Rayman Origins is the latest in the bizarre Rayman series from the mind of Michel Ancel – the genius behind my other favourite game that the majority of gamers never played, Beyond Good & Evil.

Origins takes the series back to its 2D side-scroller roots in a big way, and being an Ancel game, it has three guarantees attached to it:

First – it’s incredibly zany, crazy and “out there” (or very ‘French’ if you want to go down that route).

Second – it’s utterly amazing.

Third – 95% of gamers are going to completely ignore it, and go play shooty-shooty bro-dude games instead, because there is far too much happiness here, and a colour palette that extends beyond different shades of brown.

The Glade of Dreams

Rayman and his buddy, Globox, are doing what they do best – chillin’, catching a nap, and making quite a ruckus with all their Zs – which the old hag in the Land of the Livid Dead does not take kindly to, sending all her dark toons into the Glade of Dreams.

Not being ones to allow such things to go down, Rayman and his friends head on out to go and free all the Nymphs and Electoons that have been captured by the baddies – and see who can collect the most Lums (the glow-bug things) along the way.

Freeing the Electoons unlocks new areas, and new bonuses such as treasure runs – which see you chasing down a treasure chest that is opposed to you wanting to bash its head in (which is understandable, really).

The story is light and crazy (like the rest of the game) and doesn’t pretend to be some sweeping narrative; it simply presents itself as an opportunity for you to go out there and have a ridiculously fun time – and you most definitely will.

Side-scroller roller

As you journey through each world you’ll be faced with many obstacles, enemies and mini-puzzles that you must overcome to progress. Often-times the terrain is the real enemy, with spiked walls and collapsing roofs dishing their own bit of pain to your character.

Whacking enemies causes them to balloon up and float and although defeated, in this state they can also give you a second opportunity to hit them and get a popping boost up into the air.

As you progress and help the Nymphs, you’ll also be given new abilities, such as shrinking, running up walls and flying – each of which has their own place in the levels where you’ll be using them.

There are also side-scrolling shooter sections where you fly on mosquitoes, that will undoubtedly tug at your nostalgia strings as they take you back to simpler times of arcade shooters – although it’s definitely coming at you in a new coat of paint.

Speaking of which…

So here’s an obvious statement

This game is stunning. Every single aspect of it is a work of art in its own right – from the beautifully painted backgrounds, to the characters, which are probably the most wonderfully twisted things I’ve seen in a game this year.

But it’s not just how things look in the game – it’s how they interact. The worlds collapse, build up, withdraw and change as your characters run, slide jump and bounce around – and enemies balloon, squish, squash and squelch with every hit.

This is all thanks the Ubisoft’s in-house graphics engine, UbiArt, which is a framework that lets developers animate the work of artists without having to force them to adjust their art to suit animation. The results are pretty amazing, and you can read more about it over here.

As a result, Origins just feels entirely organic – and it all happens in such an amazingly comical way that it’s a pure delight to see every single time, and never gets tired.

La-la-la-la-laaaaaa!

These astounding visuals are complimented with an equally as phenomenal soundtrack that is as varied as it is ridiculous. Each location you visit has an underlying tune to take you across the level – but it’s never really as simple as that, because that zany influence has to fit in somewhere.

Some levels feel like they’re part of the musical score, and in fact, one entire world is music-themed – where your actions actually contribute to the level music.

From bouncing on drums, collecting Lums (giving a “chime” effect) or running along a flying flute worm – each action you take feels like it’s working with the music.

Then of course there’s the vocal bits, which sound like the Lums themselves singing in chorus to the theme of the level.

And while we’re linking to songs – expect to hear this one a lot.

A LOT. Trust me.

For best results – bring friends

As a single-player experience, Rayman Origins is a gorgeous side-scroller that will provide you with hours of fun, and a whole lot of challenge – but what makes this game truly amazing is the multiplayer.

The game doesn’t support online multiplayer, which might put some people off – but when you actually have 4 players in the same room playing the local co-op, you’ll understand why online just wouldn’t be the same.

If you balloon up in multiplayer, you can float over to your buddies who can ‘deflate’ you with a tap of a button; while that can make things easier – it can also make playing more frantic, as you find yourself needing help in some less-than-ideal situations.

It’s that whole vibe – of helping each other out; laughing when someone fails in the most comical way possible; or being a douchebag by stealing coins and Lums from them as that competitive streak comes out – that makes the game.

Simply put – to get the most out of this game, you need to play it with friends.

The best game you won’t buy

Rayman Origins is a brilliant game; it’s not ground-breaking, and it’s not going to revolutionise gaming – but it encompasses what gaming should be about: pure, unabated fun.

The spectacular visual and audio styling makes it a unique and amazing game to experience – and the drop-in, drop-out multiplayer hilarity makes it a really fun game to play.

I’m really, really sad that this game won’t sell well – because it’s simply too exotic and far out of the average bro-dude gamer’s comfort zone: there’s no bloody carnage, no warfare, no ‘controvesial themes’ and there’s not a crosshair in sight.

All I can say is that if you give this game a skip, it’s your loss, really; because this is probably one of the best games of 2011 – and it’s by far the best multiplayer experience I’ve had all year.

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