Origins is among the elite in its respective genre.
Origins not only manages to keep pace with its contemporaries, but in excelling in all it endeavors to do with its sensational visuals, soundtrack, and invigorating gameplay, it is among the elite releases in the genre in the past ten years and of all time.
Rayman finds himself seeking to rescue the electoons who have been captured by the evil beings from the Land of the Livid Dead. The plot intro sweeps in the goofy and hilarious personality of the title, as all havoc is caused because Rayman and his buds are chilling out.
Origins wastes no time thrusting the player into its zany universe. Early stages are simplistic, but the game's difficulty steadily curves, with the pacing increasing in speed, and latter stages resembling Super Meat Boy with its exhilarating challenge.
Each stage contains three cages holding electoons. The electoons are hidden in secret areas in the levels that are sometimes a bit tricky to find. Inside the secret doors are mini-challenges that must be completed in order to free the electoons. The challenges in these areas usually consist of defeating all of the foes in the room, though some are a lot harder to pull off.
Strewn throughout the stages are golden lums. Gathering a large number of these glowing, winged creatures also helps tally up the electoon count. Large gold coins within the stage can be retrieved for twenty-five lums a piece. Scavenging for a grand number of lums within the stages can prove to be quite difficult. In many instances, the lums are placed in a pattern in the levels, and are retrieved best when Rayman is running full speed ahead, making perfectly timed jumps along the way.
Fresh changes in pacing helps Origins stay fresh. A trusty mosquito that Rayman uses as a form of transportation provides R-Type like shooting action. These stages are fantastic, and serve up some of the most enjoyable, challenging portions of the game.
Wild chases kick up the adrenaline a notch. Aside from some of the frantic chases in a few of the game's "regular" stages, there are ten stages where Rayman is in hot pursuit of a runaway treasure chest. Inside these hard-to-get treasure holders are goodies that go toward unlocking one of the most difficult challenges in the entire game.
Origins is the prettiest 2D game ever made. While familiar landscapes such as deserts and oceans return, Origins manages to breath new life into these age old locations with vivid color. Everything is brimming with life. Character animation is splendid, especially the enormous bosses. Stringing together the action and visuals of the title is the incredible soundtrack. The game's humor can certainly be found in some of the tunes. One stage has a tune of hot Spanish flavor, with what seems to be Johnny Cash singing jibberish in the background. The music does well when it takes on a more serious tone as well such as in the water stages where the instrumentation is just as beautiful as the underwater world in which Rayman swims.
Over sixty plus stages can be conquered in Origins. Completing each stage requires a lot of time and patience. Aside from freeing electoons and collecting lums, time trials are also present. Then there are stages that revolve around or feature boss battles. These enemies are all ginormous, and put up an interesting fight. Driven by simplicity, it usually takes three strikes to take down a boss, but each battle offers something new.
Rayman's latest adventure is a rare title: a game that finds itself on all three major consoles in all its glory...almost. The Wii version is cheaper than the HD Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 installments, but the graphics are not quite as sharp. I chose the Xbox 360 version, and while the graphics are beautiful, the core of what makes Rayman so wonderful is the gameplay. Wii owners should pick this one up immediately as well. The splendor of the graphics are not lost in translation on Wii.
Though the title has failed in sales thus far, people need to take notice of this exceptional platforming title. While the game is consistently wacky in its humor, it needs to be taken seriously as one of the most original, enjoyable games of this generation.