Video Game Vintage Title: Rayman Origins

Rayman Origins

Rayman Origins is a platform game developed by Ubisoft Montpellier and published by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo 3DS and Microsoft Windows. The game was released on 15 November 2011 in North America, 24 November 2011 in Australia and 25 November 2011 in Europe for PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360. It was released later for PlayStation Vita, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo 3DS. The OS X version of the game was released on 12 December 2013 by Feral Interactive.

The story follows Rayman, his friend Globox and two teensies as they fight Darktoons and other evil creatures that have infected the Glade of Dreams.

A mobile game based on Origins, titled Rayman Jungle Run, was developed by Pastagames and released for iOS and Android on 20 September 2012, and for Windows Phone 8 on 29 May 2013. A sequel, Rayman Legends, was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Wii U and Xbox 360 on 29 August 2013 in Australia, 30 August 2013 in Europe and 3 September 2013 in North America.

Rayman Origins Plot

Bubble Dreamer, Rayman, his best friend Globox, and some Teensy friends are chilling out at the Bubble Dreamer's resting grounds, the Snoring Tree. However, their snoring disturbs an old granny from the Land of the Livid Dead, who retaliates by sending an evil army of horrendous creatures and the Darktoons across the world, capturing the Electoons that inhabit the world, imprisoning Betilla the Nymph and her sisters, and plunging the Glade into chaos. As a result, the ensuing disaster causes the Bubble Dreamer to go crazy and have nightmares. Although they are captured, Rayman and his friends are able to escape the Darktoons. They are then tasked by the Magician to gather enough Electoons to cure the Bubble Dreamer and restore the Glade of Dreams. Their efforts to locate the Electoons allow them to gain access to the various lands of the Glade, rescuing the Nymphs along the way.

Eventually, they make their way to a mysterious gate, which can only be opened by rescuing the Glade Kings, who have been turned into monsters as a result of Bubble Dreamer's nightmares. Upon freeing the Glade Kings, the Nymphs are able to open the stargate, granting Rayman access to a hideout in the land of Moody Clouds. There, they discover that their supposed friend, the Magician, is the one responsible for the Moody Clouds. He secretly admires Mr Dark, the villain of the original Rayman, and has been using the Lums given to him by the heroes to power his diabolical machines. The heroes chase after the Magician and fight against him in his escape airship, sending it crashing into the power source of his hideout. The resulting chain of events causes the hideout to explode, while Rayman and friends free-fall back to the Snoring Tree, where they proceed to resume their relaxation.

If players manage to collect the ten ruby teeth throughout the game, they can gain access to the Land of the Livid Dead, where another monster, a Nymph accidentally transformed by Bubble Dreamer's nightmares, awaits.

Rayman Origins Gameplay

Rayman Origins is a side-scrolling platformer, the same style as the original Rayman game. Rayman Origins is playable with up to four local players who may drop in or out at any time. Players can choose to control either Rayman, Globox or two Teensies, with additional costumes available as the game progresses.

Players travel through each level, fighting enemies and rescuing imprisoned Electoons. As the game progresses, players gain new abilities such as running up walls, gliding in midair, swimming and shrinking in size to reach new areas. Certain segments also sees players riding a mosquito, where players can shoot enemies or suck them up and fire them. If a character is hit by an enemy or obstacle, he will inflate into a ballooned state until another player can bring him back into the game by slapping him, similar to New Super Mario Bros. Wii, although players can collect hearts that will protect them from one hit. However, if all players are inflated simultaneously, or if a character is hit during single play, play returns to the last checkpoint. Throughout each level, players can collect gold-coloured Lums, and when a character collects a Lum King it temporarily doubles the smaller Lums value. There are also Skull Coins placed in hidden or dangerous areas that are worth 25 Lums each should they be successfully collected.

In order to progress through certain parts of the story, players need to free Electoons. The most common way to get Electoons is to free them from cages; there is one at the end of each level, with more to be found in hidden areas. More Electoons can be earned by collecting a certain amount of Lums within a level and clearing Time Trials that are unlocked after clearing a level once. Scoring high marks in either of these challenges can also earn medals and trophies. Players can also unlock special 'treasure chest' levels, in which they must chase a runaway treasure chest across a dangerous course in order to receive a skull tooth. Completing all of the teeth grants access to the incredibly challenging Land of the Livid Dead.

Reception
Rayman Origins received widespread critical acclaim. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Wii version 91.27% and 92/100, the PlayStation Vita version 89.85% and 88/100, the Xbox 360 version 88.81% and 87/100 the PlayStation 3 version 88.07% and 87/100, the PC version 86.60% and 86/100 and the Nintendo 3DS version 70.83% and 71/100.

1UP.com gave the game an A- Rank, praising its varied level design, saying "Origins' brilliance is it keeps that simplicity on the surface, but ends up feeling incredibly varied thanks to its level design", and calling it "the best 2D platformer not called Mario."

Eurogamer rated the game 8/10, calling it "a delightful, playful, and occasionally exhilarating platformer" while opining that the level design was inferior to the Mario series in that "the same ideas are repeated too often." GameTrailers gave the game a score of 8.5/10.

IGN gave it a 9.5/10, saying that "Rayman Origins is the best looking platformer this generation and also the most fun. A truly realized vision at the top of its genre, Rayman Origins is an extravaganza with plenty of action to keep it fresh from start to finish and beyond,"

Joystiq gave the game 5 stars out of 5, saying it "embodies the kind of creativity and craftsmanship that have been largely missing in 2D platfomers since their heyday in the 16-bit era."

NintendoLife awarded it a 10/10 and called it "The very pinnacle of 2D platforming and undoubtedly one of the Wii�s very best games". Nintendo Power gave the game a score of 9.5/10, calling it 'a platforming masterpiece.'