Review of Rayman Legends From Ubisoft

Inexplicable disfigurements aside, Rayman is back; up to his usual antics of slapping baddies, clambering vines and rescuing the local populace.

After a rather lengthy nap of 100 years, our fairy friend Murfy desperately awakens our limbless hero in order to save the ten princesses and countless teensies that have been captured by the Nightmares. Making no bones about it, Rayman instantly sets out to free the helpless captives. As per usual in a 2D platformer of this ilk, the narrative is strewn aside and forgotten about within the first hour. It’s not a story driven, cutscene heavy cinematic, it’s Rayman and frankly, that’s a little bit refreshing.

When you’re dropped in Rayman’s world, you expect to be struck with the wacky stick a few times before you get used to it, and inevitably accept it as the norm. Not so much the case in Legends, it keeps on giving with it’s hilarity and refuses to let you be serious. From the time when you tickle a vicious looking, axe wielding thug, leaving him wide open for a sucker punch to the gut, to the times where you poke swamp creatures in the eyes to cheekily sprint past them. I seriously wish there was a ‘Tee-Hee’ button you could spam at these points, never mind though, I’ll just keep repeating it out loud instead.

Level design correlates splendidly along with the difficulty curve present. Earlier levels require not much more than admiring the stunning artwork on offer whilst attempting to fathom the ‘crazy’ music out. Later levels, as expected, are vastly more punishing despite never quite reaching the level of infuriation you might expect. Secrets are hidden in both plain sight and dangerous situations; to max out each level you must often reach your quota of glims too. Enemy positions are learnable and the checkpoint system is rather forgiving so you’ll never have to replay much in any stage should you fall to their demise.

A platformer wouldn’t be complete without an almost insurmountable quantity of levels to master, Legends is of course, no different there. Over 120 levels are present for you to find favourites and that’s not particularly difficult. I imagine Ubisoft supposed ploughing through those wouldn’t take very long, so they’ve added around 40 remastered versions from 2011’s also rather stellar Rayman Origins on top. So yes, there’s plenty of content here.

Our aide in the pursuit of constant debacles is Murfy the punctual fairy. On PS3 at least, he responds to a simple press of circle to complete your evil bidding, whilst on Wii U, of which Legends was originally planned to be an exclusive on, he requires a more hands on approach with the touch screen. Without this feature which can, admittedly be performed by a friend, I don’t think PS3 users are losing out too much. After all, a little more finger dexterity required in a platformer never hurt anyone right?

Dispatching foes on a platformer can usually be hit or miss, all entirely dependant upon what attacks you may utilise. Fortunately for us, Rayman has his whole slew of varied moves he can perform, none superfluous and each immediate, you don’t feel as though it was the games fault when you get bopped on the head, rather your own. Of course, that’s not to say that you won’t however! Some of the boss battles can be gloriously tricksome, yet we all know the drill by now, learn the patterns and punish!

Collecting hidden secrets in a game has never been more rewarding, with Rayman’s pixel perfect jumping and responsive controls, getting to a helpless teensie feels fun as opposed to a frustrating challenge. They’re not particularly well hidden, especially in the earlier stages, yet they always feel attainable and gratifying once found. A small portion of levels essentially incorporate a time limit making completionist runs a strive for perfection or else restarting the stage from scratch. But then if you want the goodies, you must be prepared to put in the effort as after all, what’s a completionist if not a perfectionist?

If single-player’s not your bag, regrettably your options are limited to local multiplayer. There are fiendishly difficult leaderboards if your ego’s up for a thrashing; there are also daily and weekly challenges that will really put your Rayman-ing to the test if you lust after the top spots. Armchair coop is where it’s at with a game like this though and if you must take out vengeance upon your brethren, there’s always KungFoot football to mess around in too.

Due to the lack of genuinely great 2D platformers on the PS3, it’s invigorating to see this classic genre get revitalised. The presentation is eminent, the content huge, the unlockables copious and of course, the limbs still unaccountable for.

Reviewed on PS3, also available on Xbox 360, Wii U, PS Vita and PC.