Each added player cranks up the danger factor, as each player-character can interact with other player-characters. Up to four players can play on the same screen (five on the Wii U using the GamePad). These monstrous additions add just one more appealing part to the most chaotic platformer formula this side of indie.Īnd these levels don’t have to be experienced alone. My favorite themed obstacle is the hand of Zeus, which descends in a Greek myth-based stage to plague the player with a stream of lightning. This is only one example, as each of the six standard areas in the game show-off a plethora of unconventional monsters and platforms that all fit within a single theme. The levels of Rayman Legends are themed, and a large part of the appeal of the stages comes from the commitment the developers display in sticking to those themes.įor instance, the stages inside the “Fiesta de los Muertos” area of the game contain skulls with brains exposed, colorful, top-hat-wearing skeletons (some of which play instruments), a variety of food-based obstacles to traverse, and a giant, masked wrestler. Never has so much work gone into making a creature with four eye-infused hand-tentacles so appealing. Each level offers a unique setting and each is detailed in sharp, gorgeous art. The unrestrained creativity of the developers produced some astounding stages. When I said this game is absurd, I meant that it abandoned all notions of sanity and reason.īut, I suppose, for a game that takes place in something called The Glade of Dreams, abandoning all sanity might not be such a bad thing. And then, in a different level, Murfy will help control laser-shooting drones with spotlights attached to them. In another level, pressing the button compels him to slather the stage with guacamole solid enough to stand on: a sauce that will, at essential points in the map, keep hot lava from falling on the hero’s head. In one level, pressing the Murfy button gives Murfy the go ahead to eat the self-regenerating cake obstructing your path. Murfy follows your character around during certain levels, and he interacts with a lot of objects in the most surprising ways possible. The simple way the controls manipulate the characters keeps the anarchy of the game from becoming too tough to contain. The Murfy button, unsurprisingly used to control the eternally helpful Murfy, informs the fly as to when he should interact with objects. Holding down the attack button unleashes a more powerful attack with extended reach, and tapping the jump button while in mid-air causes a character to strain for a few extra inches before hitting the ground.
There’s a sprint button, an attack button, a jump button, and a Murfy button. As soon as Rayman takes his first step, the game begins, taking players through a quick tutorial level that acquaints them with the simple controls.įour buttons control Rayman and his pals. Murfy awakens Rayman and Globox from a century-long nap to help purge the Nightmares that threaten to overtake the game’s world, The Glade of Dreams. The narrative takes little time to set up the game’s sparse stage.
Rayman Legends deconstructs the platforming formula down to its simplest, most joyful form, and most everyone will enjoy playing it.
Only the certainty of craftsmanship holds the game together, a certainty that provides the keystone upon which the rest of the chaos is built. A flaming eyeball, a hero without any limbs, and a frog-like fly named Murfy all exist in the same level. The game juggles a staggering amount of absurd content.