Rayman Origins is a platform video game developed by Ubisoft Montpellier and published by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo 3DS and Microsoft Windows. It is the fourth main installment in the Rayman series, and the first main installment since 2003's Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc. The game was released on 15 November 2011 in North America, 24 November 2011 in Australia, and 25 November 2011 in Europe for PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360. It was released later for PlayStation Vita, Microsoft Windows, and Nintendo 3DS. The OS X version of the game was released on 12 December 2013 by Feral Interactive. The story follows Rayman, his friend Globox and two teensies as they fight Darktoons and other evil creatures that have infected the Glade of Dreams.
Rayman Origins has received critical acclaim, being highly praised for its graphical style, level design, and sense of humor. Despite its critical reception, it did not perform very well commercially during its original release in November 2011. A mobile game based on Origins, titled Rayman Jungle Run, was developed by Pastagames and released for iOS, Android, and for Windows Phone 8 on 29 May 2013. A sequel, Rayman Legends, was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Wii U and Xbox 360 on 29 August 2013 in Australia, 30 August 2013 in Europe, and 3 September 2013 in North America to similar critical acclaim.
Plot
At the beginning of the game, Bubble Dreamer, Rayman, his best friend Globox, and a couple of Teensies friends are chilling out at Bubble Dreamer's resting grounds, the Snoring Tree. However, their snoring, with the help of a strange microphone disguised to resemble a flower, disturbs an old granny from the Land of the Livid Dead, who retaliates by sending an evil army of horrendous creatures and the Darktoons across the world. The heroes, being woke up, attempt to fight back, but are defeated and captured. Rayman escapes and finds the Darktoons have captured the Electoons that inhabit the world, imprisoned Betilla the Nymph and her sisters and plunged the Glade of Dreams into chaos. This causes Bubble Dreamer to go crazy, and as a result, have nightmares. Rayman and his friends are then tasked by the Magician to gather enough Electoons to cure Bubble Dreamer and restore the Glade. Their efforts to locate the Electoons allow them to gain access to the various lands of the Glade, and rescue the Nymphs along the way.
Eventually, they make their way to a mysterious gate, which can only be opened by rescuing the Glade Kings, who have been turned into monsters as a result of Bubble Dreamer's nightmares. Upon freeing the Glade Kings, the Nymphs are able to open the stargate, granting Rayman access to a hideout in the land of Moody Clouds. There, they discover that their supposed friend, the Magician, is the one responsible for the all the chaos. He secretly admires Mr. Dark, the villain of the original Rayman, and was in fact behind the events that caused the Land of the Livid Dead forces to attack, preoccupying the heroes and using the Lums they gave him to power and use his diabolical machines. The Magician sends Rayman and his friends into a pit with his mechanical monsters, but they escape and return to his office. The Magician then begins to dance and sends them into a dancing funk, using this as a good time to escape. The heroes chase after and fight the Magician in his escape airship, sending it crashing into the power source of his hideout. The resulting chain of events causes the hideout to explode, while Rayman and his friends free-fall back to the Snoring Tree, where they proceed to resume their relaxation.
If players manage to collect the ten ruby teeth throughout the game, they can gain access to the Land of the Livid Dead, where another monster awaits.
Gameplay
Rayman Origins is a side-scrolling platformer, the same style as the original Rayman game. Rayman Origins is playable with up to four local players who may drop in or out at any time. Players can choose to control either Rayman, Globox or two Teensies, with additional costumes available as the game progresses.
Players travel through each level, fighting enemies and rescuing imprisoned Electoons. As the game progresses, players gain new abilities such as running up walls, gliding in midair, swimming and shrinking in size to reach new areas. Certain segments also see players riding a mosquito, where players can shoot enemies or inhale and fire them. If a character is hit by an enemy or hazard, they will "bubblize", or inflate into a ballooned state. To get out of this state, another player can slap, or jump on them, similar to New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Players can also collect hearts that will protect them from one hit. However, if all players are bubblized simultaneously, or if a character is hit during single play, they will explode and the play will return to the last checkpoint, normally a Darkblocker where the player had go through before, or the last place where the player broke a cage. Throughout each level, players can collect yellow Lums, which they will need for Electoons. When a character collects a Lum King, it turns all Lums red for a short time. Red Lums are worth two yellow Lums. There are also Skull Coins placed in hidden or dangerous areas. They are worth 25 Lums if successfully collected. If the player gets harmed while collecting a Skull Coin, they will lose it. In this situation, the player must try again to get the coin.
In order to progress through certain parts of the story, players need to free Electoons. The most common way to get Electoons is to free them from cages; there is one at the end of each level, with more to be found in hidden areas and are guarded by several enemies that collectively use a forcefield to protect the cage, the team must defeat every single enemy that uses the forcefield, then the cage can be destroyed. The cage can only be damaged on the side which has a green padlock. Most of the cages are hidden away in secret passages, so once the Electoons are free, they will create a portal which leads to the outside of these passages. Each level contains a medallion that shows how many Electoon challenges the players completed, such as break a single cage, collect a specific amount of Lums or beat the clock whilst the level has been completed. In every level there are hidden cages ranging from 1 to 3. More Electoons can be earned by collecting a certain amount of Lums within a level and clearing Time Trials that are unlocked after clearing a level once. Scoring high marks in either of these challenges can also earn medals and trophies. Players can also unlock special 'treasure chest' levels, in which they must chase a runaway treasure chest across a dangerous course in order to receive a skull tooth. Completing all of the teeth grants access to the bonus level, The Land of the Livid Dead.
While every version of the game is nearly identical due to the game engine's high versatility, there are some minor differences across platforms. The Wii version of the game takes advantage of the versatility (though not the motion controls) of the Wii Remote to provide three different control schemes, while the Nintendo 3DS version displays the player's current progress during a particular level on the touchscreen. The PlayStation Vita version has some additional unlockable content, and the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions support online achievements.
