It’s colourful, beautiful, and marks the return of a household favourite gaming character, but how does the game itself stack up? Kotaku reader Ben Latimore jumped into the platformer to find out.
Rayman Origins – PS Vita
Rayman was king of the PlayStation platformer era before it took a break from the limelight. Now he returns on multiple consoles, including the Vita. Is this the brilliant comeback he was looking for or does he remain in the shadows?
Loved
Platforming at its finest: With a very finely tuned control set, well-balanced difficulty and several sets of varied levels with plenty of hidden pickups and collectibles, Rayman Origins is an example of platforming done right at the very core. All levels are fun to play and every new set of levels brings a new challenge. Even the levels where you play on a flying mosquito happen to be great.
Art worthy of the Smithsonian: The 2D artwork is astonishing on other platforms, but cramming it on the small screen of the Vita really shows how pretty the whole game looks from start to finish. Colours are lavish and animation is silky smooth. Environments are diverse and sparkling, and the detail on each sprite is delightful.
Content and secrets galore: Every level has several different types of collectibles find and at the end of every level you get the opportunity to run through a time trial for a trophy of its own. You can come back to a level more than three times to get everything and it somehow never becomes boring.
Amazing soundtrack: Perfectly complementing the cartoon-like artwork is one amazing soundtrack. Each level has its own distinct tune and you’ll find yourself having your own favorite levels just for the music. All the tracks mix in very well with the level they’re played on. The entire second set of levels is based around Australian didgeridoos and it sounds absolutely delightful.
Hated:
Missing co-op: Almost every other platform Rayman Origins has been released on contains some form of 4-player co-op. While everything else remains intact for the Vita port, the co-op has vanished. While there is a ghost mode where you can run against ghosts from your friends and share them over Near, this isn’t a replacement.
Verdict
As long as you don’t mind playing this alone, Rayman Origins is both a brilliant platformer and one of the best games you can pick up for your Vita. An absolute must buy.
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