Rayman Legends Review - Platforming Praise

It has been a really long time since I sat down and played a traditional style 2D platform game all the way through. Having been overwhelmed with an abundance of modern FPS and Third Person games it's quite refreshing to just dive into an old school Platforming game, and what a game to decide to do that for. Rayman Legends is the sequel to the somewhat Rayman reboot series "Rayman Origins" which takes the little limbless hero back to his 2D platforming roots reminiscent of his first appearance on the PS1. In an industry over saturated in gritty brown and grey realistic settings based on real life, Rayman decides to kick the industry  in the face with it's big yellow cartoony shoe for a vibrant, colourful experience that focuses on straight up fun platforming and brilliant level design than trying to be anything realistic.

The premise of the game isn't exactly anything new and it's more of an extension of it's previous game Origins. The games big bad has kidnapped and scattered the native blue big nosed beings of Rayman's world called Teensies across various locations and it's up to Rayman and co to run, jump, punch and helicopter hair their way to rescuing them all. A simple premise for a simple game, but the story isn't why I played this game.

Legends truly shines in it's fantastic level design and mechanics surrounding platforming, each new area of the game tends to introduce or focus on a new mechanic such as wall running or flying in order to vary up the experience without becoming too tedious or focus solely on that aspect. The game generates an amazing sense of flow and momentum, it's very easy to just start off the level sprinting and almost never feel the need to stop as you just let your natural instincts and reactions to obstacles take over. One of the best ways in which they keep this momentum is by not having a traditional lives system of older platform games. Way back in the days of arcades lives were used to give player a limited number of screw ups before getting a game over so players had to be rather cautious when playing because they paid for each individual attempt. (something I briefly covered in a previous post). In Rayman Legends however, if you die you simply start from the last checkpoint in the level you reached instead of having to redo the entire level again and there is no limit to how many times you can die. You can mess up as often as you want and you will never be forced to go back to the beginning which helps you simply practice the one part of the level you are stuck at over and over until you overcome it. Each level can also be played with up to 4 players also making for an entertaining experience you can share with friends...at least until one of your friends fails to save you when you are about to die and you start blaming each other that is.

On top of the main levels of the game which you unlock as you progress and collect more Teensies, there are additional modes for the game. One of the most addicting being the co-op only mode called "Kung-Foot" which is a very silly version of football where players need to use the same attacks they would in the normal levels to knock a football into a goal to score points, it's a rather fun little competitive game to enjoy with friends. The chaotic nature of the mode keeps everything rather light hearted and silly to the point that even if you do lose it's not something to be taken too seriously. Other features of the game include challenge modes with preset challenges for levels within the game to add extra replay value or daily challenges which alter every week to keep activities within the game fresh for players even if they have played the same level before.

It took way too many of these scratchcards just to unlock one Origins level

One other little bonus within the game is being able to play recreations of some popular levels from the previous title Rayman Origins. For fans of Origins it gives them the chance to replay some of their favourite levels again while players who perhaps never played Origins can experience them for the first time. Unfortunately the way to unlock these "Back to Origins" levels isn't as easy as unlocking standard levels. Where all other levels in the game are unlocked by simply collecting enough Teensies, the Origins levels are found by winning them with in game scratchcards. These Scratchcards are unlocked by achieving certain goals in the game and the prizes for them can range from simply more Lums or Teensies to unlock new characters and levels, to mini collectable monsters that appear in a gallery to the most sought after Origins levels. The novelty of having to physically scratch these off using the PS4's touchpad soon wears thin when you repeatedly keep getting things you don't want. It's completely random if you will get something useful like Teensies or if you manage to unlock an Origins stage so for some players it could take a very long time to eventually unlock some of the Origins levels, nevermind trying to unlock all of them. It took me about 3 hours worth of game time and about 30 something scratchcards before I unlocked my first Origins level by sheer luck. Yes it is just supposed to be a little bonus feature on top of the games already fun standard levels but it can be quite tedious trying to unlock them by sheer luck.

The cartoony style makes everything pop out clearly whilst looking very slick

I have to say though, apart from the gimmicky scratchcards, there isn't a lot to complain about for this game from my experience. Controls are responsive and for the most part the level design and artstyle make it very clear what you're supposed to do when an obstacle or enemy appears. Speaking of which, I just have to give extra praise for the games artstyle because its down right adorable and appealing overall. The entire game is done in a very cartoony way that makes the (very few) cutscenes and actual gameplay parts of the level flow together perfectly because all of the animation is done within the games engine. Far too often in the games industry you will get games that will jump out of the game engine to play a clearly pre-rendered cutscene that looks like it was made to be a part of a highly polished movie than something that happens in game and it's refreshing to see Rayman be able to make the entire game as a whole feel like one big cartoon when watching cutscenes or actually playing. The cartoony nature allows for some very charming character interactions and great visual humour that just gives you a feeling like you're watching Saturday morning animated shows all throughout. Even more so when the style is used to portray vastly different environments for the levels that make each area feel lively when it needs to be, dark and gloomy in other areas or fast and chaotic for others.

On top of the artstyle, I have got to give some major props to the sound design on this game. The sound effects reflect the silly light hearted feel of the game perfectly from the very silly style Kapow and Splat sound effects to the goofy voices of both the heroes and enemies when they get hit. Even better is the games soundtrack. The music in this game is good, like, really, really good. Each area features a vast range of multiple music styles to give life to each level. From whimsical high wind orchestral tracks in the bright colourful forests to the very James Bond style secret agent sneaking areas of the spy themed levels. The tracks all serve a purpose of fitting the games world perfectly and changing to match the situation such as having more fast paced upbeat tracks when characters are on levels where they have to keep moving in order to not die or when chasing one of the games villains.

The last thing I wanted to bring up for the game that relates to the soundtrack and level design is the musical levels. Upon completing the initial normal levels and Boss battle for an area, the player then unlocks a sort of bonus level that's a little easier than the prior levels. The levels are designed in such way that as the player runs through them they're actions will sync up almost completely to the music track being used. What makes them even more enjoyable is that the music tracks on these levels are actually instrumental covers of famous pieces of music and songs from pop culture. From Beethoven to Ram Jam, the musical levels not only give you fun levels to breeze through but some catchy well known tracks to hum along to. My absolute favourite of these is the Spanish styled Guitar/Kazoo cover of Survivor's song, Eye of the Tiger. The quality of the soundtrack overall including the musical cover tracks is just superb on top of the genius level design on part of the games developers to be able to make a level that syncs up with a piece of music so well.

Overall Rayman Legends is an absolute blast of a Platforming game. The games quirky visuals, superb level design and all too catchy soundtrack are a breath of fresh air in an industry that's currently flooded with dull, grey, realistic games with more focus towards genre's like First Person Shooters. If you're looking for a bit of a change from the current gaming norm I would highly recommend picking up Rayman Legends to add to your game collection. I'm just going to close this review with a video from Youtube of the previously mentioned Spanish styled Eye of the Tiger themed musical level just to show how great it is even just to watch and listen to as well as play.

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