Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: UBIart Montpellier

Release Date: 2/15/2012

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Rayman has been a struggling series right after the PS1 games came out. There have been spin-offs, ports, and terrible sequels since then, but Origins redeems the series. There isn’t really a story here except you’re saving lums and princesses of different lands to earn powers. There aren’t any cut scenes or voiceovers because this goes back to its old-school roots, and yes, the game is hard.

The controls are silky smooth and so are the animations. It helps that the controls are responsive as well as you jump around the levels that require focus and skill to navigate. Obstacles lay in your paths such as treacherous waters, enemies, and fire. Each new area has unique enemies, hazards, and an overall layout that is very nice to look at. Enemies can be jumped on or punched and after that, they inflate. You can use the Vita screen to touch them so they pop to get the lum inside which actually makes this version more forgiving than the consoles. When you jump around to find lums you will see them in hidden objects, and some will be trapped in bubbles. You can touch them to pop them to add to your collection which is much easier. While you’re bounding about the cleverly laid out levels you can find hidden areas with cages full of lums that you can find by hearing their cries for help.

The game is just so cleverly designed with levels that are tricky, but not so tough that you can’t forgive the game. You may restart a few times, but it actually requires skill instead of luck or exploiting the game’s faulty controls (if they were). Sliding around on the ice, or dashing towards an enemy and punching them, grabbing onto a ledge then jumping up on top of an enemy can be tricky, but it can be done with a little practice and quick reaction. The levels slowly get harder, but the whole point is to collect the lums and get medals at the end of each level. Save enough and you can unlock special treasure missions where you have to chase one down through a series of tricky obstacles.

Origins is just so clever and charming that you can’t really hate it. There are plenty of characters to unlock as well as extras. This game is perfect for people who love exploring levels and finding secrets. There are plenty of levels and things to find to keep you busy for many hours. I do wish there were some more features for Vita besides just using the touchscreen. However, what is here works and nothing got downgraded from the consoles. I can only really recommend this game to hardcore platformer fans because of the difficulty.