As a late comer to the Rayman series, Rayman Origins was my first real taste of it and although it was fun I didn’t get drawn into any level of addictiveness in which you normally find in platform games. When I saw Ubisoft previewing Rayman Legends at E3 I initially thought it will be more of the same and doubted whether it’d be worth a look, alas I have my hand on the Xbox 360 version to find out. Was I correct or could this fist throwing crazy character grab my attention better this time?
Rayman is awoken to find that the Bubble Dreamer’s nightmares have grown in numbers and the dark Teensies have used this to their advantage to capture all the Teensies and various princesses from across the land. It’s up to Rayman with the help of Murfy, the one who alerted them of this new threat, to defeat these evil creatures.
The main aim for most of the many (there is over 100) levels is typical platform style point to point whilst overcoming various obstacles which sounds rather basic. What makes them all the more exciting is the additional troubles it chucks at you in each new area which keeps it fresh, so just when you learn to bounce off walls and swing off ropes or chains it will go here have a little wind to make it more difficult.
Not only that but there are three main types of levels to mix it up a bit, one where you need to rescue up to ten Teensies (collecting these will unlock more levels). Another is the Invasion ones which involve finishing super quick to rescue all three Teensies, these can be a little annoying but they are so short that it doesn’t feel too bad failing as not much progress is lost. Last but not least are the boss type battles where you will need to pay attention to any Teensies that pop up whilst also trying to bring down a large enemy. Within these are Lums to collect as well which unlock new characters to use, of which there are plenty of.
A quite delightful set of simple controls (Left Stick, A, RT and X) will get you through most situations however at some points reinforcements are called in the name of Murfy. The little green guy will move things when you tell him to or tickle enemies (yes you can reduce brutes to giggling children) before you punch them repeatedly. Again, another aspect that helps to reduce any oncoming boredom that could set in if it wasn’t all so well designed to be fun whilst testing the mind at the same time.
By completing each level to a suitable standard it will give you lucky tickets, scratching these will gain you one of either – Lums, Teensies, Creatures (these offer Lums per day for each one you own) or Origins paintings. The latter will give you access to re-mastered versions of Rayman Origins levels, not all but a good selection and in all honesty I enjoyed them more.
If that wasn’t enough then if you have access to Online then check out the Challenges section, where you will find Daily, Weekly and Extreme challenges for you to attempt. These could be as straightforward as collecting as many Lums in a set time or getting as far as you can in a level without failing. This adds the competition between you and your friends which I know always makes me try that little harder to add a bit to my score. It certainly is keeping me checking back for more.
Looking for something less mentally challenging then Kung Foot might fill those needs, basically a football match where you punch and kick the ball to get it to hit the back of the net. Despite being extremely simple there’s a lot of enjoyment to be had in coming up with ways to even trick shot a goal or two.
The design is something I’ve picked up on; I cannot stress enough how each level is wonderfully constructed both visually and physically in order to appease the mind. Contributing to the overall feel of the game is the music and its lifting feel as it pushes you to go further, like its saying “you can do it... but no worries if not you still rock” or something. The variety of enemies to pulverise is cool too although a couple of them make me ponder what threat they really pose, right before I deliver a fist of fury.
Although I wasn’t far off with my initial impression of it being similar to Origins, it is in most ways except that it feels more refined and clearly a large amount of thought and effort has gone into making sure it never becomes monotonous. Rayman Legends gave me an addiction that I hadn’t felt since a blue hedgehog first made an appearance. Needless to say this is a brilliant platform game and isn’t to be missed!
