Rayman - the no-limbed platforming hero of the late 90s, seems to have gone into something of a retirement in recent years. First appearing in 1995, he hasn't been in a proper platformer since Rayman: Hoodlum's Havoc on the Game Boy Advance back in 2005. Last seen as the protagonist in the 2006 Wii mini-game hit Rayman Raving Rabbids - the game that launched the Rabbids to fame - he hasn't done a whole lot since. Yes, Rayman 3D was a launch title on the 3DS, but even then that was just a remake of 1999's Rayman 2: The Great Escape. With only the odd cameo in the Raving Rabbids games, everyone assumed Rayman would never see another 'proper' game again, doomed to live in the shadows of the Rabbids he brought to fame.
Held prisoner by the Rabbids, Rayman tried everything to escape - unfortunately, cows don't float very well.
Then, at 2010's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), some five years after his last game, Ubisoft announced they were working on what Rayman fans had only dreamed of - a brand new platform game, staring the aubergine man himself, called Rayman: Origins. Originally intended to be a downloadable episodic title for the Xbox Live Arcade, where each chapter of the story would be sold as a separate game for anywhere between about £5 and £15, the game blossomed and grew, so much that Ubisoft decided that, were they to try and put a price on the game as a downloadable, they'd likely price themselves out of the market, and so, it's become a full-priced retail game for pretty much every format going, with releases planned for the Xbox 360, Wii and 3DS, as well as the PS3 and PS Vita. Apparently, Ubisoft are working on making the Wii version as close to the Xbox 360 version as they can - although what the 3DS version will involve, we're not sure yet, as it's not set for a release until about three months after the others.
Rayman: Origins details the origins and early times of the armless Rayman, and is set in the Glade of Dreams, a world created by the evil Bubble Dreamer. His nightmares are starting to transform the world, turning the good Electoons into 'nefurrious' Darktoons, and the Fairy Council need the help of Rayman - the hero of light - to save the day. Together with his friends, he'll need to restore peace to the Glade, or watch it vanish like a bad dream...
Rayman: Origins is essentially New Super Rayman Friends Wii60, with up to four players joining in with the platforming goodness, playing as either Rayman, his best friend Globox or two Teensie wizards, working together to get to the end of each level. While all the characters essentially have the same set of moves to help them get through the levels, they each have their own special way of pulling them off. For example, Rayman has his staple HairyCopter move for gliding over larger gaps when jumping, while the, er, big boned Globox's equivalent has him comedically flapping his arms as fast as he can. Running is the same - Rayman jogs along relatively normally, whereas Globox sprints along with his tongue flapping out behind him.
"Come on! Queensberry rules! Put 'em up, you little pipsqueak! And don't think acting like a big girl's blouse will get you out of it! There's no mercy with Globox!"
The controls are nice and simple too - with the Xbox 360 version, the A button jumps and holding it down lets you glide for longer distances, the B button punches, and holding RT sprints. The game boasts about twenty hours of playing time too, across more than sixty levels, although that is taking into account the time it takes to find all the collectables. Yes, collectables! Scattered around the stages and stashed in breakable crates, you'll find little coloured balls which are pieces of the Glades' history, which once collected and assembled promise to "reveal the truth behind Rayman's origins".
Co-operation is a big part of Rayman: Origins too - simply by pressing up, you can throw your hands up in the air sometimes, like Taio Cruz, and let your buddies use you for a leg up. Turning yourself into a portable platform, your friends can then use you to get to an out of reach platform or collectable - and, even better, this effect can stack, letting you create a crazy Rayman totem pole if you wished. And while the game does try to foster co-operation, there is still an element of competition, as the end of level photo-booth (obviously!) ranks you in an order, dependent on how many times you died, how many enemies you lamped, and how many of the glowing gold things scattered round the levels you managed to pick up along the way - probably the Rayman equivalent to coins in Mario and the rings in Sonic. But best of all - especially for the more gaming-challenged among you (like me) - is that there's pretty much unlimited lives. As long as one of you stays alive, dead companions encapsulate themselves in bubbles and follow the live person around, until they feel like releasing you with a simple punch. Even if you all fall to your doom, it doesn't really matter that much, as you'll all be respawned at the last checkpoint you passed, and as they're quite frequent, and normally just before the more difficult bits, it never feels like it's being unfair.
Globox seems unimpressed with the effects of his diet...
Speaking of unfair, one thing that did put a downer on the game was the final level we tried - set against a desert backdrop, you had to enter a cave that was, literally, over-run with weird bat-like creatures - and if they touched you, you died. Luckily, like all bats (maybe), these bats were afraid of light, and as long as you were surrounded by a random shield of light (which you picked up by banging a strange, giant gong. It's Rayman. It's a bit weird), you'd be fine. The problem is, this shield only lasts for a certain length of time, so you need to make it to the next gong before your shield runs out. Which makes it incredibly difficult. The one section we needed to navigate in the bubble was nigh on impossible to manage before the time ran out - you had to have an absolutely perfectly timed run, avoiding the numerous enemies that could still damage you, sending you back to the last checkpoint. With the two of us playing on a team with one of the developers, it took us at least ten or fifteen goes before we eventually managed it - a feat that seemed a bit at odds with what had generally been quite a lenient game.
But, while it was a bit concerning, we have known games to change from the time we play them to their eventual release - and everything else we saw was so positive, we're willing to let it slide. With some amazing four player co-op, Disney-esque animated visuals, and a huge world to explore, there's plenty to play with here. This is one of our most anticipated games of this year - and should be one of yours, too!
