Software:Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit

Short description: 2012 video game

Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit
Developer(s)	Arkedo Studio
Publisher(s)	Sega
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3 Xbox 360 Windows iOS
Release	PlayStation 3 NA: September 25, 2012 EU: October 3, 2012 Xbox 360 September 26, 2012 Windows October 3, 2012 iOS February 21, 2013
Genre(s)	Platform, Metroidvania

Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit (or simply Hell Yeah!, French: Hell Yeah! La Fureur du lapin mort) is a platform game for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 through PlayStation Network, Xbox 360 through Xbox Live Arcade, and iOS through App Store (the latter as Hell Yeah! Pocket Inferno). It was developed by French developer Arkedo Studio and published by Sega. The game has an ESRB rating of Teen.

The game puts a player in control of Ash, the prince of Hell, as he sets out across Hell on a self-imposed quest to restore his dignity by killing a number of monsters. He accomplishes this with the use of a large circular-saw blade jetpack that serves as both his primary weapon and his main mode of transportation. The game was praised for its visuals, but widely criticized for its control scheme.

Gameplay

Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit is a side-scrolling platformer. A player controls Ash, who jumps around platforms on a series of seven levels separated by doors and attempts to kill 100 individually named monsters. As the monsters are killed, more doors to new areas are unlocked. The combat uses twin-stick shooter controls, in which movement is controlled by one thumbstick or set of keys, and firing weapons is controlled by the other thumbstick or another set of keys. The player fights the monsters using a variety of projectile weapons, and can purchase additional weapons. Monsters can also be killed by cutting into them with the saw blade. To finish off any of the 100 monsters, the player must perform a quick mini-game, which unlocks a death animation unique to each monster. Failing the mini-game will result in damage to Ash and the monster will regain some life. Aside from the 100 named monsters, levels are also filled with traps and weaker, unnamed monsters that reappear each time the player re-enters that level.

Plot

Ash, a skeletal rabbit and the prince of Hell, has inherited the role of ruler of Hell from his father. After a photographer takes a picture of Ash playing with a rubber duck in the bathtub, Ash sets out to kill the 100 monsters that have seen the photo, to restore his image. The world of Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit has several zones with different visual styles, including "haunted caves, science labs, casinos and spaceships full of talking animals". The player navigates these zones by traveling on a large buzz-saw-like circular blade that can cut through the environment, can fire a variety of projectile weapons, and is equipped with a jet pack. Ash is assisted in his quest by his butler, Nestor, a top hat-wearing octopus.

Reception

Reception

Review scores Publication Score iOS PC PS3 Xbox 360 Destructoid N/A N/A N/A 6/10 Eurogamer N/A N/A 8/10 N/A Game Informer N/A N/A 8.5/10 8.5/10 GameRevolution N/A N/A N/A 7/10 GameSpot N/A N/A 4/10 4/10 GameTrailers N/A N/A N/A 5.8/10 IGN N/A 4.9/10 4.9/10 4.9/10 Joystiq N/A N/A N/A OXM (US) N/A N/A N/A 7.5/10 PC Gamer (UK) N/A 72% N/A N/A Pocket Gamer N/A N/A N/A Polygon N/A N/A N/A 6/10 PSM N/A N/A 8/10 N/A VentureBeat N/A N/A N/A 71/100 Digital Spy N/A N/A Metro N/A N/A 4/10 N/A Aggregate score Metacritic 61/100 64/100 68/100 70/100

Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit and Hell Yeah! Pocket Inferno received "mixed or average reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Critics praised the game's visuals, with Lawrence Sonntag of Inside Gaming Daily writing that "every level is bizarre but expertly colored, vibrant, and filled with high-resolution assets", and that the monsters are "what you might find in a second grader's notebook – doodles of ridiculous monsters, only brought to life with impressive talent and animated in HD". Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer wrote that the PlayStation 3 version was "absolutely gorgeous, a delicious feast of tasty animation drowning in buttery detail."

The game's control scheme, on the other hand, received almost universal criticism. Greg Miller of IGN stated that "The platforming is plagued by floaty controls and the inability to use the D-Pad", while James Stephanie Sterling of Destructoid called the controls "unsavory". Richard Cobbett of PC Gamer commented on the PC controls by saying "You want an Xbox 360 controller for this one. You could play it with a keyboard, but only in the same sense that technically you could fly if you flapped your arms hard enough." Kevin Schaller of GameRevolution, however, called the controls "responsive, though it takes a little getting used to".

Gamezebo gave the PC version all five stars, saying, "No matter your stance on outfitting rabbits with guns, you have to admit that Ash’s murderous adventure through the depths of Hell will only encourage other, impressionable young bunnies to do the same. With such a fun, hilarious, and engaging rendition of his experience available by playing Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit, we are encouraging all members of the rabbit youth to follow his example. Vote no on Prop 415, or God help us all." Edge gave the Xbox 360 version a score of eight out of ten, saying, "Hell Yeah! may wear its warm immaturity on its sleeve, but its jokes are strong, its protagonist and antagonists likeable and its rhythms satisfying." EGMNow gave the same console version a similar score of eight out of ten, saying that it "sits somewhere between a hardcore classic and a shameless parody, and luckily, I happen to be a fan of both. It's not perfect, but like Vincent Vega once said, 'personality goes a long way.'" The Guardian similarly gave it four stars out of five, saying of the game, "If you know someone whose mantra is: 'They don't make games like that anymore,' just force them to play it and they'll have been well and truly silenced." GameZone similarly gave the PlayStation 3 version eight out of ten, saying, "Though it's lacking in replayability without any sort of multiplayer or worthwhile hell-ish content, Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit is still a superb side-scrolling romp that's worth the $15 price tag…especially if you're looking for something a little different from Sega's camp."

External links

• MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers". This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months. The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing. A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school. Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information. In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount. This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign. A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art). Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel, and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million. The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager. Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface. This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue. Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.

See also

• IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions