As covered in our Blast From The Past Series Rayman was the brainchild of Ubisoft designer Michel Ancel. His debut on the Sony Playstation and Atari Jaguar was one of brilliance and fresh gameplay, it was one of pure platforming celebration, Rayman was a game of just wonderful innovation in a market of 2D platformers. The same could not be said for its sequels. Doing away with the 2D aesthetic and adopting the 3D look as it grew more popular amongst games of the time, Rayman failed to stand out from the crowd as distinctly, its platforming was still solid and enjoyable but something had gone. It had lost its charm, its childish discovery, it had almost begun to go stale by its second outing. It is then a testament to Ubisoft’s unwavering determination that sixteen years after Rayman‘s release they are still pushing him forward, and this time it looks like going back to the beginning was the right way to go.

Its clear from the opening menu that this game has more charm, charisma and jovial fun than any of the other games in the series, in fact it oozes it out of every pore that many platformers in the last ten years would be drenched in its glorious creative sweat. Pushing past the menus brings you to the game at hand, and its there that you are first struck with the awe that is the games visual design. It is a pleasure to see Rayman and friends realised once more in 2D, and not that silly faux 2.5D with 3D models and lighting etc, this is the unashamedly flat-as-a-pancake 2D that your mamma taught you to love. In High Definition the colours are bright and vibrant, the lines crisp and sharp, and the entire world of Rayman wonderfully realised. Characters all look hand drawn and hand shaded, it runs superbly smoothly and really it makes you wonder why they ever moved away from the 2D aesthetic from the start.

Many of you may have held off from picking up Rayman: Origins on launch because as a 2D platformer you think that it wont offer much, certainly not full game retail price. Well other than the fact that you can probably find it quite cheap already, this game is certainly worth a full whack retail release, this is no PSN/XBLA game. Not only are there 60 levels to play through, but its four player hectic co-op, rift of medals to collect on each level, and a secret world to discover make it more than worth its weight, its deceptively huge. Upon the halfway mark you feel that the game has given you all it has to offer, least without pairing up with a friend, but no! It slaps you down and shows you who’s boss; you’ve only reached the half way mark and here is another raft of levels to shove down your gullet and enjoy as they ramp the difficulty up for those who decide to persevere. Now you’ve learned and honed each special power from the previous sections, the oncoming levels begin to throw level design at you that really tests your ability to combine each feature together to pass through unhindered. If you ever do find yourself completely stuck the game neatly offers some assistance, it’ll sweep in and ask if you would like to skip to the next area at no penalty (except for the Lums you’d miss).

Its story is generally pretty loose, and it sees you exploring wild and wonderfully designed worlds in your journey. Taking place in various realms of ‘The Glade of Dreams’, the levels somewhat hark back to the wild and varying style of the original Rayman game. You won’t see the extravagantly different environments of Band Land and Candy Chateau, but you’ll see nuanced modern interpretations in their place. The obligatory fire, ice, jungle, desert etc environments are present and correct, but this time around they feel fresh. Each world plays drastically differently, you go from speeding down ice canyons and jumping over piranha pools to carefully calculating your next jump over a gizzard of fire, or even timing your jumps off a wall of drums. This game is just a pure pleasure to play, even in solitary play.

For us however, the high class level design, character design, and pure replayability aren’t the best feature of the game. It is without a doubt the audio design for the title. Ubisoft Montpellier have completely outdone themselves, Rayman’s slapping punch has that classic clout to it along with a comical snap, the screams of surprise from hit enemies can put a smile on anyones face, and the soundtracks for each level are fantastic. Fast and frantic levels get music that matches and makes you want to run through a level bounding off surfaces with skill and finesse, whilst trickier levels gain more intense and slow music to keep you on edge but also encourage you to take your time through each platforming puzzle. A particular highlight are the water based levels that gain an upbeat and chirpy soundtrack on the surface but when plunged below a chorus of blubbering watery voices continue to sing and chant away, distorted by the water you have just entered. Even the character voicing is enjoyable, if not sometimes slightly annoying in its high pitched tone, as despite it being gibberish you can pick out and place certain what certain words in this nonsense could possibly be.

The only fault that can be laid at Rayman: Origins‘ disembodied feet, and those attached ones at Ubisoft Montpellier, is that its plot is really rather weak. We were never quite sure why we were collecting Electoons and fighting our way through the Glade of Dreams. It lacked the dastardly plans of Rayman‘s Mr. Dark, or even Rayman 2‘s Admiral Razorbeard, and instead traded plot for gameplay. Now as this isn’t the worst decision ever made, it would have been lovely to have had a complete Rayman package in our hands as opposed to nearly a complete package. It does go without saying though that despite its lack of plot, this is the best Rayman game you’ll ever lay hands on; heck, it’s the best platformer you’ll play in this year or the next!

Final Score: 4.5/5