NOW
PLAYING
Many videogames
strive to give
players a sense
of ‘flow’: task the
player too heavily
and anxiety builds.
Give them an easy
run and boredom can set in.
A perfect balance means players
will be more motivated to see their
games to conclusion, whiling away
the hours in a state of escapist bliss.
Rayman Legends is a game that
rewards flow, but in a more literal
sense. The whole game is a delight
from start to finish, a taut platforming
experience delivered with the series’
signature humour and Ubisoft’s
criminally underused UbiArt style.
It’s at its best when forcing players
to make split-second decisions,
squeezing them through tight
bottlenecks that require near-perfect
button presses to complete. But in
a game that’s all about seeing its
myriad mechanics to their logical
conclusions, it’s perhaps the bonus,
‘musical’ levels that shine brightest,
rewarded to you upon defeating each
world’s boss.
The first has you running the gamut
across the battlements of a castle,
sprinting along the raised shields of
enemies as cannon fire from
a distant fortress whacks
away great chunks of
level to the rhythm of
Ram Jam’s 1977 hit,
‘Black Betty’. Then
there’s an underwater
level which has you
barrel-rolling through
the brine as a version of
The 5.6.7.8’s ‘Woo Hoo’ is
babbled cutely by a chorus of
Teensies. The trick here is to time
moves to the soundtrack, a rhythm-
game/platforming mash-up that’s so
charming, Ubisoft should dedicate the
next Rayman game to this style.Buttons bashed
If you’re familiar with the game’s
controls and mechanics – as these
are post-boss rewards, you should be- you’ll probably breeze through them
with no more than a few jam-busting
mistakes. But it doesn’t matter.
They’re so grin-inducing the only
thing you’ll hold against them is their
relatively short runtime.
For added challenge, there are
‘8-bit’ versions of the same levels
unlocked post-game, adding
challenge by introducing
visual distortions over the
stages. It’s a technique
that at times can feel
unfair, not so much
ramping up the skill level
as hampering your ability
to perform tasks you’d
previously breeze through
with nefarious methods, but
they remain fun to tackle.
‘Black Betty’ gets an 8-bit audio
downgrade and the screen a
perspective-warping fisheye filter,
while in another level the image twists
into a pixelated mess to the tune of
an 8-bit, mariachi version of ‘Eye Of
The Tiger’ (if you can imagine such a
wondrous thing). There’s no denying
each level’s hypnotising hook, but
what’s most interesting is the way
they make the player feel as if they’reconducting each track with the game
world itself – videogames as musical
scores anyone?
Classical music gets a look-in with
Christophe Heral’s original piece,
‘Orchestral Chaos’, and when it does,
woodwind flurries are accompanied
by your character sliding down wires,
as big bombastic beats of the drum
are represented by similar actions
on screen. In a game consistently
inventive and surprising, Legends’
musical finales are perhaps the most
intriguing moments.
Rayman’s latest may be nearly six
years old but it’s timeless in its unique
art-style... and expertly designed
platforming never goes out of style. QRayman Legends is a must-play for platform fans, but its
musical bonus levels are its most inventive moments ALEX NELSON
PUBLISHER UBISOFT / DEVELOPER UBISOFT MONTPELLIER / FORMAT XBOX ONE/360 / RELEASE DATE AUGUST 2013“In an inventive ame Le ends’
musical finales are perhaps the
most intri uin moments”
WHAT IS IT?
Ubisoft’s Rayman series
reached a rebooted
peak with 2013’s brilliant
platforming package,
Rayman Legends.100 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE
extra