Waldy565 Thu Feb 21, 2013 12:02 amWow, that's one word to sum up Rayman Origins on Wii. Or charm. I will reveal all, but ladies and gentleman, thank you and welcome to my review of Rayman Origins, one of the best platformers for all platformers this decade, but I personally think it's a lot better fit on Wii.
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When you first start up the game, subtle music kicks in, and the title screen (above) appears. You can see it's very natural and organic, and the graphics stay like this for the whole game. These hand-drawn graphics looks stunning and are an amazing fit and really speak for what Nintendo says about graphics: It uses these unique graphics (Wind Waker comes to mind) and then focuses on the game play, the amazing game play of all Nintendo games!
Everything flows so naturally, and really lends itself to the graphics presented. You allowed to play as any of the four playable characters (see below, sorry, best image I could find): Rayman, Globox, Goth Teensie and Green Teensie. This is a major good point, for want of a better word, compared to say New Super Mario Bros. Wii, where single-players could only play as Mario. Each of the characters in Origins has there own chracteristics, and it really feels like your playing different characters, rather than a pallete swap and a few more/less polygons (ironically enough, there are different costumes for each characters)
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Let's move into the game play. I stated this is the best platformer this decade, and I don't like to lie. Ultimately, a good platformer has to have good physics... But when you have a game where your sliding down a stream, and your character becomes as if they are part of the stream, or depending how much pressure you put on a bouncy mushroom, much like a trampoline, depends on how far you bounce upward. The physics in this game are down to an absolute tee. One of my favourites part of one level is that the development team had placed mushrooms in such a way that as soon as you bounced on one, you made contact with the other, and you progressively made your way up a column by bouncing off these mushrooms, to be met with a bubble of Lums (the games currency) at the end. Making each level seem so fluid and making you seem like part of the level rather than a stand-out chracter really immerses you into the game.
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I will touch upon the story lightly, as it's a light story. Basically, Rayman and co are sleeping, and Globlox is snoring down a pipe that leads to the Land of the Livid Dead (see what they did there?). The leader of the this land sends her minions to go ruin the world (bit of a harsh revenge, don't you think?) so it's up to Rayman, his best buddy Globlox, and two Teensies (the race of the Glade of Dreams, where Rayman and co were sleeping) to save the Glade of Dreams and restore it too it's former glory, before any more harm can come! Like I say, your typical story, it's a little deeper than that, but that's the gist. Anyway, when you have platforming as smooth as this, you don't need to worry about the story too much.
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Above is something that add to Origin's lasting appeal, a skull tooth. You have to do these challenges that involve platforming at high speed, and you have to have pretty much pixel platforming to complete these. However, collecting them all opens up new levels to test your skills on. There are also different challenges with in levels, a bit like secret exits in the Mario series, and doing these earns you a pink smiley face. There are usually 5 faces, 2 of these "secrets", 2 for collecting so many lums (seen at the end of the level) and 1 for completing the level in a certain time. There is also a cage icon, which you can get by just completing the level, and a trophy, for again completing the level in a certain time, only faster than the other face.
The last thing I want to touch on is the music. Literally every step into this fantastic world grants you with a note that lends itself well to the situation you are at. The best example I can give is in Desert of Dijiridoos, which can only be explained via the medium of video (see below)
So guys, and I can only urge all of you to at least give this game a go. Thanks for reading, and I award this game a 95%!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
When you first start up the game, subtle music kicks in, and the title screen (above) appears. You can see it's very natural and organic, and the graphics stay like this for the whole game. These hand-drawn graphics looks stunning and are an amazing fit and really speak for what Nintendo says about graphics: It uses these unique graphics (Wind Waker comes to mind) and then focuses on the game play, the amazing game play of all Nintendo games!
Everything flows so naturally, and really lends itself to the graphics presented. You allowed to play as any of the four playable characters (see below, sorry, best image I could find): Rayman, Globox, Goth Teensie and Green Teensie. This is a major good point, for want of a better word, compared to say New Super Mario Bros. Wii, where single-players could only play as Mario. Each of the characters in Origins has there own chracteristics, and it really feels like your playing different characters, rather than a pallete swap and a few more/less polygons (ironically enough, there are different costumes for each characters)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Let's move into the game play. I stated this is the best platformer this decade, and I don't like to lie. Ultimately, a good platformer has to have good physics... But when you have a game where your sliding down a stream, and your character becomes as if they are part of the stream, or depending how much pressure you put on a bouncy mushroom, much like a trampoline, depends on how far you bounce upward. The physics in this game are down to an absolute tee. One of my favourites part of one level is that the development team had placed mushrooms in such a way that as soon as you bounced on one, you made contact with the other, and you progressively made your way up a column by bouncing off these mushrooms, to be met with a bubble of Lums (the games currency) at the end. Making each level seem so fluid and making you seem like part of the level rather than a stand-out chracter really immerses you into the game.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
I will touch upon the story lightly, as it's a light story. Basically, Rayman and co are sleeping, and Globlox is snoring down a pipe that leads to the Land of the Livid Dead (see what they did there?). The leader of the this land sends her minions to go ruin the world (bit of a harsh revenge, don't you think?) so it's up to Rayman, his best buddy Globlox, and two Teensies (the race of the Glade of Dreams, where Rayman and co were sleeping) to save the Glade of Dreams and restore it too it's former glory, before any more harm can come! Like I say, your typical story, it's a little deeper than that, but that's the gist. Anyway, when you have platforming as smooth as this, you don't need to worry about the story too much.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Above is something that add to Origin's lasting appeal, a skull tooth. You have to do these challenges that involve platforming at high speed, and you have to have pretty much pixel platforming to complete these. However, collecting them all opens up new levels to test your skills on. There are also different challenges with in levels, a bit like secret exits in the Mario series, and doing these earns you a pink smiley face. There are usually 5 faces, 2 of these "secrets", 2 for collecting so many lums (seen at the end of the level) and 1 for completing the level in a certain time. There is also a cage icon, which you can get by just completing the level, and a trophy, for again completing the level in a certain time, only faster than the other face.
The last thing I want to touch on is the music. Literally every step into this fantastic world grants you with a note that lends itself well to the situation you are at. The best example I can give is in Desert of Dijiridoos, which can only be explained via the medium of video (see below)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
So guys, and I can only urge all of you to at least give this game a go. Thanks for reading, and I award this game a 95%!
Last edited by Kent Hammer on Thu Feb 21, 2013 4:34 am; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : To embed video)
