{"id":134581,"date":"2023-09-03T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-03T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-153011"},"modified":"2023-09-03T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-09-03T15:00:00","slug":"soapbox-rayman-legends-blew-my-mind-then-broke-my-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2023\/09\/03\/soapbox-rayman-legends-blew-my-mind-then-broke-my-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Soapbox: Rayman Legends Blew My Mind Then Broke My Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Rayman<\/a>
Image: Ubisoft<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they’ve been chewing over. Today, Francisco shares his love of Rayman Legends as it celebrates its 10th anniversary \u2014 but also laments that it may have been a victim of its own success…<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve always had a soft spot for Rayman. While Nintendo and Rare duked it out for the N64\u2019s platformer crown, I had no regrets about ignoring Super Mario 64<\/a>, Donkey Kong 64<\/a>, and Banjo-Kazooie<\/a> to helicopter my way through The Glade of Dreams’ robot pirate dystopia in Rayman 2: The Great Escape<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the years that followed, I was crestfallen to see Rayman’s undeserved fall from grace \u2014 not once, but twice<\/em>. The first time was after the slightly disappointing Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc<\/a>, after which he was abandoned as Ubisoft\u2019s family-friendly mascot, and was then brutally replaced by the Wii\u2019s Rayman Raving Rabbids<\/a>. But then as a brave new world of platforming \u2014 both HD and<\/em> 2D \u2014 was ushered in by indie darling Braid<\/a> and puzzle platformer Trine<\/a>, Rayman was welcomed back to the world.<\/p>\n

2011\u2019s Rayman Origins<\/a> was a glorious return to form, as well as a beautiful throwback to the series\u2019 2D roots. Michel Ancel and his experienced Ubisoft Montpellier team \u2014 the same developers now working on Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown<\/a> \u2014 schooled the indie upstarts with their bustling levels and lush, painterly backdrops.<\/p>\n

Two years later in August 2013 came Rayman Legends<\/a>, the Wii U follow-up so good it simply blew my mind. Everything Origins did superbly, Legends did better.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Call It A Comeback<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Rayman, Globox, the Teensies and crew were deservedly back in the limelight, and they\u2019d never looked better. Rayman Legends has simply sensational visuals across its six worlds, and each level feels like French surrealist cartoons brought to life. Accessing each level through a portrait gallery, that Mario 64 nod was also a testament to the expert craft and imagination that made each and every level a work of art.<\/p>\n

\"Rayman<\/a>
I\u2019m too big an Asterix and Obelix fan to say Rayman and Globox are my favourite French duo, but they aren\u2019t far behind! \u2014 Image: Ubisoft<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Players of the Switch version are well aware that Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition<\/a> fully deserves its spot on our list of the most beautiful Switch games<\/a> as well as being one of the best 2D platformers<\/a> on the console. You could frame any moment from this game, with its watercolour backgrounds and comic book environmental details, and hang it on a wall to prove that two-dimensional doesn\u2019t have to mean flat.<\/p>\n

Even today, the game\u2019s shapeshifting environments remain a rollercoaster of spectacle and cunning surprises. Nathan Drake would die for its virtuoso setpieces, Ubisoft applying Naughty Dog\u2019s flair for the dramatic sequences to the 2D platformer with exhilarating panache.<\/p>\n

All the set dressing in the world wouldn\u2019t matter a jot if the game never imbued Rayman, Globox, Barbara or the Teensies with a sense of springing movement, delicate weight and precise momentum. Rayman tears through levels, his scurrying steps raise puffs of dust, and he pleasingly arches into a somersault at the peak of each bounding leap. At times he reaches a pace almost matching Sonic\u2019s rocket-speed before those clunky yellow sneakers come to an elegant halt.<\/p>\n