"Hey Rayman! Welcome back! Was I having a bad dream again? Still no limbs, eh?! Welll, the nymphs will get their act together eventually...! Less bones to break I say! At least they remembered the funny bone! Laugh till it hurts!"

Rayman Origins is a platform game developed and published by Ubisoft.

Story
In Rayman Origins you get to play as Rayman, his friend Globox and/or two Teensies who have a rude awakening from their nap. Old granny from the Land of the Livid Dead sends out evil army of horrendous creatures and the Darktoons across the world as a retaliation for loud snoring! They now have to fight in order to stop evil from corrupting Glade of Dreams, rescue any Nymphs along the way and locate as many Electoons as they can!

Gameplay
Rayman Origins is a sidescroller platformer, going back to roots of original game as one might say. Core gameplay and whole loop is quite simple: beat levels, free Electoons and defeat enemies!

Split into worlds, with each containing multiple levels to beat, your main goal is to free Electoons in order to unlock further stages. But be on a lookout as you make your way through the areas, as you might hear them out crying out for help, suggesting that entrance to secret area with them is nearby. In every stage you gather Lums, creatures that when you collect enough of them, grant you additional Electoons! To have a clear view of what you accomplished and what you still need to do in each stage, at the end you will be presented with a medallion that shows your progress- collected Electoons through Lums and exploration. After you have beaten level for the first time you can redo it and attempt a time challenge where you have to reach certain point of the stage in required time.

Game provides rather simple gameplay, as during the stages you will jump, sprint, slap and slam your way across biomes. While it all starts easy, as you make progress you unlock new abilities such as running up walls or swimming that significantly change upcoming levels and up the difficulty. You also have to be on a lookout for anything angry at you, as both you and enemies are one attack away from inflating into a ballooned state, which for you will end up with a trip back to recent checkpoint. Seek out hearts that will grant you protection from a single hit to prevent such outcome. Outside of enemies be aware of any holes, fires, spikes and other dangerous enviromental elements all scattered across the stages like in any good platformer that could ruin your day. Worth pointing out game also comes with mosquito segments or entire levels, where you ride a mosquito accompanied by Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" in mosquito version to change things up!

Collecting Electoons not only is required to progress, but additionally they unlock alternative skins for characters and optional 'treasure chest' levels in which you chase a treasure chest across dangerous course, where precision and speed are key to overcoming this challenge.

Playtime, replayability
It took me 10 hours to beat the game, with 3 extra hours spend on unlocking and beating extra world, if you would be interested in grinding all medalions too...I say you can get 20 hours out of this game.
Levels are short, come with additional challenges, plus whole "bonus level" to unlock gives plenty of good enough reasons to jump into the game after beating all levels!

Impressions
Game right from the start hooks you up with humourous opening and absolutely beautiful hand-drawn artstyle achieved thanks to UbiArt Framework engine. Great impressions keep going as movement is fantastic, tight and precise, well animated too. It's easy to get into flow state and appreciate outstanding level design, while unlockable abilities will spice up next areas and elevate the experience further. Thanks to linear difficulty curve and solid checkpoint system, new players to the genre will have fun yet rather easy time adapting to the game, those who might find game too easy can enjoy optional challenges it opens up with collected Electroons, with additional time trials and Lum gathering giving a good reason to revisit beaten stages. Mosquito segments serve as a perfect way to provide variety to constant Rayman smacking. It looks good, it plays good, it makes you want more, simple as that.

Unfortunately there is one big downside to all the wonderful elements I mentioned above. As visible on store screenshots and description, game used to feature co-op where up to 4 players could venture through Glade of Dreams together, dropping in and out at any given time. But because online aspects of the game shutdown in 2024, now it's purely a Single Player title. While still an absolute treat solo, shutting down co-op is a massive loss especially for those who do like to play games with friends.

Nonetheless if you seek a platformer for yourself, I can easily recommend Rayman Origins. Outstanding in every regard, it has been an absolute pleasure to play it.

Final words and conclusion
Something people will be pleased to hear about is that game doesn't require Ubisoft Connect! Additionally, you can check out Demo available at the store to see if Origins might be up your alley.

No longer with co-op mode but still outstanding, Rayman Origins delivers on every front possible to satisfy with fun level design and wonderful audiovisual side. One of the best platformers out there.

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My childhood game. Really loved it. It brings back so many memories. In my opinion it's one of the best games on Pc

hi im rayman... and these are my origins