Rayman Legends Review: Hitting All The Right Notes

Late 2011's Rayman Origins proved a smashing hit, another exclamation that 2D, side-scrolling platformers aren't dead. Unfortunately, the road to its sequel wasn't without its share of controversy. Rayman Legends was delayed for close to a year in order to move it from a Wii U exclusive to a multi-platform release. But the wait has been worth it, and the game stronger for it, giving more people the chance to play one of the best examples of what the genre can produce.

The cute creatures of the land, Teensies, are once again being terrorized by nightmares. It's up to Rayman and his allies to rescue them and defeat the traitors responsible for their capture. Its thin plot never gets in the way of its excellent platforming, with the focus instead on racing through challenging and diverse stages.

As a platformer, there are a few constants to the experience. You leap over dangers and bounce off walls, and occasionally hit enemies on your way to the finish line. You'll collect lums and Teensies in each stage, the totals of which unlock player skins for heroes and new stages respectively. But what makes Rayman Legends so enjoyable is how it repeatedly presents those elements in varied and exciting ways.

Its stages are divided into five main worlds. They can be tackled in any order as long as their collection requirements are met. And every world offers something different. One stage will have you flying through the air gleefully shooting projectiles, and in another you'll be swimming underwater stealthily avoiding searchlights or carving holes through cakes as a duck (strange as that sounds, it works). It keeps that pace consistent throughout the entire game, providing few if any stagnant moments.

Additionally, there's never a want for secrets to find. Lums and Teensies aren't always in plain sight and may require some exploration, trials of dexterity or quick action to reach before the chance to grab them is gone. And if you do well, you'll earn Lucky Tickets that can be scratched to reward you with more Lums, Teensies, collectible creatures and remastered stages from Rayman Origins. There are 40 of those to unlock, creating a total of over 120 stages. Suffice it to say, replayability is high.

New for Rayman Legends are a series of music stages, which have you race to the beat of remixes of popular songs, and boss battles that top off the end of each world. These are exhilarating ways to bring them to a close. The fights will often pit you against enemies several times your size, from a dragon to a massive luchador. They all test your skills and it just feels good to bring them down.

The game's difficulty isn't relegated to just its boss battles. Once past the first world, the stages begin to truly challenge your abilities. It can be sweat inducing, and at the same time it's rather satisfying to best a series of jumps that want to best you. However, there are a few stages and sections that require such strict timing with little to no checkpoints that momentum can grind to a halt. In those situations I was doing more yelling at the TV than having fun with what was playing on it. Thankfully those moments are few and you're never forced to complete them to make progress, but a little leeway would have been appreciated.

If you'd rather yell at friends, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions support four player local, cooperative play. You can also compete against each other in a rather entertaining soccer mini-game and through daily and weekly leaderboard challenges. These are all quite fun, though I'm disappointed there's still no online multiplayer for the core content.

It can't be emphasized enough how much delight, even against a tide of curses when struck with a trying obstacle, is earned from Rayman Legends' charming  presentation. Every stage is beautifully drawn and imbued with so much color and detail that makes even the most complexly rendered 3D game blush. And though it's played in only two dimensions, the backgrounds are layered in such a way as to give them an impressive amount of depth.

It's wonderfully expressive, a characteristic no more obvious than with its characters. Every animation and audio sample is worthy of a smile. My favorite examples of which are the playable warrior princesses, unlockable through special challenges, who laugh and grin mischievously as they run, jump and bash foes. The enemies are equally well-emoted. It's impossible not to giggle at the parachuting toads - especially if you land atop them - or when battling a giant, rotund chicken. There's a clear sense of love that went into crafting this game, and it is absolutely infectious.

Christophe Héral's musical compositions share that honor. They range from cinematic and energetic to slow and tense, but they're always catchy in the throat and give the game that much more life. As simple as it was, I never stopped wanting to shake hips to the festive victory beat of a successful gold run. The confetti and cute dance of my character didn't help to prevent that impulse, either.

There's an idiom that says lightning never strikes twice, but Rayman Legends is a perfect rebuttal. It is resplendent with charm and character, and delivers a huge variety of delightful, challenging content. If a game can be measured in how often you call over friends and family to the couch to take a look, then Rayman Legends is the ideal lightning rod.

 

Final verdict

9.5 out of 10

A copy of the game was provided by Ubisoft for the purpose of this review.