One of the best Rayman games is back with an amazing sequel.

For the most part, Rayman Legends does what Origins did but improves on a lot of aspects. The UbiArt engines still kicks incredibly hard, and leads to an artstyle a bit less cartoony compared to Origins, but still distinct and good on the eye, able to combines the energy of a carton network show with incredibly oniric environments.

The platforming, combat and movement are still incredibly solid, ableto combine the goofiness and chaos of the always funny multyplayer sections, with the precision and streaminess of platforming and speedrunning challenges.

The worlds and levels, even if less cohesive compared to origins, are still creative and able to offer always new set pieces and gimmicks and never bores you. Especially the music themed courses are now standouts in the platforming genre, and I wish the game featured a lot more of these.
If you miss the creativi of Origins levels... don't worry, a LOT of the best from that game have literally been ported here. THat is actually incredible.

Just like in Origins, I kinda wish the game had a poper story that would have connected the game to more classic titles of the series. It's nice to see Murphy back, but sometimes I miss the quirkier character featured in Rayman 2 and 3.

Other nitpicks may include the kinda forgettable and boring bosses (especially the final boss, that is a big letdown in my opinion) and Murphy sections that have been clearly designed with the Wii U gamepad in mind and don't really feel memorable in other ports of the game.

But aside from these minor flaws... yeah it's a banger. An amazing platformer that I wish Ubisoft will have used as the base for other amazing titles in this series

Unquestionably my favorite 2D platformer of all time and the gold standard I will hold the genre to forever. Each time I play this is better than the last, but now that I have a much better understanding of game design and mechanics it’s even crazier to appreciate.

The controls of this game, just like its predecessor, are perfect. It’s so easy to get into a flow state and feels so good to seamlessly weave between different speeds depending on the situation. The invasion levels and devilishly addicting Challenges mode only further encourage you to master controlling your momentum in this game, and so you do, and the entire playthrough experience turns into this incredible wave of motion that’s impossible to put down. It’s enrapturing.

The level design is the best I’ve ever seen from the genre and I don’t say that lightly. It’s been years since I last played and I still remembered every single one of these vividly. They start simple enough but still provide you with fantastic opportunities to get a good flow going, while also tempting your curiosity in a very natural way with very well placed Teensies. But as the game evolves, the levels become more and more involved, stages become so chaotic here with the amount of stuff happening on screen, and clearly the designers knew how fun it is to go fast in this game because there are so many sections where you’re made to gun it through an obstacle course at top speed, it’s always exhilarating.

The evolution of level themes is also pretty outstanding, it’s a far cry from the more generic level themes of most platformers. It starts with relatively simple yet still unique feeling medieval forests and fantastical swamps before catapulting you into a wildly over the top celebration of Mexican culture, an underwater high-tech spy operation, and a trip through Olympus that eventually takes you into the depths of hell. It’s fascinating to let the game take you on a ride, and that’s ignoring how memorable all of the individual levels are!

Enough people have gushed about how incredible The Mysterious Floating Island is, but that same level design philosophy of guiding you through the world in an interesting and wordless way is present from the first level all the way through the final world. It is mildly annoying that the devs opted for a Mario 64-esque painting level select screen as opposed to a more connected world map, but it’s hard to care too much when the level design itself connects each area better than a dotted line on a map ever could.

All of this without even mentioning the music levels, the fact that a large chunk of stages from Origins are unlockable in game, and the genuinely absurd final optional world that has some of the craziest levels in the history of games as a medium… yeah it’s peak