Just over a week ago, many Wii U owners sensed a disturbance in the force. It was almost as though a million Globoxes cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced. The disturbance, it turned out, was that one-time Wii U exclusive Rayman Legends had been delayed, despite being ready to roll, in order to give the developers time to develop Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game. Now no longer an exclusive, and set to launch on all three formats in September, certain parts of the game-playing world went mental, with many vowing never to buy a Ubisoft game ever again (although whether they'd actually stick to it would be another matter) - after all, Rayman Legends was the reason for buying Nintendo's £300 console for many. Some fans even went as far as to set up camp outside the studio's offices in France to voice their displeasure at the decision, which had been foisted upon the studio from upon high by executives.
Feeling hot, hot, hot
But instead of just sticking their fingers in their ears and waiting for the whole thing to blow over, something positive has come out of the whole fiasco - even if it doesn't really fix many fans' feelings of betrayal. To make up for the delay, Wii U owners will get exclusive access to Rayman Legends' Challenge Mode, which features daily and weekly missions for people to play, letting you compete for the best times and scores with players around the globe - as well as the game's developers. An exclusive download from the Nintendo eShop, it'll be available sometime in April, around six months before the full game hits consoles. While it's not really a reason to buy a whole console, it's certainly a nice bonus for those who've already made the investment anyway.
The Challenge Mode itself is split into five different types of level - Deadly Pit has you descending into the perilous depths below, taking out enemies and dodging spiky things as you go, whilst Infernal Tower has you leaping up a tower instead. Land of the Dead is a fast-paced mode in which you're chased by a scrolling wall of death that eats you alive if you lag too far behind, while the Dojo levels test your Rayman skills, standing on narrow platforms as kamikaze enemies fly at you. The final - and seemingly Wii U exclusive mode (for now at least) mode is known as the Dungeon, and features all those funky Touch Screen-controlled levels we've seen in the past, asking you to tap, slide and move at a specific speed and rhythm to master each stage. As an extra bonus, all of the challenges can be played with up to five players too, which sounds good to us:
Rayman Legends hits the Wii U, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 sometime this September, while the Challenge Mode will be available to download from the Wii U's store around the beginning of April - something to help tide us over in the long wait for Rayman's next great adventure.
