Rayman Legends (Video Game) - Review

2D platforming is such a simple genre and one so full of games, that I sometimes worry we'll eventually reach a time when the genre as a whole grows stale. After each time I play one, I get more and more concerned that developers will just run out of ideas. Rayman Legends is the kind of game that restores my faith, but with some strings attached. Rayman Legends is a great game rife  with clever design and superb aesthetics, even though it left me without a proper sense of satisfaction after the credits rolled.

Rayman Legends is a joy to play. The controls and physics are very solid, meaning that the inputs are merely an expression of your skill. There are some hairs to split, like wall-running getting a bit disorienting in terms of which direction to move the stick/d-pad, but overall, again, very solid overall. The level design is truly remarkable. Most levels are designed to be ran through quickly in a sort of rhythm. This makes things exciting and fast-paced, even though technically only some levels actually force you to maneuver quickly. Throughout the duration of the game's main five worlds, original concepts are sprinkled into the bowl. The best example is the stealth portion that is mixed with swimming, which offers a pretty unique experience. It's also the little things that really stick out, like the cleverly-placed hidden collectibles. 

Rayman Origins got the attention it did thanks in large part to its gorgeous visuals, and the ante has only been upped in Legends. This game is beautiful, with intricate and fun animation and bucket loads of color. The music is also quite good here, offering enjoyable tunes that both enhance the feeling of playing and are good in their own right. The aesthetics are remarkable.

Each world ends with a boss and then a music level as a bit of a reward, essentially. The bosses are polygon-based 3D, which is a cool way to contrast them off of the rest of the graphics. Taking down the bosses is good, patterned-based fun, even though none of them are particularly anything to write home about. The music levels are definitely cool, offering a really entertaining mixture of level design and music to enjoy, but they are somewhat lazily put-together. Gameplay footage makes it seem like these are interactive-rhythm segments, but they're actually a fake version of that, as your interaction doesn't create the music, it just goes along with static music in the background. A string of lums (coins) is set to a series of guitar strings, for example, but if you don't collect the lums, the guitar strums still happen. I did enjoy these, even though they don't involve the player in a way that makes game like the Bit.Trip series so neat.

The big disappointment here, though, is just that the main game ends abruptly, leaving me still wanting. The story is a load of nonsense, which means that there is no added sense of satisfaction at the conclusion because there's basically nothing here. Narratives in games like this don't need to be anything more complex than a hero saving a princess from a monster, but something should be here to give a sense of purpose and conclusiveness to the adventure. It would probably seem silly if that was the thrust of my explanation of my biggest problem with the game, but that is just secondary. The short feeling of the main game adds much more to this abruptness. These five standard-length worlds don't feel like enough. I wanted more.

That's not to say that there isn't a lot of content here, because there is. Legends does a brilliant job of constantly holding a carrot in front of your face, giving you new challenges like short time trials (as well as daily ones that are ranked online!), and new rewards like character skins. It's quite addictive! There's nearly an equal amount of remade Origins levels here, which are still incredibly fun despite feeling jarring and useless, considering this game is lacking on new levels and since Origins was so recent. 

I get the sense that Rayman Legends could have so easily been an incredible or even masterful game, when it's really just a great one. So you could fairly say that I'm disappointed. But really, I love this game. It is an absolute blast and very smartly designed. Its aesthetics are wonderful. It's great.

***

~  Reviewed on Playstation 3, single-player ~

Top Five Favorite Video Games of 2012

2012 was not an exceedingly exciting gaming year for me. Despite the birth of two brand new platforms, both of which I got in on, my interests veered more towards things like comics and film. I enjoyed enough games to fill a top ten list, but really, there were around five to seven games that really stood out to me. So I decided to do a nice, round 5 games. I love these games, and they left a real impact on me.

I'm pleased to present my top five favorite games of 2012.

5. New Super Mario Bros. U - (played on Wii U)

Christmas day - and the rest of my Christmas break for that matter - was Wii U week for me. The game that really captured my attention, and that really got me excited for Nintendo's new console, was New Super Mario Bros. U. Easily the best of the New Super games, NSMBU fills eight worlds with energetic and interesting level designs that look better than ever, thanks to Nintendo embracing high definition visuals. The new squirrel suit and the pink baby Yoshi are two of the coolest power-ups in any of the 2D Mario games, both giving the player a joyous sense of flight. The Miiverse integration smartly gives the experience a social flair, even when playing alone, and the option to play exclusively on the Gamepad is convenient. Nintendo still knows what it's doing. 

4. Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational - (played on PS Vita)
Yeah, I got on board with the Vita as well. Game releases sure are slow for the system at the moment, but that's partly due to its crazy launch day, filled with tons of big first-party titles. The first game I bought to go along with my Vita was Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational. Not Uncharted, not Wipeout, not Lumines, no - I went with the quirky, arcade-style gold game. It was great fun! The graphics are gorgeous, and do a great job of showing off the Vita's impressive display. The course design and character customization are great, as I've come to expect from this series. Golf games bore some people, but for me, there's not many things more exciting than an impressive shot across the map that lands right in the hole.

3. The Walking Dead - (played on iOS)
When Telltale's The Walking Dead set the gaming community on fire, with glowing reviews, game of the year nominations, and personal stories of tears, I was quite surprised. It seemed to me like it would be a "pretty good" series that got less and less relevant as it went on, but boy, was I wrong. The first season of The Walking Dead, which lasted five episodes, is a memorable emotional roller coaster. I was pleased to find that Telltale veered away from confusing puzzles and instead focused on storytelling, and I was even more pleased to find just how good the story it has to tell is. The game is incredibly tense all the way to its depressing conclusion, and it manages to give the player a tangible sense of moral responsibility for his actions. The game is also easy on the eyes, with a distinct comic-book-inspired look. It is a fulfilling experience that I am glad to have had.

2. Playstation All-Stars: Battle Royale - (played on PS3 and Playstation Vita)
Playstation All-Stars: Battle Royale gave me a feeling that I haven't had in around seven years - The feeling of playing Super Smash Bros. for the first time. Which is not to say that PS All-Stars isn't unique, because, as IGN's Colin Moriarty said in his review, "the two games are as different as Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat." Its focus on Super Attacks is what sets it apart from Super Smash Bros., giving the game a much more strategic feel. The game's inclusion of solid online play and the option to play on the go [with the Vita version, which comes free with a purchase of the PS3 version] made the game incredibly addictive for me, and it's important to note that its inspiration can't boast those features.

1. Lollipop Chainsaw - (played on Xbox 360)
I'm not nearly as loyal and passionate as many other fans of Grasshopper Manufacture and Suda 51, but Lollipop Chainsaw blew my mind. I love practically everything about this game, from its goofy, stupid and sexy sense of style to its thrilling gameplay, rife with old-school sensibility. The developers clearly chose not to censor themselves much, filling the game to the brim with sex, violence and overall crudeness. All of that, mind you, juxtaposes with rainbows, cheerleading and light-hearted 80s pop music. The game especially shines in its aesthetics, but the solid score-based beat-em-up action does not get buried in the barrage of sensory gold. I almost immediately jumped in for a second playthrough after my first, which is something I never do. This game is easily my favorite of 2012.

***

What were your favorites? How awful is my taste in games? There's a comments section below, bro.