Rayman has returned once more to save the Teensies from evil creatures. Rayman must jump, fly, float and swim his way through a lot of levels in hopes of rescuing the poor, helpless Teensies. It’s not an overly difficult story to understand, as it just puts together a basic plot for a platformer. And ladies and gentlemen, don’t take this platformer lightly, as it brings quite a bit of oomph in terms of gameplay modes.
The most impressive part of Rayman Legends is the amount of depth the game offers up for gamers. You get the standard campaign adventure where you go around rescuing Teensies, whilst avoiding enemies. That is a pretty straightforward campaign mode. Although the sheer depth of it is a lot bigger than I expected. Inside the campaign you get different worlds that Rayman goes through and each of those worlds contains multiple levels. There are six basic worlds to explore, each one has different types of level designs and adventures waiting inside. Some of them involve things like jumping through multiple tiers of floating pieces of ground while trying to navigate through different types of winds, while avoid enemies. You also have a level that is based on Rock Band, which is insanely unique by design and fun.
Beyond the campaign mode you have several different ways you can enjoy the title, all of which are nice. Here’s a breakdown on what to expect from the game:
Creatures – As you progress through the game you gather these lightning bug creatures called ‘lums’. The lums add up and you can obtain certain items at the end of each level because of them. You can gain bronze, silver and gold cups depending on the amount of lums. Between silver and gold is a four-leaf clover, which unlocks a scratch off card. That card can provide you with wonderful unlockables including ‘creatures’. Think of creatures as trophies and nothing more. They’re fun, they provide the gamer with additional lums and they provide a secondary amount of entertainment. Can’t really argue with that at all. People who like ‘collecting’ things in game for no particular reason will love this. Completionists will love this.
Back to Origins – This is unlocked as you progress through the game. This allows you to go back and play Rayman Origins levels and obtain additional lums and Teensies. It’s kind of an add-on to the main campaign and one that is welcomed, especially if you have ever played Rayman Origins before. It looks great on the PlayStation 4.
Kung Foot – Gather some online friends together and play a wacky game of soccer/rugby. It’s small stage with two goals where players jump and kick a soccer ball in to each goal to score. I wish there was more to it, but there isn’t. If you like this sort of stuff then you’ll enjoy it.
Challenges – This was a very bright spot of the game. Challenges is what you think it might be, additional challenges for Rayman. For example, I was given a level to literally run through. The entire time the game is measuring your distance. Actual players from around the country have also gone through this challenge, and you are given their ghosts to follow, and you get to see them fail in realtime (as you fail, of course). I didn’t expect much out of the challenges, but it’s quite possibly my favorite portion of the game. The fact that the challenges only last a certain amount of time (they change weekly) makes for a nice bit of variety. Competing against actual players is the best feeling in the world, especially if you end up scoring the best times/distances/etc.
Heroes – To add some variety to the single-player campaign, Heroes allows the player to choose from other heroes that are rescued in the game. For example, in the Toad stage of the game, I rescued a warrior princess named Aurora. I can now play as Aurora during my campaign mode. She offers up different types of fighting skills and a very cool personality. It may not do a helluva lot for the overall experience, but it does offer up some nice variety in terms of gameplay.
This is an enormous platformer, folks. You won’t be bored with it. I’m still wanting to play it and I’ve been going at it since last week.
If I have one major complaint about Rayman Legends, it would have to be the controls. The controls can be very demanding on the gamer. The DualShock 4 works well for the title in terms of comfort, but the game demands your attention to detail when trying to work out the controls. Having to jump, fly and then get the distance right across a ridge with spiky vines of death underneath you can be grating on the nerves some days. I know, I know, it sounds like a bullshit complaint by a gamer that clearly needs to get better at gaming, but it was a reoccurring theme of the title. My biggest worry about the controls is that kids are going to get frustrated with them quickly. Then I think about how all kids are smarter than I am and it doesn’t seem like a worry anymore.
Shifting a bit to something positive, if not THE most positive element about the game, let’s talk about the visuals.
My goodness gracious, folks, the graphics in this game are absolutely stunning. Featuring that hand drawn style, something you would find out of a well-made animated film from Disney, it fits the bill perfectly. Of course, that’s always been the style in the Rayman series, but the PS4 does a superb job giving the game some proper details, depth and visual flow. I would have loved to see this one in 3D, but I realize that isn’t an option with the PS4 right now. Imagine it in 3D when you play it, though. It’s certainly the best of the Rayman Legends releases. I’m particularly impressed with the high frame rate the game sports, the beautiful, rich color scheme and the perfectly played animation put together by Ubisoft Montpellier. You will be visually enamored with the title.
What’s even more impressive than the visuals is the soundtrack. Not since Earthworm Jim have I been enthralled with what is playing in the background of the game, through my speakers. Christophe Héral and Billy Martin put together appropriate music to make the gameplay flow. The heavy metal stage is of particular enjoyment, as you get a lovely composition in Rock Band style. You’ll find lots to love with the music, which is very noticeable throughout the title. You can tell that Héral and Martin really lost themselves in the game. It’s a gorgeous set of musical pieces.
Visuals and audio aside, another small complaint I have about the game is in regards to its difficulty.
It’s been a while since I’ve played Rayman and my stint with it reminded me how difficult the game can be. The controls fight you a bit (as previously stated), as well as some of the level designs (but nothing comes easy). For example, there is a level where you have to get through it before vines trap and kill our hero. The catch is that you have to weave in and out of vine paths while avoiding enemies, while collecting Teensies, while avoiding vines and picking up lums. The vines, which are spiked, can completely engulf you at any given moment of the stage if you stumble on your way to the end. I must have died maybe five or six times before finally getting through the stage. The game doesn’t make it easy for you, but it does try to balance that difficulty by giving you limitless lives. Still, there are moments where you just want to quit and come back at a later date. I did this several times, but missed the game so much that I had to press on regardless of the amount of deaths that occurred. It didn’t feel like torture during these moments, but the thought of throwing my DS4 across the room did cross my mind a few times.
So is all this worth your time and money? Well, much like Tomb Raider: The Definitive Edition, if you already owned Rayman Legends previously then you have to decide whether the next generation version of it is worth it. The graphics alone, in my humble opinion, would lead me to a purchase if I didn’t already get it for free. It might help that the price of this version is $39.99 rather than $59.99, which was a snag for most people who were thinking about buying TRDE. The graphics, the feel of the game and everything other element going into it for the PS4 makes it worth your time and money. Again, it’s up to you, though.
