Rayman Origins

Yet Rayman Origins is quite possibly the best 2D platformer on Nintendo's current hardware. The reason for which is simple: it blends old-school jump 'em up sensibilities with modern game design. You play as Rayman or one of his friends, with up to three chums in couch co-op, traversing the Glade in a quest to rescue the Lums - the game's equivalent of Mario's coins - and shocking pink Electoons trapped in cages. On the way you'll leap bottomless pits, dive through the darkest depths, out run a mutated piranha plant and otherwise navigate the “main game”'s ten hours or so of content.

I say "main game", because defeating the final boss is by no means the end; there are more Electoons to free, more characters to unlock and a whole new area to see after the credits roll. Even without these additions, ten hours of immaculately designed platforming is stunning value, not a moment of which feels like padding for the sake of length.

And it is immaculate. Super Meat Boy immaculate. It's possible to flow - not run, that would be gauche - through most of the five or six minute long areas in just under ninety seconds if you connect each bounce, swing and wall jump perfectly. To do so your avatar will graze past impeding objects, land pixel perfect on distant ledges, using each ability to exploit previously unseen shortcuts.

 

So confident is this design that you begin to see Michel Ancel and the comparatively small development team behind Origins showing off. Enemies arranged in such a way that punching the right one will begin a chain to take out the rest, and a ten second dance mini-game that players will instantly understand without being prompted, are just two minor elements in which the skill of the developer shines through.

Ancel's greatest single victory, though, is conceptual. By going back to the core values of the original Rayman - its visual quality, attempt at difficulty and the vivid world it created - and then gutting its archaic lives system and unfair deaths, replacing it with a feeling of spry momentum and true challenge, Michel has created an experience that ‘retro’ gamers will adore and younger players won't find abrasive. Our limbless Frenchman handles beautifully without exception; there is never a moment in which you're not in complete control.

 

Precision is everything and if you screw up a wall jump, it's you who screwed up the wall jump. It's a blessing in the title's chase sequences, undoubtedly the most difficult and rewarding levels, as you run after a treasure box past a constantly evolving landscape, often as it falls apart around you. The title can be played with the Wii Remote held sideways, with a Nunchuk, or a Classic Controller. Each is a legitimate choice for the player; none incorporate any perfunctory waggle elements.

The reverence for the traditional is one of just two blemishes on an otherwise superb product, though. It doesn't try to revolutionise any aspect of the genre and it would be difficult to argue that anything truly new is present here - Rayman Origins goes about perfecting existing mechanics, with the odd twist for luck. There's the lingering thought that the team could have gone that little further and shown us something wholly fresh, such is the fine job on what they did produce. Issue two is a lack of online multiplayer, especially for a title that can be played through in its entirety with friends. Its absence is bewildering.

 

Having played versions on other systems I was initially worried that Origins on Nintendo's older hardware would lose some of the impact of the high definition editions on offer. It's expectedly less crisp but the design is no less boldly imaginative on Wii, the animation no less smooth, and the world is alive, vibrant and dynamic.

Equally, the sound comes through just as clear with this release and is perhaps more important for the tech to rise to the challenge of. Music has a sweet and energy filled tone, reminiscent of the better LocoRoco tracks. There are numbers with high pitched vocals and listlessly dreamy melodies, as well as world music flavoured, percussion heavy beats. They're each tailored, not just to levels, but to sections within those levels, melting into one another to reflect the changing environments and themes. Each action you perform is melodic too; just choosing an option in the main menu yields possibilities for fun with sound, the game's aural elements encapsulating the overall strive for raw fun over any other aspect.