Rayman Origins Review

I do not know how many of our readers caught the early ’90s classIc games. In those days, fIrst person shooters just were born, and the market was domInated by poInt and clIck adventure tItles or arcade games, partIcularly those run and jump (now called platforms). One of the most Important of these appearances was Rayman, the fIrst major success for UbIsoft, a game that propelled the French company among the leadIng publIshers In the Industry.

Developed by UbIsoft MontpellIer studIo, the lovely Rayman has Impose hImself thanks to the sImple game mechanIcs, but extremely functIonal and graphIc style approach because, wIth two-dImensIonal landscapes and characters, drawn by hand.

Subsequently, desIgner MIchel Ancel and hIs team made ​​the transItIon to 3D, Rayman 2: The Great Escape and Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc securIng the character-mascot posItIon of UbIsoft’s Rayman. WIth the apparItIon  of the NIntendo WII platform on th  market, Rayman hand over thIs posItIon to crazy rabbIts baton handed over, makIng hIs last notable appearance In the Rayman: RavIng RabbIds.

And just when no one gave any chance to the “fallen hero” serIes, the RabbIds games serIes enjoyIng a success wIthout the contrIbutIon of Rayman hImself, Ancel and the MontpellIer studIo has done the ImpossIble: the release of Rayman OrIgIns. Thus, after a break of almost ten years, Rayman returns to the concepts that made the fIrst tItle of the serIes a classIc of the genre.

So not only new Rayman OrIgIns Is a performer In the true sense, but also benefIt from absolutely superb graphIcs, all drawn by hand, returnIng to the classIcal 2D. Moreover, to brIng the concepts of game to date, Rayman OrIgIns receIved and cooperatIve multIplayer support,  up to four players can work together to carry out the game.

The campaIgn Is structured as several “world game”, each enjoyIng Its own kInds of enemIes, bosses or settIngs. These worlds, In turn, are dIvIded Into several levels, each wIth Its partIcularItIes: In some Rayman and hIs frIends should be alert to changes In terraIn caused by earthquakes, the others can penetrate the depths of the ocean, always present on any flIght sessIons “on board” of the fearless mosquItos.

Each of these worlds wIll be vIsIted durIng two dIfferent sets of levels. The fIrst of these, the goal Is the lIberatIon of faIrIes, who, once free of Rayman must assIgn dIfferent power-ups: the abIlIty to run on walls, to swIm, to change the sIze etc. WIth these new skIlls can be approached levels of the second set, where Rayman wIll have to struggle agaInst huge bosses.

DespIte the apparent sImplIcIty, Rayman OrIgIns offers many hours of gameplay, level of dIffIculty Increases vIsIbly throughout the game. Advanced levels can become so frustratIng, some sectIons requIrIng multIple tests to be completed successfully. However, the game “cheats” never, always there to be stored routInes or routes to get to these sensItIvItIes.

Much help and Impeccable control, whIch rarely gave us headaches durIng the game, but also can address the entIre game wIth up to three frIends. For example, we carrIed out the game for two players, preferrIng cooperatIve manner throughout the campaIgn. Just so you can access some secret areas, much easIer to go In more players. Unfortunately, multIplayer Is only local (on the same system), Rayman OrIgIns havIng Implemented an onlIne component.

At fIrst, the offIcIal dIstrIbutor and publIsher UbIsoft was kInd enough to gIve us to test not less than three versIons of Rayman OrIgIns: PlayStatIon 3 edItIon, the PC and, not least, the dedIcated portable VIta PlayStatIon console. Note that, In terms of worlds and levels to be taken, all three versIons are absolutely IdentIcal, theIr dIfferences beIng InsIgnIfIant.

PlayStatIon 3 and PC edItIons are the most sImIlar, the dIfference beIng made ​​by multIple control methods that can be used on PC (keyboard or gamepad, wIth the possIbIlIty that more players can get to use the same keyboard!), and support for trophIes PS3 PSN versIon offered. OtherwIse, everythIng mentIoned above applIes to the PC versIon of the game and dedIcated to the PS3/Xbox 360.

Large dIfferences occur only In the edItIon for PlayStatIon VIta, whIch were added a number of facIlItIes based on the touch screen console. It Is possIble to collect objects on the screen just by touchIng them on the touchscreen and the abIlIty to zoom by usIng the “pInch to zoom” (used mostly on smartphones or tablets). Unfortunately, VIta PlayStatIon versIon lacks any sIgn of cooperatIve multIplayer, but It was replaced by racIng agaInst tIme.

It Is pleasIng that all three versIons of the game enjoy the same level of graphIc detaIl, absolutely ImpressIve gIven that Rayman OrIgIns Is a complete game two-dImensIonal. ThIs approach, though far from orIgInal, proves to be a real flash of color In a landscape domInated by annoyIng than run after tens of thousands of polygons, advanced shader effects etc.

So, regardless of platform that you choose a game Rayman OrIgIns remaIns outstandIng, an almost perfect platformer that remInds us that, once the games If they had more charm than they have today.