Review: Rayman Origins

I’ve already talked a little bit about this game in our reflections on 2011 gaming, but let me elaborate a little on why this littlebig 2D-gem filled my heart with bittersweet nostalgia.

Rayman Origins is a prequel to one of the greatest classics in video game history: Rayman. This jump’n'run gem by Michel Ancel was a huge hair-propeller aided jump ahead in how much fun a sidescroller can be. Loveable characters, beautiful art design and catchy music – Rayman had it all.

Rayman spawned several sequels, most of which can be considered good games. Following the recent revival of 2D Jump’n'Runs, Ubisoft decided to publish a prequel to the original game that introduced so many to the  wacky world of Rayman and his friends.

And they did a wonderful job. The game looks great with some of the best 2D graphics you’ll see in a while and a soundtrack that sticks in your head for quite some time – in a good way. The concept of the game is basically: Rayman’s wild years as a youngster. Everything is a nod to the original game, but wackier. You’ll find all the characters you came to love and most of the enemies you passionately hated, reimagined as hyperactive maniacs. Even mosquito is back and featured quite prominently (although I personally don’t like the new look, but that might just be the kid in me screaming: Don’t change my favourite companion!)

Gameplay-wise Rayman Origins is basically Super Mario Bros Wii with some classic Rayman moves. And just like Bros Wii, Origins shows its real potential when played with up to four players. Yes, it’s chaotic and some bits can become quite difficult, especially if you can’t restrain yourself from slapping your own team mates. The levels are varied and there are plenty of them. But the chaos comes with a price…

Let us not forget that the original Rayman was and still is a bloody hard game. Many of the bosses still strike fear in the hearts of many-a grown man (one of them being the writer of this article) and finding all the cages to free the electoons wasn’t easy in the days before video walkthroughs.

Rayman Origins has some difficult bits here and there, but all in all it’s rather easy. This may be due to the fact that when you play with four players any dream of accurate jumping soon perishes in a frenzy of slapping and bouncing and falling to your not-really-death. The game’s difficulty level suffers at times from this balance between chaos and single-player perfectionist jumping, but all in all it’s easy to forgive this, especially if you have the chance to play with friends here and there.

Another reason why Rayman Origins is better played with friends than alone is that somehow it never really evokes the feeling of playing through a story.

Where the original Rayman had you feeling like a hero on an epic journey to save your world and defeat Mr. Dark, Rayman Origins rather feels like a funny, but harmless trip through a world that is somehow hostile but not that hostile after all.

The levels feel unconnected, especially at the beginning which makes it easier for friends to just grab a controller and join the fun at any point, but it just doesn’t quite pull you into the world as much as the original did.

Don’t get me wrong Rayman didn’t exactly have a very elaborate story-line. Part of the problem, and it’s a minor complaint in such an enjoyable game, might be the map. Where the original Rayman featured a simple, linear map of the entire world, Rayman Origins has the player return to his base camp – the snoring tree – and the world map looks more like a menu than in the original. Somehow this changes the feel of how you navigate between the levels quite substantially, away from a linear journey through an increasingly dangerous world, to a game menu where you pick levels.

To end on a positive note, let us talk about the underwater levels in Rayman Origins. Personally, I hate underwater levels in Jump’n'runs. We have a love-hate relationship without any love, ever since that damn turtle swallowed me in Super Mario 2 for Game Boy. But RO features a very nice twist that shows off how well Michel Ancel understands how to bring out those basic childhood fears.

In some of the water levels the player should never leave the light or else he will be pulled to his death by those weird claw-hands lurking in the dark on the picture above. Not only is this genuinely scary, scared me more than the bat-thingamabobs in Gears of War, but it also turns enemies like the jellyfish into half-allies, because they produce light.

All that is left to say: buy this game! And if you never played it, buy the original Rayman. You won’t regret either.

One last thing I have to rant about: the flying fist is really not what it used to be. Charging up is pretty useless throughout most of the game. But well, on the other hand Rayman can do this now with his propeller: