Rayman Origins

Rayman Origins
Developer(s)	Ubisoft Montpellier Ubisoft Paris Ubisoft Casablanca Feral Interactive (Mac OS X)[1]
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft Feral Interactive (Mac OS X)
Director(s)	Michel Ancel Sébastien Morin
Producer(s)	Pierre-Arnaud Lambert
Designer(s)	Lorenzo Avi Juilen Chevallier Romain Claude Axel Cossardeaux
Programmer(s)	Philippe Vimont Yousri Salas
Artist(s)	Celine Tellier
Writer(s)	Gabrielle Shrager
Composer(s)	Christophe Héral Billy Martin
Series	Rayman
Engine	UbiArt Framework
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 3DS, OS X
Release date(s)	15 November 2011 PlayStation 3, Wii & Xbox 360 NA 15 November 2011 AUS 24 November 2011 EU 25 November 2011 JP 12 April 2012 (PS3 only) PlayStation Vita NA 15 February 2012 EU 22 February 2012 AUS 23 February 2012 JP 12 April 2012 Microsoft Windows NA 29 March 2012[2] AUS 29 March 2012 EU 30 March 2012 Nintendo 3DS EU 8 June 2012 AUS 14 June 2012 JP 19 July 2012 NA 6 November 2012[3] OS X December 12, 2013
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Rayman Origins is a platform video game developed by Ubisoft Montpellier and published by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo 3DS and Microsoft Windows.^[4] It is the fourth main installment in the Rayman series, and the first main installment since 2003's Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc. 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.^[1] 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.

Rayman Origins has received critical acclaim, being highly praised for its graphical style, level design, and sense of humor. Despite its critical reception, it did not perform very well commercially during its original release in November 2011. A mobile game based on Origins, titled Rayman Jungle Run, was developed by Pastagames and released for iOS, Android, 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 to similar critical acclaim.

Plot

Rayman and Betilla

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,^[5] 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 feè de la morte the nymph accidentally transformed by Bubble Dreamer's nightmares, awaits.

Gameplay

Rayman Origins co-operative 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.^[6]

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.^[4][7] 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.^[8] Completing all of the teeth grants access to the incredibly challenging Land of the Livid Dead.^[9]

Development

The game was officially announced at the end of Ubisoft's E3 2010 press conference as a downloadable episodic title^[10] for PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade with release on PC, Nintendo 3DS, iPad, and iPhone "to be considered".^[11] The first episode was originally to be released by the end of 2010, but was delayed until 2011.^[12][13] Following a dearth of information in the new year, the project was confirmed as alive in April 2011.^[14] In May 2011, it was announced the title has been expanded to a full-retail title, with a tentative release of Q4 2011.^[15]

The game is the first title to use UbiArt Framework, an in-house graphics engine which allows artists to easily create content and then use it in an interactive environment. The artists only have to pose the model and edit the silhouette, as the software takes care of image distortion automatically. The main aim of this engine is to allow artists and designers focus on the art itself, without having to worry about technical aspects of game development.^[6] According to Yves Guillemot, only five people were working on the game when it was first announced.^[16] Ubisoft obtained a French government grant, dedicated to supporting the arts, for developing UbiArt tools.^[6] The engine is optimized for HD resolutions, allowing games to run in full 1080p HD at 60 frames per second.^[17] The engine was further developed for Rayman Legends to include dynamic lighting and integration of 3D models.^[18]

Reception

Critical response

Reception

Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings (Wii) 91.27%[19] (Vita) 89.85%[20] (X360) 88.81%[21] (PS3) 88.07%[22] (PC) 86.60%[23] (3DS) 70.83%[24] Metacritic (Wii) 92/100[25] (Vita) 88/100[26] (X360) 87/100[27] (PS3) 87/100[28] (PC) 86/100[29] (3DS) 71/100[30] Review scores Publication Score 1UP.com A-[31] Eurogamer 8/10[32] GameTrailers 8.5/10[33] IGN 9.5/10[34] Joystiq [35] Nintendo Life [36] Nintendo Power 9.5/10[37]

Rayman Origins received widespread critical acclaim. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Wii version 91.27% and 92/100,^[19][25] the PlayStation Vita version 89.85% and 88/100,^[20][26] the Xbox 360 version 88.81% and 87/100^[21][27] the PlayStation 3 version 88.07% and 87/100,^[22][28] the PC version 86.60% and 86/100^[23][29] and the Nintendo 3DS version 70.83% and 71/100.^[24][30]

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."^[31]

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."^[32] GameTrailers gave the game a score of 8.5/10.^[33]

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,"^[34]

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."^[35]

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".^[36] Nintendo Power gave the game a score of 9.5/10, calling it 'a platforming masterpiece.'^[37]

Awards

GameSpot named Rayman Origins "Best Platformer of 2011".^[38] IGN nominated Rayman Origins for "Game Of The Year".^[39] Giant Bomb named Rayman Origins the tenth best game of 2011.^[40]

Sales

Despite the game's positive reviews, it didn't live up to its sales department having only sold 50,000 copies in its first month.^[41] However, Ubisoft revealed that the game has been profitable.^[42][43]

Legacy

Sequel

A sequel to Origins, titled Rayman Legends, was originally being developed exclusively for the Wii U and was planned for a release in Q1 2013. The game follows on from the gameplay of Origins whilst adding new asymmetric gameplay elements via the Wii U GamePad, as well as new characters and an improved graphics engine. The sequel was first hinted at via a marketing survey in April 2012.^[44] A leaked teaser video on YouTube confirmed the existence of the sequel, entitled Rayman Legends.^[45] It was later announced that the sequel's release was being delayed until September 2013 and would also be released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.^[46] The game was also revealed to be released on PlayStation Vita and Microsoft Windows via Steam.^[47][48]

Rayman Jungle Run

A mobile platformer developed by Pastagames based on the style of Origins, titled Rayman Jungle Run, was released on 20 September 2012 for iOS and on 27 September 2012 for Android devices.^[49] The Android version was developed by DotEmu. Retaining the look of Origins, Jungle Run sees Rayman automatically running through 63 levels (plus 7 Land of the Livid Dead levels) with players tasked to jump and punch through obstacles and collect as many lums as possible in each stage. Collecting all 100 lums in each stage earns a skull tooth which go towards unlocking the Land of the Livid Dead level for each world.^[50] IGN gave the game a score of 8.8, calling it "a brilliant solution to one-touch platforming."^[51] iTunes named it the iPhone game of the year.^[52] A version for Windows 8, Windows RT and Windows Phone was released on 7 March 2013.^[53] A sequel, Rayman Fiesta Run, was released on November 7, 2013, featuring additional gameplay features carried over from Rayman Legends.^[54]

References

External links

• Official website