The Good: Beautiful visuals, creative level design, awesome music, very solid gameplay, lots of extra content, Murphy levels provide enjoyable twist to gameplay, different variations of the normal levels (music levels, invaded levels, princess levels) are a blast, fantastic boss fights.
The Bad: Occasional frustrating moments.
Rayman Legends is a game that I played quite a bit before actually getting it. My friend had it at his house and I played it there a lot. Christmas roles around and I open up Rayman Legends. Boy, was I happy! I really enjoyed the game at my friends house and now, I’ve played it enough to be my favorite game of all time. But what’s so awesome about Rayman Legends?
Let’s start off with the visuals. Holy cow, are they masterful! Everything looks down right beautiful from the levels to the character models. They have that perfect cartoony charm that I just love. This also helps the level design, which is also masterful. The level design is really creative and makes you feel that no two levels are alike. They are so creative that I don’t mind replaying them over and over again to find all the secrets.
Speaking of which, the game focuses around rescuing these characters called teensies from cages. There are ten in each level; eight normal teensies, a queen teensy, and a king teensy. These make the levels much better because you have an extra goal other than completing the level. They help change up the normal run-and-jump platforming we’re all used to. They’re also hidden in ways where they can be pretty tough to find. The teensies also give you a reason to replay the levels. If you complete a stage and you still have teensies missing, you need to go back in there and find them so you can get all the points you need. It makes platforming all the more enjoyable.
The platforming, as mentioned before, is top notch. The controls are very responsive, jumping and gliding is easy to do, and the whole thing is just fun. Something that they added in this game that they didn’t put in Rayman Origins is a guy known as Murphy. Murphy adds a cool twist to the gameplay. Along with the character you use, you can also control this winged friend who will make the platforms change around you to advance through the level. Big pillar in the way? Murphy can move it down. A big gap that you can’t jump across? Murphy can cut the rope above you. An enemy covered in spikes in your way? Murphy can tickle him so that you can get the kill. Tom McShea may have called those levels dull, but I disagree. I think they’re a nice twist to the game.
Rayman Legends provides a number of different levels to add to the mix. First is the invaded levels. These are run-and-jump levels where you have to get to the end and try to rescue all the teensies, however; all of them are strapped to rockets and they will go off one by one if you aren’t fast enough. And if you die, you start all over. This levels are very addicting, but can also be very frustrating. If you have the game, you know what I’m talking about. Another one is the princess levels. In these, you have to do a challenge and collect all the teensies to unlock a princess costume. They’re pretty fun and add a good deal of challenge. Finally, my favorite kind of level; the music levels. These are your normal run-and-jump levels, except to the beat of music. They are so much fun! And the music is awesome, too!
I can’t end this review without mentioning the boss fights. Each one of them is cleverly designed and the methods of beating them are very creative. They’re a lot of fun and much better than Origins’s boss fights, which consist of running and dodging until the weak point pops out. The Legends boss fights consist of a dragon, an armored toad, a giant sumo wrestler, a robotic dragon, and a swarm of rat creatures. They’re such a joy to fight.
Overall, Rayman Legends is a fantastic game. Everything is amazing, from the visuals to the music to the gameplay to the level design to the extra content. The only negative that I can think of is that it has some frustrating moments, and when that is your only negative for a game, you’re in good hands. Now, when I got this game, I got it for the PS3. It’s fun, yes, but I would recommend getting the WiiU version. On the WiiU, the visuals look cleaner, you can control Murphy using the touch pad instead of a button on the controller, and you won’t have to worry as much about your fingers slipping off the joystick when you’re constantly running. Please get this game, it’s absolutely wonderful. Also, sorry, Bioshock Infinite, but you are not my favorite game of all time anymore.