Rayman Origins

Genre: Platformer

Players: 1, StreetPass Support

Game Company Bad Behavior Profile Page: UbiSoft

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Review:

Rayman Origins is a Platformer released in 2011 on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii, and ported to the PC, PlayStation Vita, and Nintendo 3DS in 2012. This is the fourth mainline entry in the Rayman series, releasing after a eight-year hiatus in the wake of Rayman 3 and bringing the series back to its 2D roots.

The Nintendo 3DS version of Rayman Origins still has the wonderful visual style of the console versions of the game, but much of the detail has been lost here – in the transition to the handheld, the visuals are more blurry and indistinct, and while the 2D world of the game is still filled with lots of color, personality, and creative character designs, the reduced visual fidelity definitely waters down the effect somewhat. At the very least, the game’s audio is still fantastic, with an excellent soundtrack that truly sounds distinct, making heavy use of unusual instruments like the Jew’s harp.

Another area where this game has been scaled back somewhat is in its features – namely, the co-op multiplayer of the console games has been stripped out of this version entirely, replaced with a laughably flimsy StreetPass feature to share progress with other players. And while I’m making complaints, I will add that the Nintendo 3DS version has a frustrating abundance of loading screens to contend with too.

Still, despite all these flaws, the core Platforming gameplay in Rayman Origins is still excellent, with a fluid feel to it that makes it a lot of fun to run and jump through the game’s environments. The game has a somewhat “loose” feel to it that works well with its art style, and a fast pacing that makes playing through the game’s levels go by like a breeze.

However, the big question is, is it still worth playing this version of the game with all the cutbacks and compromises. Make no mistake, Rayman Origins is still an excellent Platformer on Nintendo 3DS, but I feel like the only reason to play it at this point is if you absolutely want to play a Rayman game on your Nintendo 3DS. Every other version of the game is better than the Nintendo 3DS version, and players wanting a great Rayman game on the go can get Rayman Legends on the Nintendo Switch, which includes many of this game’s levels in its unlockable content. As a result, despite that it’s still a solid game, I can’t give it a very high recommendation.

tl;dr – Rayman Origins is a platformer that unfortunately sacrifices both features and visual quality to fit on the Nintendo 3DS, and the result is a Platformer that’s still a lot of fun, but is unquestionably the worst version of the game. You’re better off getting any other version of this game, or simply getting Rayman Legends on Nintendo Switch.

Grade: B-

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