is also DSiWare, and the latter on 3DSWare) each have another 50 levels. They also add a much appreciated hint system that essentially gives you a walkthrough of the stage if you're totally stumped, but you have to collect coins in the levels to be able to use them. The third game even lets you watch a video demo of the stage being played if you die somewhere around 10 times, and will eventually let you skip the stage entirely if you truly can't beat it.
There's also a spin-off called Witch's Cat that came out before the third game. Instead of having two characters, you play as one girl who can use magic spells and transform into a cat (which basically functions like Rabi). The spells let you do things like light torches, freeze blocks and enemies, pull things to you with lightning, and destroy blocks with meteors that cause chain-reactions. It's an interesting twist, but... I don't really like it as much. It feels like the Crashmo to Rabi Laby's Pushmo. The puzzles get ridiculously hard early on, you're not given much instruction on how to use the new mechanics, and for some reason they dropped the extremely useful hint system from RL2. It's exclusively for those who want an even bigger challenge than the other three games can provide (which is already pretty steep!)
Bottom line is: if you like puzzle platformers, you totally need to try this series out. Most of the games cost $5, but for whatever reason Rabi Laby 2 is only $1.99. The overarching storyline doesn't matter at all, so it's definitely worth checking that one out first if you're on the fence.
You play as this girl named Alice and her pet rabbit Rabi, and you have to get through a whole lotta puzzle-filled rooms to make your way back home after accidentally falling into Wonderland. To do this, you have to get Alice to the door at the end of each level, but aside from her ability to open locks with keys she's pretty useless on her own. Luckily you can switch between her and Rabi, who has a higher jump, can let Alice bounce on her head, and self-destruct to break blocks. Beating the levels requires you to make use of all of these powers, along with the various stage gimmicks you come across. (Also, while all this is happening on the top screen, the duo will have some hints and/or comedic banter on the bottom screen in some unintentionally amusing Engrish.)
The puzzles start off pretty simple but get pretty clever as you go through, and some stages really require you to manipulate the game's mechanics in interesting ways. One of my favorites was a level where Rabi is on a conveyor belt that keeps moving her towards keys, but Alice has to walk on a floor made of locks - if she opens one, she'll drop into some spikes. You have to keep moving Rabi backwards to avoid keys while making strategic jumps with Alice.
There's 50 levels, and the two sequels (the former of which is also DSiWare, and the latter on 3DSWare) each have another 50 levels. They also add a much appreciated hint system that essentially gives you a walkthrough of the stage if you're totally stumped, but you have to collect coins in the levels to be able to use them. The third game even lets you watch a video demo of the stage being played if you die somewhere around 10 times, and will eventually let you skip the stage entirely if you truly can't beat it.
There's also a spin-off called Witch's Cat that came out before the third game. Instead of having two characters, you play as one girl who can use magic spells and transform into a cat (which basically functions like Rabi). The spells let you do things like light torches, freeze blocks and enemies, pull things to you with lightning, and destroy blocks with meteors that cause chain-reactions. It's an interesting twist, but... I don't really like it as much. It feels like the Crashmo to Rabi Laby's Pushmo. The puzzles get ridiculously hard early on, you're not given much instruction on how to use the new mechanics, and for some reason they dropped the extremely useful hint system from RL2. It's exclusively for those who want an even bigger challenge than the other three games can provide (which is already pretty steep!)
Bottom line is: if you like puzzle platformers, you totally need to try this series out. Most of the games cost $5, but for whatever reason Rabi Laby 2 is only $1.99. The overarching storyline doesn't matter at all, so it's definitely worth checking that one out first if you're on the fence.
