When you’re part of a flooded industry, it can be hard stay above water, especially
for those of us without arms.
From time to time, you get these enormous waves that knock everything else below the
surface.
The Modern Warfares, the Skyrims, the Zeldas, the Marios...it’s like a popularity tsunami
that crushes everything in its wake.
Obviously, most gamers are understandably preoccupied at the moment, but as our metaphorical
ocean rages thanks to vicious winds and Q4 marketing budgets, there’s another gem out
there in open water...overlooked, for sure, but just as spectacular as the games overshadowing
it.
Take my advice.
Drop anchor alongside Rayman Origins.
It’s one of the year’s best games no one is talking about.
Rayman Origins is a very special game.
In fact, this is the kind of game that comes around once a generation.
For topical context, this is a platformer like Mario, only it’s more charming.
It has a fantastic art style like Zelda, but it’s even more stunning.
It’s been as critically acclaimed as Modern Warfare 3, but personally, I’ve never had
as much fun playing Army men as I have playing Rayman Origins.
This isn’t just a great video game and the return of a character who had been on life
support, but it’s a celebration of the very spirit of gaming...a spirit so often forgotten
in the industry’s self-defeating aversion to the concept of color.
And Rayman Origins is, in many ways, colorful.
This is a 2D platformer that brings Ubisoft’s limbless wonder back to his roots, throwing
players into a wacky world with strange creatures, surreal landscapes and a playful exuberance
that would fit into a Clampett or Kricfalusi cartoon as well as a video game.
Eyes bug out of sockets, enemies explode like over-inflated whoopee cushions.
And Rayman reminds us why we loved video games in the first place.
Origins does a lot of things incredibly well, but its art design is tops on the list.
This is one of the most beautiful games of its generation, summoning the organic and
elastic spirit of 1930s and 1940s animation and throwing in very contemporary, almost
comic book character design.
It’s an interesting style that not only looks beautiful, but also follows that classic—and
sadly, forgotten—rule of animation.
The drawings should actually be funny.
But the game’s humor is derived from more than just its characters.
The levels, the objectives, even the gameplay itself...there’s an underlying sense of
humor here that defines Rayman Origins as much as its art style.
This game really tries to make sure you’re always having fun, above all else, and that
focus never fails.
In a functional sense, the approach to game design here is very old-school.
You’re running, you’re jumping and you’re learning new abilities as you progress.
There are moments that bring to mind a certain fat plumber, there are moments that make you
wonder if the Ubisoft team added a little blast processing...Rayman uses a familiar
blueprint, but it uses that to build a unique platforming experience all its own.
For some reason, games like this are often greeted with the condescending, “This should’ve
been a downloadable game.”
Fortunately, Rayman Origins throws enough content at the naysayers to prove the argument
futile.
This is a massive experience, well worth paying a retail price for.
It’s colorful and bold.
It’s fun and joyful.
It’s familiar yet exciting.
Rayman Origins is everything a video game should be, and in a sea of blockbuster releases,
it’s one of the best of the year.