Rayman® Origins Review Summary

An outstanding, addictive 2D platformer with beautiful art, though its punishing difficulty, lack of Steam achievements, and absence of a story may frustrate some players.

Outstanding 2D platformer: The game is repeatedly praised as an excellent, challenging, and colorful platformer that stands among the best in the genre. Many reviewers call it a masterpiece and one of the best 2D platformers ever made.

Fun and addictive gameplay: Players find the core gameplay fun, addictive, and satisfying, with responsive controls that feel smooth. It offers a relaxing yet engaging experience that keeps players hooked.

Beautiful graphics and art: The visuals are widely acclaimed as beautiful, with gorgeous backgrounds and a charming cartoon art style that remains impressive. The art direction is timeless and visually striking.

Creative and polished levels: The level design is consistently praised for being creative, well-crafted, and almost perfect, with innovative ideas that keep the experience engaging. Most levels are fun and dynamic.

Excellent soundtrack and music: The soundtrack is frequently described as excellent, amazing, and fitting for the gameplay, with catchy and memorable tunes. Many consider it one of the best soundtracks in games.

Difficulty Too High: Many players find the game difficult, especially for beginners, with some levels being frustrating and overly punishing. The lack of difficulty options exacerbates this issue.

Missing Steam Achievements: Players frequently note the absence of Steam achievements in the Steam version. This is a notable missing feature that reduces replay incentive.

No Storyline: The game has almost no story or narrative beyond the intro. The plot is forgettable and does not develop further.

Missing Textures: Several levels exhibit missing textures, including on fire rings in specific levels. This visual bug affects immersion and game quality.

Inferior to Rayman Legends: The game is considered weaker than Rayman Legends, with less enjoyable levels and overall lower quality. Players who have played Legends may be underwhelmed.

2D side-scrolling platformer: Clusters 2, 5, 7, and 23 repeatedly describe the game as a polished 2D side-scrolling platformer with responsive mechanics and diverse level design. This is the core genre identity noted across many reviews.

Local co-op up to four players: Cluster 1 strongly emphasizes four-player local co-op and couch co-op, including family-friendly account support. Cluster 4 adds that co-op with friends works but the Steam version has limited co-op and uses Remote Play Together instead of dedicated servers.

Friends and family friendly play: Cluster 3 highlights casual multiplayer for playing with a friend or family, and also appears in clusters 6 and 34 showing optional solo or group play. It reinforces the game's broad accessibility for shared sessions.

Challenging and fast-paced platforming: Clusters 10, 13, 14, and 27 note that difficulty varies, with some hard levels and a difficulty spike toward the end. Clusters 14 and 15 also stress fast, fluid, dynamic gameplay.

Lums and Electoons collectibles: Clusters 8 and 11 both describe level-based collectibles such as Lums and Electoons, including per-level goals and competition over collecting them. Cluster 31 adds separate Skull Teeth collectibles.

General performance and optimization issues: Multiple players report poor optimization, low frame rates, and performance problems even on capable hardware. Issues include unstable frame rates and sudden slow motion.

Runs well on low-end hardware: The game performs smoothly on very modest setups, including a 1.5GB RAM system with an 8600GT and an Intel i5 3470 with 8GB DDR3 RAM and no GPU.

Visual bugs and UI problems: Visual bugs include missing or invisible text, a pixelated boot-up screen on modern systems, and a barely functional main menu.

Missing textures break gameplay: Missing textures appear in several levels and can break progression, such as getting stuck in the third world's last level due to missing flamethrower textures causing instant death.

Positive performance on Steam Deck: Players report that the game runs amazingly well and performs perfectly on Steam Deck.

Rayman Origins Highly Recommended: Many reviewers strongly recommend this game for Rayman fans and newcomers alike. Some suggest buying Rayman Legends instead or alongside, as it offers a larger package.

Generally Highly Recommended: Many reviewers give a simple but strong recommendation without caveats. They express high satisfaction and urge others to play it.

Best Played With Friends: The game is great for co-op play and is often recommended to play with friends for a better experience. Solo play is also fun but multiplayer enhances enjoyment.

Top-Tier 2D Platformer: Reviewers highly praise this game as one of the best 2D platformers, recommended for any fan of the genre. It stands out for its quality and challenging gameplay.

Recommended for Platformer Fans: This game is a strong recommendation for enthusiasts of the platformer genre, including those who enjoy co-op platformers like NSMBWII. It appeals to fans of quality platformers.

Community fair range: $5.00 - $20.00.

Game completion: 25.0h.

Story completion: 10.0h.

Endgame: 3.0h.

Rayman Origins is fun immediately for most reviewers, with the opening, platforming, and co-op hooking players from the start; a minority report a slower hook or later boredom.

Friction: Local co-op is limited to one computer or shared keyboard; No online multiplayer for co-op; Controller connection or support issues in local play; Some sections require high precision and reflexes, making progression arduous for newcomers; Collectible gating with smileys/Electoons locks later levels; The game can feel too easy or repetitive for some players.

Unlock drivers: Collecting Electroons unlocks optional challenges and time trials for players who find the game too easy; New movement abilities unlocked between worlds deepen the level design.

Nostalgic Rayman Veteran: Plays the full campaign solo or compares it directly with Rayman Legends and older Rayman titles, valuing original level design and roots. Motivation: To relive and champion the classic 2D Rayman style they grew up with, often preferring it over later entries. Stance: buy.

Couch Co-op Social Gamer: Runs local co-op with 2-4 players on one screen, often with controllers, drop-in/drop-out, and party-friendly levels. Motivation: To share chaotic, funny local multiplayer sessions with friends, partners, or family. Stance: buy.

Completionist Challenge Seeker: Replays difficult sections, hunts secrets and collectibles, chases fast completion rewards, and seeks a harder optional challenge. Motivation: To master levels, collect everything, and complete time trials and medals beyond simply finishing the game. Stance: buy.

Across the returned Windows VRAM cohorts, the game is generally reported as running well, with only minor caveats around animation timing and input consistency. No cohort shows dominating poor performance or instability.

Windows <8GB VRAM: positive. Recommended reports say the game runs acceptably, though character animation can lag by milliseconds and rarely affects play outside jumps.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: positive. A recommended report gives no performance complaints; the only technical detail is that textures can run at 4K.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: positive. A recommended report mentions input handling inconsistencies between runs but does not describe major frame-rate or stability problems.

Steam Deck: The game is a classic platformer praised for its content and for not requiring Ubisoft Connect, but Steam Deck users encounter controller support issues that demand manual remapping and custom bindings. Some Linux users must switch to Proton 7 to run it. Missing Steam features like cloud saves and achievements are noted. Overall, it is playable but requires tinkering, resulting in a moderate friction score.

Linux and Proton: The game is reported to work on GNU/Linux and Steam Deck, with one user noting that switching to Proton 7 was necessary to get it running. No anti-cheat, DRM, or severe compatibility blockers were mentioned. The overall Linux/Proton experience is functional but may require a simple Proton version change for some users.

Frequent Rayman Legends Comparisons: Many reviewers compare this game to its sequel, Rayman Legends, often stating that Legends is superior or more advanced. Some feel this game is weaker, while others find it still enjoyable.

Played on Multiple Platforms: Reviewers mention playing the game on various platforms including Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and Steam. Some have double-dipped, buying it again on PC.

No Ubisoft Connect Required: Multiple reviewers highlight that the Steam version does not require the Ubisoft launcher, Ubisoft Connect, or Uplay. This allows for offline play and avoids additional DRM, though cloud saves are unavailable without Uplay.

Favorable Comparisons to Platforming Classics: Reviewers favorably compare the game to Rayman Legends, Mario, Sonic, and Donkey Kong. It is praised as a high-quality platformer that stands alongside these iconic series.

Part of Rayman Franchise: The game is recognized as part of the Rayman series and a predecessor to Rayman Legends. It is developed by Ubisoft and uses the UbiArt Framework engine.