QCF: Rayman Legends

acky colors, unintentionally subliminal adulterated themes, offbeat animation, and ridiculous character design; these are the hallmarks of the French cartoon culture. French cartoon have this unique approach with seizing certain demographics or markets to give way to license that would capitalize best in that field. The older demographic has Tintin, the younger crowd has Marsupilami, and gamers have Rayman.

Ubisoft enjoyed somewhat of a renaissance of sorts with Rayman after releasing the revamped throwback Origins back in 2011, but perceiving an ideal sequel seemed a bit ham-fisted when Origins is lauded for being charmingly simple, how do you improve on something like that? Make it a Wii U exclusive and use the shit out of that newfangled gamepad, that’s how! Though the wind shuttered out slightly from beneath Nintendo’s sails when Ubisoft decided to lift the exclusivity of the title and delay it, leaving curiosity to clamor over just how unique or definitive the Wii U version would be.

Dunking several hours into the wild platformer, the latest title to feature the floating torso with hands and feet is has set the standard on being both the model example of an improved sequel, and a must-own for the Wii U library.

One of the more novel-now not so novel features introduced to the 2D side-scroller jump-till-you-die genre revival that’s taken this generation by storm is the addition of cooperative play. The frenetic two to four player mayhem returns and benefits from the sharper design of Legends’ stages over Origins but this is simply gravy to the meat and potatoes of Rayman Legends multiplayer, and Ubisoft has served us some fine Rib eye, Legends genuinely makes you care about it again.

Aside from the main assortment of stages, you’ve got your Murphy stages, weekly challenge stages, and completive party game stages that present a variety of ways to invite your buddies. Not to say that there’s anything wrong with the traditional campaign route but the concept of staking the best you’ve got in a game of Kung Fu Foot or an endurance race of the inevitable with a friend to accompany you makes all the difference. The thrill of testing your mettle against your pals in a contest of skill instead of combat is just subtly compelling in its own right in a way that the campaign levels just can’t stand up to.

The challenge levels have a “all it takes is one” sort of flair as the practice of checking daily and weekly challenges quickly becomes second nature. The moment that you jump through that Challenge painting, there’s a thrill from checking out the latest time to beat or distance to cross as you scan the latest gauntlet of stages, with the trial ghosts and providing the incentive to excell faster and harder than the last. Although the stages aren’t wildly different from the previous stages that come and go from the previous daily/weekly stages before it, the design and velocity in their scolling and structure keeps the action fresh. Honestly, the brilliance behind the simplicity in this addictive feature is that Ubisoft could recycle stages months down the line and you’d be hard pressed to notice just because of the way they’re carried out. Be it time trial or endurance, they’re all built to enforce a pacing that uses ingeniously quick bursts of fast pace and tricky jumps through obstacles that juxtapose the various themes and aesthetics of all the stages found within Rayman Legends.

Now the Murphy stages are a bit of a tricky beast because while the concepts and execution are enjoyable for the most part, the delightful whimsy of shotgunning through them gets cut short into inconsistent strides from the sudden onset of sharp difficulty curves early on the adventure. The Murphy levels consist of winged Rayman hero clearing away obstacles that impede the main player. Single player has this Lemmings-like novelty with you piloting Murphy in order to direct the constantly mobile Globox with his fate resting all in the penmanship of the stylus. Murphy cuts ropes, moves platform, tickle enemies, you name it, you can do it all while dictating where Globox goes next. While his AI isn’t perfect, it’s passable, however if you’re going for the lum gold which requires about 600 of the shiny little dudes, then don’t even bother with the later stages without a buddy to pilot the gamepad.

Without any exaggeration attached to the claim, Rayman Legends’ presentation is unlike any other of its kind currently available on the video game market. The vibrancy within Rayman’s color schemes in junction with the pastel and color use a combination of Aquatint techniques and Acrylic-like coats that work to evolve it beyond that bold sequential art-like comic book aesthetic and in the process, makes the entire game look so alive. The different types of worlds are some of most unique than any of the prior games in the franchise, giving the world of our dismembered star this whole new look that portrays it in a surprisingly gratifying perspective. From influences of Día de Los Muertos to a medieval castle filled with dragons and spooks, the principles of that surreal tour de force mentality comes out swinging in Rayman Legends, just with this new sense of maturity in the presentation and design.

The music has same kind of tone in its composition with one of the most disorganized list of tracks compiled, it ranges from contemporary to Frottola to speedy riffs of effervescent beats that do well to match up with the setting of the stage they take place. The music stages are a bonus too, as the rhythm of the track instinctively parallels with the movement of jumping and running that gives these kinds of stages that rock-opera sort of flair and easily stand out as some of the best that Legends has to offer.

Rayman Origins was unique for its simple emphasis on mechanics through subtly complex stages in a beautiful package, and Legends expands on this concept in the best ways; improving on the multiplayer mechanic in ways that trump single play in a genre that’s predominant for solo entertainment and yet doesn’t take away from it. Legends didn’t bring the kid gloves this time around though, so just look out for the stupid hike in challenge somewhere along the way, and if you can hang then you won’t regret it.