Rayman Legends can be aptly described by each of those three f-words in the subtitle. From the first story level to collecting creatures that lay lums (Rayman money) like eggs,
Legends was a blast. In the days where first person shooters and gun violence dominate the video game scene, having a light-hearted yet fast paced side scroller was a definite breath of fresh air.
Setting the Scene
Legends isn't exactly a complicated narrative: Rayman and his pals were sleeping for 100 years (what?) leaving the Bubble Dreamer to grow powerful again and capture all of the Teensies and Princesses of the land. So basically, the bad guys took all of the people, and you have to go rescue them. Got it? Great.
In addition to the main story worlds, you unlock throwback missions from
Rayman Origins called 'Back to Origins', and online challenges that can also net you some cool prizes if you do them well. If you collect enough lums in a level, you unlock a scratch off ticket that either unlocks a little creature (catch 'em all!), another 'Back to Origins' level, or more lums. At certain Lum milestones, a new character painting will unlock for your use. Pretty simple and straight forward, there's a clear path to 100% if you're someone who enjoys beating a game to true completion.
Speaking of those F-words...
Still remember the subtitle? We've covered fun, but two areas where
Legends really shines is in its flamboyantly colorful art and funky fresh music direction. Each world has its own theme, making no one area look the same. This really gives Rayman a certain freshness to it, even though the objectives of each level don't change that much, each world will provide a new and unique way of completing them. I especially loved the Mariachi world, where you were sprinting through pouring fire while leaping over guacamole bridges. Even the darkest worlds are very vibrant, each glimmering with that cartoony Rayman style that we've come to know.
The music is easily my favorite part of
Legends. Even just sitting on the main world menu, you are treated to a pleasant ukelele tune with someone whistling lightly in the background. Going along with themes on each world, the music matches to suit. In that Mariachi world, you were exposed to classical guitar strums and light, fast drums.
As a bonus level at the end of each world, you unlock a musical level; your jumps and hits are timed perfectly with the music, which are recognizable tunes in the genre of the level's theme. For context, the first music level is a rock-fueled romp through a castle with every enemy you defeated in the world singing "Black Betty". These bonus levels were easily the best of the game, marrying the stellar music and art direction with gameplay.
But how does she handle?
We may have a beautiful game on our hands, but there is no mold-breaking happening when it comes to the gameplay or execution.
Legends is an excellent platformer that handles really smoothly considering how quickly you need to press multiple buttons at once. At busier points of the levels with your magical green frog buddy that can seemingly do anything, you have to be sprinting, jumping, and hitting the frogs action button all within fractions of a second of one another. If you get it right, it's very satisfying. If you don't, you're starting over from the last check point. But there's no fun without challenge, right?
There can be some redundancy to the levels, especially when you get to the cutscenes with the evil Teensies that you are trying to defeat. There's always a sequence at some point where you chase down the bad guy fleeing on his hovercraft. You are essentially doing the same thing on every level: collecting captured Teensies and collecting as many Lums as you can. Luckily this is remedied a bit by very responsive controls and how differently each level is designed, but I started to lose a little steam when I was jumping from level to level right away.
This game is meant to be played fast: you die and have to observe where you went wrong in order to fix it and move past the obstacle. Lots of jumps string into one another, allowing the player to go stretches of the map without even stopping. And of course, there's always a Teensie or string of Lums to miss, so it keeps the player on their toes trying to match that combination of speed and finesse.
Final Thoughts
After the day with the game, I have three of the six main worlds clear, with a hand full of other levels and challenges completed. If I had kids, this would be a no-brainer for a buy that I could also enjoy on my own. But for now, I can see this as another rental so I can just finish out the levels.
Rayman Legends was an extremely enjoyable platforming game that I most definitely want to pick up again. However, I don't want to finish it because I am particularly compelled by the gameplay or the story. I want to see, hear, and experience every level that Ubisoft has crafted.
Play if you like: Fast paced platformers, art direction and music, completionists
Verdict: Rent Again
