WeView Verdict: Rayman Origins

So normally I’d start things off by talking a bit about how Rayman is a game I really want to play or something like that, but I pretty much covered that last time when I talked about my childhood love for the series. Every time I mention something that draws me back to my formative years I do worry a little that I’ll get called a nostalgic fool, but this time it seems that others shared my opinion of the game somewhat.

“Origins reminded me of the magic twenty odd years ago when I first started playing games,” jikomanzoku started reassuringly, “put simply it’s two slices of magic, with proper custard.” Not just magic, but magic with custard. That’s an important distinction to make. I have to say I agree completely, everything about this game seems utterly amazing and completely magical.

Sticking with magic of a sort, Jag chipped in on the game’s graphics and art style. “The graphics have to be the most impressive thing I’ve seen in a long time,” they said, before getting to the magical bit, “The whole thing looks like a painting come to life!” Now I suppose you could say that it’s probably the technical prowess of the developers and not magic the created that state of affairs, but I’ve never been one to let cold hard facts or reason get in the way.

[drop2]Continuing with praise for the game, XisTG, like many of you, picked the game up for the Vita, saying that it’s the “best platformer I played in a very long time.” DrNate86 was equally glowing in his opinion, calling it “a wonderful game” and noting the obvious love that had been poured into the game’s creation.

In a more touching moment Amphlett talked about playing the game with his six year old son. He started by noting that “The visuals are big, colourful and always fun, making it ideal for young eyes,” before going onto praise the gameplay and the game’s use of co-op, making it a brilliant title to play with a child. However, he wasn’t entirely full of praise, complaining that the later levels are frustrating. Apparently these are time trials that require “near perfection” to complete, leaving him with a game he and his son will “likely never finish”. That certainly is disappointing.

For this week’s final comment I want to turn to the wise words of cam_manutd and bring this article pretty much full circle. Here’s what they had to say:

Regardless of which version people claim is better there is no denying the beauty as well as the accompanied nostalgia that surrounds Rayman. Very faithful to the original in terms of style and execution.

Now, onto the overall community verdict of the game. There were fifteen of you who decided to take part this week, a good turn out for the platformer. At the bottom of the pile were Bargain Bin It and Avoid It, with just one vote a piece. At the opposite end of the scale, and with an overwhelming thirteen, was Buy It, a very strong recommendation from the community.

As for the question of Vita play it does seem like a very good number of you decided to get the game for your new pocket pal. I was slightly surprised to see that there were a few of you who already had the game for PS3 and had decided to splash out more cash for the portable version of the game. As praise goes I don’t think you can do much better than buying the same game twice.