Ubisoft Montpellier follows up the spectacular 'Rayman Origins' with another dazzling side-scrolling adventure in 'Rayman Legends".

Rayman fans are being spoiled as of late. Not only did 'Rayman Origins' do the series great justice by being one of the best Rayman games we have ever played, but 'Rayman Legends' is just as good, if not better than our Extreme Gamer awarded “Best Platforming Game of 2011”.  Providing a direct sequel to "Origins", "Legends" is much the same game, only packed with more.

For those who are not aware, Rayman is a side-scrolling platform adventure game; a throwback in a sense to the 8-bit era of making it to the end of a level. Rayman is like the famed Super Mario with a touch of that Sonic speed. However, Rayman brings in more humour and creativity in its level and character design. Similiar to "Origins", you are tasked with making your way through a variety of themed levels while collecting Lums and freeing seized Teensies. Lums are more like the currency in the game, and Teensies are cute little creatures that when collected unlock new worlds to play in. The adorable Teensies can also be used a playable characters alongside Rayman, Globox and the hilarious Barbara and her kin.

Including, but not a focal point, is a narrative that serves as your reason to be-bop around it's colourful world. Albeit unimportant to enjoying the game, "Legend" stars Rayman and his crew whom awaken from a century long sleep only to have to defeat the evil Magician from Origins; once again. Doing so you will defeat a number of evil nightmares who have captured the Teensies along with various alternative “Mario-esq” accounts of evil. Even without a solid plot line, "Legends" is super cute and highly entertaining. Heck, if Mario never need one, I think Rayman is in the clear.

The majority of game is focused on Rayman running and jumping his way to victory, but you also have the help of Murfy. Murfy the Greenbottle is a great addition and an innovative touch to the game mechanics. Murfy acts like a controllable A.I. in single player or playable in co-op version on the Wii-U and Vita whom has the ability to fly around levels and help Rayman in ways which he cannot reach. This comes down to performing actions like cutting ropes to access platforms or even tickling giant enemies so Rayman can get a few quick punches in. The co-op progression is both fun and challenging which adds a great sense of accomplishment when you use both in success tandem.

Another great addition to Legends are the rhythm based levels that have a Rayman scurrying through a level to a certain song and theme like classic 'Lead Belly' song 'Black Betty'. These levels aren’t so much exact rhythmic based like something like 'Guitar Hero', more of your actions like punching acting like an accent to what is happening on the musical track. It’s a clever reward to the players who can make to the end of each “zone”. Rayman Legends already excels in its graphical prowess and these levels show off just how talented the team is at blending multiple elements together to make an interactive experience in such a punching-bag of a genre.

All this goodness is packed into a freakish 120 levels, which also includes 40 remastered levels from Origins. The remastered levels are offered via earned “Lucky Tickets” that give the player various rewards. If that wasn’t enough more levels can be experienced with an online connection. Weekly and daily challenges are being produced giving even more good Rayman action. All this is stat-tracked so you can have some fun challenging your friends on the expansive leaderboards. Lastly there is super-fun soccer game included called “Kung Foot”. This basic competitive quick-match is extremely entertaining. However the only drawback is its lack of online support, regrettably this one is local multiplayer only.

Simply put - 'Rayman Legends' is pure joy and an absolute must for fans of the platforming genre.

Beautiful artistic design Super fun gameplay filled with great levels and lots of collectable Lots of replay value to collect everything Exceptional music based levels Still one of the best traditional side-scrollers around Includes remastered levels from Rayman Origins Co-op features not consistent across platforms Kung Foot doesn't support online play A few surprising difficulty spikes Quote: "Rayman Legends is pure joy and an absolute must for fans of the platforming genre." Reviewed by DowntownJimmy | 11.04.13 | Platform Reviewed: Playstation 3

Similar Games: New Super Mario Bros. (8.2) | Earthworm Jim HD (8.4) | Kirby's Epic Yarn (8.8) | Rayman Origins (9.2)