Rayman's 30th anniversary celebrations continue as Ubisoft announced today they are remastering their 2013 platformer Rayman Legends as Rayman Legends Retold. Alongside a graphical overhaul, a shift from the UbiArt Framework engine to Snowdrop, and fully voiced characters and cutscenes, this "reimagining" will feature a new story, new "dragon ride" levels, and a new realm to explore. I was invited to participate in a remote hands-on preview of a work-in-progress build of the game recently, and I came away feeling overall positive about the game's revitalized return.
For the 90 minutes I had with Rayman Legends Retold, I was given access to the revamped hub area, eight platformer levels, three "Invasion" challenge levels, and two of the new dragon ride levels; a pretty good spread of new and old. Starting with the hub area, the original Rayman Legends presented the six different worlds as paintings you'd jump into and then select a level. There wasn't much to do or see and everything was a little disparate. For Retold, Ubisoft has pulled those biomes into a more cohesive world (there's even a full world map now) so you're able to move from one area to the next and even explore some hidden areas along the way. If you don't want to walk, then you can quick travel between the levels and worlds instead.
This interconnectedness is further underscored by the new dragon ride levels, which not only shift the gameplay from platformer to on-rails shooter but also act as an initial means of taking you from your current biome to the next one. As you shoot fireballs at enemies and breakable barriers, dodge obstacles, and try to avoid getting hit in order to save all the Teenies that are hitching a ride, the background environment shifts from one biome to the next; a kind of high-level interactive tour of what you're about to get into next. The two dragon ride levels I got to preview played well enough and were visually impressive, and served as nice breaks from previous set of platforming levels.
The platforming in Rayman Legends Retold felt pretty good overall. Prior to the preview event, I played a bit of the original Legends so I'd have a general idea of how it looked and felt to better compare the two. In the eight levels I demoed, I couldn't tell any significant differences when playing Retold and anytime something might have felt a little off - a slight delay in jumping or other action press - it could be chalked up to playing the game remotely instead of in-person. Interestingly, the levels where the game felt best were in the "Invasion" challenges where you're trying to find the best paths to take to get to the end as quick as possible. Finding the right timing of running, jumping, hitting and bouncing off enemies was a joy, and it'll definitely appeal to the speedrunners and leaderboard chasing crowds. I wasn't able to test out the co-op during our session, and the only details I have confirmed for now is that it will support four player couch co-op.
From a gameplay perspective, Rayman Legends Retold seems to be fine; the platforming levels still played and felt like the original, and the new dragon ride levels offered a little variety from the routine. The soundtrack sounds better than ever - with composers Chrisophe Héral and Grant Kirkhope teaming up for the remaster - and visually the game does look impressive. Those visuals also gave us some pause, though. The original Legends was done in the UbiArt Framework engine and had an almost hand-animated cartoon feeling. It lent a certain amount of whimsy and fun to the game that felt fitting to the character of Rayman on the whole. With the shift to Snowdrop, everything now has that "next gen 3D" look that feels so prevalent across the gaming landscape. The environments may be more detailed and lush but they've also lost some of the charm of the original. With titles like Cuphead, MOUSE: P.I. for Hire, and others leaning into animation styles that span the full breadth of artistic styles across the format, it would have been nice to see Rayman Legends Retold lean further into its cartoon aspects.
Rayman Legends Retold is currently slated for an October 6th release date across all major platforms: Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and Switch 2. The price will be $39.99, and four player couch co-op will be supported throughout.
