Rayman Origins was a very fun and clever game that was released during a ‘busy’ competitive holiday season in 2011.  Thankfully Rayman Legends was released in a less crowded window (Sept 2013) even if it seemed to have come months after we expected it to.  Either way, Rayman Legends is a fantastically fun game with lots of great moments and characters.

Rayman Legends is a side-scroller platformer with a beautiful visual color palette, sound effects worthy of a Pixar movie and a cinematic music score that outshines most we hear in games today.  There are over 80+ levels to tackle and you can switch out which characters you play as along the way – unlocking new characters and skins as well.  In Rayman Legends as was in Rayman Origins you collect Lums and help free Teensies while avoiding traps, falling, sharp edges and villains.  There is much in the game to kill you but check-points are generous and most of the time you die you will still get a ‘chuckle’ out of how ridiculous the death happened.

Rayman Legends was originally going to be a Nintendo Wii U exclusive but later was announced to be coming to all platforms – a smart move for sales but the news upset many Nintendo fans who are eager for Wii U exclusives.  As a result of being developed for the Wii U – there is a new character/gameplay added to the mix in the form of Murfy.  On the Nintendo Wii U gameplay you use the touch-screen to control Murfy but on the other console versions you press a button and he performs actions to help get you through handful of select levels.

Overall Rayman Legends is a tough yet fun game – probably the best platformer game we’ve experienced in all of 2013.  Most people seem to be on the fence with the incursion of Murfy but ultimately it adds something new and does make the game more complex no matter which platform you play the game on.  Rayman Legends is most fun playing with friends either as local co-op or online play – Ubisoft pretty much set a new standard for fun and original platformers in the modern age of gaming.  We look forward to seeing what the developers do with the license moving forward into the next-gen systems and beyond.

Rayman Legends Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYAHr3NYFDY

Rayman Legends Gameplay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP6SlOiym7Y