Rayman Origins
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Rayman Origins is a platform video game developed and published by Ubisoft for the PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 3DS, and OS X. It is the fourth main installment in the Rayman series, and the first main installment since 2003's Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc. It's the first Rayman game released since a long hiatus caused by the Raving Rabbids games.
Plot
One peaceful day, Rayman and his friends hang out at the Snoring Tree. Unknown to them, a hidden microphone makes their snoring and noises loud and obnoxious to the inhabitants of the Land of the Living Dead. Soon, they get fed up and invade the Glade of Dreams tossing the entire realm into chaos and imprisoning the nymphs and Electoons. Rayman and co. soon escape and the Magician from the first game offer them Electoons in exchange of Lums.
After rescuing all the nymphs, a mysterious fortress called "Moody Clouds" appears and the kings of each land mutate into horrible monsters. Once the kings are returned to normal and Rayman's friends reach the heart of Moody Clouds they find out that the Magician (a Rayman 1 character who gave the player hints throughout this game to collect Lums) was behind Moody Clouds' creation, and that he was a follower of Mr. Dark. It's implied he was using the Lums collected throughout the game by Rayman to power up his mechanical fortress and take over the Glade of Dreams.
With his cover up blown, Rayman and co. chase the Magician until he accidentally destroys the core of Moody Clouds, causing the entire fortress to explode. Rayman then goes to the Land of the Living Dead to return their queen to normal and restore peace to the Glade of Dreams.
Why It Rocks
- The graphics and art-style are absolutely beautiful, especially for 2011 standards. It's worth mentioning that thanks to Ubisoft's new engine, UbiArt Framework, and due to its art-style, character and enemies designs have looks like a cel-shaded animation, the color palette is really spectacular and appealing to see and it feels like you're playing an animated series, to the point that this game is often considered one of the best-looking games for consoles, especially on the Nintendo 3DS, Wii, and PlayStation 3 versions.
- Challenging and difficult yet very fun gameplay. Some of the levels, such as the Tooth Gem chases are designed to require high paced platforming skills, Also, this game has a lot of fun, which would make you want to invite your friends over to your house to see how you play this game and also if you are playing with a friend or brother, they can attack their teammates for comic relief without actually harming them.
- Also, there are unlimited lives and frequent checkpoints to ensure the game's high difficulty doesn't become frustrating.
- Up to four players can play the game in a drop-in-drop-out co-op mode.
- Doors in the game have an eye ball that makes a hilarious groaning noise when you punch them.
- Fantastic and unforgettable soundtrack and music composed by Christophe Héral and Billy Martin. It would make you want to try to get it stuck in your head or play the levels longer to listen to the music, or even go to YouTube and download the music on your computer, phone or tablet.
- The controls are tight, fluid, and responsive and you can get used to it easily. Also, the swim controls are surprisingly good and keep you moving smoothly and without discomfort. Other examples include your vertical momentum stopping when you hit in the air (which can rarely be problematic) and when you run you will move faster than other platform games.
- The level designs are elegantly excellent, beautiful and fantastic, and best of all, it seems that it was designed by some teenage Rayman fans with help who have a style to make the levels perfect. There are many details that you can see in the game, they are both here by the standards of this genre. Arguably, the best examples are Jibberish Jungle and Sea of Serendipity, which are so unimaginably beautifully-designed that it literally looks like it was designed in over a month.
- There are even Electoon levels that have an unimaginably adorable design that will give you too much cuteness to see them, since the Electoons seen in the levels are chubby, and they are terribly cute.
- Lots of hidden goods and rooms with Electoon cages.
- The Moskito riding levels are a fun homage to the first game.
- The cinematics of the game are absolutely entertaining. For example, in the beginning of the game, Rayman, Globox and the Teensies are resting but are making noise and the residents of the Land of the Livid Dead are bothered by the noises. An old zombie lady is particularly angry about it but an old man supports it, causing the lady to get more upset and start throwing too many things at him. Then, when Rayman wakes up with the old man's skull in his hand, everyone screams and Rayman and his companions attack but fail and are caged up. They are so funny that they almost resemble a Cartoon Network or Disney XD cartoon, making you to see many of them.
- Similar to Crash Bandicoot: Warped, if you have finished a level, there will be a Time Trial Mode (where you can win an Electoon and record), and it is a surprisingly good addiction, even like the invasion modes in Rayman Legends. You can do speedruns and it's perfect for gamers if they want to set a world record.
- The player is rewarded for collecting lots of lums with cages at the end of each level.
- Good IA; the enemies from the original game return and the game introduces many enemies which are often just as goofy and colorful as the classic ones.
- It has a decent replay value, despite being repetitive, especially for players who like to play this game.
- Loading screens allow the player to control their character to keep them occupied while the game loads. And even then loading screens are short (except 3DS version).
- Wacky and fun boss fights that test your reflexes and are very creative.
- Many unlockable character skins, including Raymesis, Glombrox, and the Grand Minimus.
- Obtaining all the Tooth Gems unlocks a hidden, very challenging level ending with a fight against an additional boss.
Bad Qualities
- It is never explained on-screen why the Magician is evil now.
- The only playable characters are Rayman, Globox, and the Teensies. So when playing with 4 players at least two will have to share a character skin, which can make it easy to get confused which is yours.
- While the 3DS version is a surprisingly good, spectacular and impressive version and the controls are solid, it has some flaws:
- While the graphics are fine and the environments are still pleasing to look at, the game's resolution suffers due to the game being crunched onto the 3DS' small screen.
- It has loud and unpleasant sound to listen to. Particularly, it sounds like a phone call or cell phone music from the 1990s with a 144p sound and may be irritating to listen to, especially if you are wearing headphones, similar to the terrible version of Resident Evil: Revelations 2 on PlayStation Vita.
- Unlike other versions that have a loading screen to obtain a heart and move your character freely while loading, it is absent in this version due to the weak hardware.
- To make matters worse, if you wear one skin or another, it will load, which is unacceptable in a platform game.
- None of the Teensies are playable in the game, meaning Rayman and Globox are the only two types of characters that are playable.
- Low frame rate which, although playable, leaves a little to be desired.
- Like the original, the game often twists from easy to hard. Many of the main levels are easy to beat, but the last Tricky Treasure and final levels are really hard.
- Collecting enough Lums to get a medal at all levels is very difficult because some of the Lums require perfect jumps to reach them, especially at Moskito levels. Also, dying will also force you to retrieve the Lums.
- Some fans and gamers might find the humor weak.
- Speaking of which, the parts where the player saves the Nymphs with porno like music playing are very inappropriate even for Rayman standards.
- One aspect of controls is an issue: hitting multiple times in the air before landing will cause you to fall. This is normally fine, but this also affects you in wind, and during the second boss there are multiple waves of enemies you have to hit without being able to land, meaning the controls often kill you.
Videos
Longplay
Reviews
Soundtrack
Reception
Ratings
- Metacritic
- Nintendo 3DS - 71/100
- PC - 86/100
- PlayStation 3 - 87/100
- Xbox 360 - 87/100
- PlayStation Vita - 88/100
- Wii - 92/100
Critical reception
This game along with its sequel are critically acclaimed by critics and players alike.
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