Rayman: Origins Review: A Solid Platformer

Rayman: Origins Review

Rayman: Origins is a nice platformer title that certainly has some good qualities to it. Unfortunately for me, none of those qualities include my overall enjoyment with playing through each level. However, there are a few levels that are entertaining include a catch up race where you make your way through a level to rescue a Nymph. My favorite level plays like a side scrolling shooter. While this is no challenge compared to those shooters, it was still fun to play through. You fly a “moskito” which can both shoot and inhale objects to shoot back out at enemies.

The levels in Rayman: Origins are fairly nice and well designed, yet I didn’t have many moments where I was thrilled with them. There are certainly decent obstacles to get through, and if you aren’t too careful you’ll fall into the trap and have to start the level over again from the last checkpoint. Still, there was nothing that said “That was a fun level!” The design of each level with the art and style is fantastic and oh so smooth looking. The visuals throughout the game are one of it’s best features. Also, as you play through the game you can unlock additional characters of which you can swap for and play with at any time.

As you play through each level one of your goals is to collect lums which accumulate into electoons. Each level has 5 electoons for you to collect. You’ll collect 3 in each level by finding 2 hidden electoons and then completing the level. The other 2 electoons you can earn are in accordance to how many lums you collect. At the end of each level it will tally up your lums and if you meet both goals, which is usually 150 lums and 300 lums, then you will collect 1 electoon per goal met. Once again you will want to collect as many lums as possible, because the more electoons you have the better for being able to continue on late in the game. You won’t be able to play certain levels without having a certain amount of electoons and that will certainly add to the challenge.

There are some moments in the game play and with the controls that you will need to get used to. A few times I’ve found myself messing up my jumps and my use of speed. Even once I got use to the controls I seemed to find myself having an issue with climbing at the right speed and doing things just right. It’s not too bad though as it makes you really need to focus on what your obstacle is compared to just simply making your way through. The game does provide you with a pretty decent challenge when it comes to trying to collect all the lums. You can easily run through most levels with no issues at all, but if you don’t try to gather as many lums as possible than you will be out of luck later on.

When it comes to my overall enjoyment with Rayman: Origins, there was plenty I liked about it, but it also struggled to keep my attention. The only time it caused me to jump out of my seat and get into it was when I was able to fly the moskito and play it like a side scrolling shooter. I just couldn’t get into it and enjoy it overall though. I did better when I played a couple levels and then took a break.

Score: 3.5/5