Developer: UbiART Montipellier, Feral Interactive (Mac)
Publisher: Ubisoft, Feral Interactive (Mac)
Rrp: £9.99
Released: 29th March 2012
Available on gog.com, Steam, Uplay and Amazon
Played Using: An Xbox 360 Control Pad
Welcome to Rayman Orgins, in which you play as Rayman… Until you chose to play as someone else (more on that later). In this title Rayman and his cohorts have angered the Livid Dead who live under the tree that Rayman’s group like to sleep on with their collective snoring. So the Livid Dead attack the party and capture and then proceed to infect the world and kidnap all the Electoons (for some unexplained reason). So now Rayman and his friends must restore the world, rescue the Electoons and send the Livid Dead back from whence they came.
Something that I live is that the game has a fun and lighthearted feel to it, everything from the level design to the music seems to be as geared to promoting the idea of levity. The character designs are vibrant and look cartoon like and the levels are awash will colour. Even what I’ve died a bunch of times I find that it’s hard to be too annoyed at the game, and I put that almost entirely on the way it’s designed.
The game is split into several areas, each area generally consisting of six platform levels, an unlockable level, a side scrolling shooter level, and occasionally a boss level. Like many of the classic sides rolling platformers of old, each of these area’s has a theme such as music or food.
A new skill becomes available to you after you have completed the first level (until you have unlocked them all), the first being the ability to attack.
Enemies are defeated by being jumped on or by being punched. Of course not all enemies can be defeat like this, some will wear helmets or just be the type to be avoided. They can also take damage from the environment like being dropped on spikes or into flames.
You collect small flying creatures (typically are yellow) called Lum’s. These Lum’s are scattered throughout the levels and can also be collected by defeating enemies.
Occasionally you’ll see a Lum wearing a crown, if you collect him the other Lum’s turn red for a short period, when their in this state they’re worth double. There are also Skull coins to be found that are worth twenty five Lum’s.
Now you may ask why am I collecting these Lum’s? I know I did for the first level or so. Well these Lum’s translate into some strange, smiley faces (called Electoons) that you receive at the end of the level, the more Lum’s you have the more Electoons you receive. Electoons are a in game currency allowing you to buy other characters who have different abilities to Rayman and unlock special levels as well as just allow you to progress through the game. Of course Electoons can be rescued as well, there is a cage at the end of every level with them in and two cages just like it more hidden within each level. You can find the cages quite easily if you pay close attention to the sounds, listen out for someone saying “help me!”
Remember those unlockable levels I mentioned? Well it’s within those that you can attain a gem which, once you have enough, will give you access to the more difficult area known as the Land of the Livid Dead. Of course to getting this gem is no easy feat, I won’t tell you why, just believe me, it’s not that easy.
The thing with this Rayman title is that it is actually quite easy, you can usually breeze through a level quite easily… That is if you not trying to get all the Electoons and Lums, that’s where the difficulty ramps up. Sometimes getting the best score for Lums means not making even a single mistake, that the jump is perfect and the enemies positioned correctly.
If you feel so inclined you can replay any level again, this will allow you to attempt to collect more Lums, find that group of Electoon’s you missed, or simply try and beat your completion time.
Do I recommend Rayman Origins? Yes I do, it’s surprisingly long and can be extremely challenging (especially if you’re a perfectionist). I’m not sure how long I sunk into the game but I do know I enjoyed every moment, even the ones where I was frustrated to hell.
If this interests you perhaps try;
Rayman Legends
Guacamelee!
Rocketbirds
