Rayman Legends

Gameplay

The game carries on the style of gameplay from Rayman Origins in which up to four players (depending on the format) simultaneously make their way through various levels. Lums can be collected by touching them, defeating enemies, or freeing captured Teensies. Collecting Teensies unlocks new worlds, which can be played in any order once they are available. Along with Rayman, Globox, and the Teensies returning as playable characters, players can now control the new female character Barbara the Barbarian Princess, her sister and their cousins, once they are rescued from certain stages.

In addition to the main playable characters, Murfy the greenbottle, who first appeared in Rayman 2: The Great Escape, appears as an assist character. Murfy can perform various actions such as cutting through ropes, activating mechanisms, grabbing hold of enemies and assisting in gathering Lums. These offer a range of levels in which co-operation is required to progress. In the Wii U, PlayStation Vita, and PlayStation 4 versions of the game, an additional player can control Murfy directly with touch controls, using the Wii U GamePad, the Vita's front touch screen, and the DualShock 4 touchpad respectively. In single-player mode, control will switch over to Murfy during certain sections whilst the computer controls the player's character. In the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC versions of the game, Murfy moves automatically and can be prompted to interact with certain objects with button controls. Other new features include sections where players can fire projectile fists at enemies and rhythm based levels set to covers of songs such as "Black Betty", "Eye of the Tiger", and "Woo-Hoo".

The game features over one hundred twenty levels, including forty remastered levels from the original Rayman Origins, which are unlocked by obtaining Lucky Tickets, which can also win additional Lums and Teensies. Some levels feature remixed 'Invaded' versions, which must be completed as quickly as possible. The game also offers daily and weekly challenge stages, in which players can compete with other players via leaderboards in challenges such as collecting a certain number of Lums in a short time or surviving the longest on a stage. More challenge stages can be accessed by raising the player's 'awesomeness' rating, which increases by collecting trophies earned by rescuing Teensies, collecting a high number of Lums in each level or by having a high leaderboard position at the end of a challenge. A local multiplayer football game, Kung Foot, is also featured, in which players use attacks to knock a football into the opponent's goal.

Plot

One century after the events of Origins have passed, Rayman, Globox, and the Teensies have been sound asleep after the adventure. During that time, the Bubble Dreamer's nightmares have gotten stronger and expanded with help from the Magician (who survived and split himself into 5 Dark Teensies) and captured Barbara and her fellow warrior princesses. Upon finding out, Murfy wakes up Rayman and co. and tells them what has happened before setting off to end the chaos. After beating each world's boss (Grunderbite, the Armored Toad, El Chili, a mechanical dragon and the Cloud of Darkness/Hades' Hand), Rayman and co. punch each Magician into space, where they each end up being used as instruments by imps for fun in a parody of A Trip to the Moon.

Development

The game was first leaked in an online marketing survey, which hinted that the upcoming "Rayman Origins 2" would include dragons, vampires, ghosts, the return of the Land of the Livid Dead and also someone dear to the Rayman series, in addition to returning features from its predecessor. Subsequently, Ubisoft registered the domain names "RaymanLegends.com" and "Rayman-Legends.com".

On 27 April 2012, the game's first trailer was leaked, revealing several details about it, including new playable characters, as well as the inclusion of online multiplayer. The end of the trailer also showcased Wii U exclusive features such as the use of NFC to make figures placed on the touchscreen appear on the game, as demonstrated with figures of Rabbids and Ezio from Assassin's Creed. Ubisoft later released a statement that confirmed its development, though stated it was "intended as a purely internal demonstrative video, and in no way represents the final game, the final console or their features."

The game was officially unveiled for the Wii U and demonstrated by Ubisoft at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2012 trade show, Murfy appeared as a playable character in the demo. Though Ubisoft has only confirmed the game's release on the Wii U, Ubisoft senior game manager Michael Micholic stated that Ubisoft is considering PS3, Xbox 360 and PC versions of Rayman Legends as "we're looking at a lot of different launch options". A trailer released at Gamescom 2012 revealed it would be exclusive to the Wii U.

It was originally set to be released on 30 November 2012 (as a Wii U launch title). However, on 8 October 2012, it was reported to be delayed. On 13 December 2012, a demo of the game was released on the Wii U eShop. The official release date was revealed to be 26 February 2013, but was delayed further to September 2013 to allow for the title to have a simultaneous release on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. This delay upset fans since the developer had stated that the Wii U version was already finished. Fans started a petition for the game to be released on the original date on the Wii U, which had over 11,000 people signed onto it. To appease fans, Ubisoft said the Wii U would get another exclusive demo in the future, however this was just as negatively received. Developers that worked on the game have also expressed their distaste for the delay, while creator Michel Ancel was photographed with protesters campaigning for the release of the game.

Reception

Critical response

Rayman Legends received "universal acclaim", according to the review aggregator website Metacritic. Edge gave the game a 9/10 praising it by saying "One of the most jubilant, vividly imagined and open-hearted platformers to come along in a long time". GamesRadar gave the game a score of 4.5 out of 5 stars, praising the level variety and presentation, whilst criticizing the sometimes chaotic multiplayer and some of the touchscreen sections during solo play. Tom McShea of GameSpot rated the game a 9.0/10 praising the game mechanics, the level design and the local co-op.

Jose Otero of IGN rated the game a 9.5/10, praising the gameplay and the design of the levels, saying that "Naturally, Rayman starts out with simple running, jumping, and punching, but before you know it you’re sneaking past dozens of deadly traps, battling huge bosses, or playing through awesome challenge levels that look like '90s music videos. Every time I thought I found a personal favorite stage, the next one came along and replaced it", but criticized the absence of online co-op. Danielle Riendeau of Polygon rated the game an 8.5/10 saying that it is "a beautifully designed gauntlet". Thomas Whitehead of Nintendo Life gave the Wii U version an "excellent" 9/10, stating it is "close to perfection", but with "minor missteps". He criticized the game's short length but added that "Clearly aware of this, the developers made those hours utterly glorious".

GameTrailers stating that the co-operative play on the Wii U GamePad "only serves to complement the game design". Game Informer writer Jeff Cork discussed how flexible Murfy can be in the game which players can use him to poke or tickle enemies to temporarily stun them which left them vulnerable to the player's attacks. He also discussed that one of his favorite gimmicks was Murfy rotates large wheels that contain spikes and platforms and he also noted an obstacles in a level comes in the form of giant slabs of cake which Murfy has an insatiable appetite, and he crunched paths for the player. GamesRadar+ writer Lucas Sullivan noted that Murfy was the biggest change in the game and he discussed that players who played as him should be cautious and he would make a great addition to the series. Polygon writer Michael McWhertor described him as "part puzzle solver and part guardian angel" and he discussed that Murfy can burst enemies that looked like flaming ghosts before they could defeat the player. Nintendo World Report writer Neal Ronaghan played as him and felt that he is the personification of the Wii U Gamepad. He also discussed that he was sometimes bored during the Boost Mode in New Super Mario Bros. U, however, he was constantly enjoying playing as Murfy in the game, especially during segments where the player have to tilt the GamePad to help the playable characters maneuver through spiked passages.

Sales

Within its first week of international sales, Legends outsold Origins, with the Wii U version selling the most copies. However, a month later, Ubisoft reported that the launch failed to meet their financial expectations. One million units were sold by November 2013, and Ubisoft reported in early November 2014 that Rayman Legends was still selling well and contributing to the company's earnings. As of February 4, 2019, Rayman Legends has sold 4.48 million copies across all platforms, including the PS Vita and Nintendo Switch.

Remake

On 2 June 2026, Ubisoft announced Rayman Legends Retold, co-developed by Ubisoft's divisions in Milan and Montpellier in the Snowdrop engine. In addition to a new 2.5D visual style, the remake adds 3D segments during gameplay, new levels, new minigames, a new soundtrack by the original composer Christophe Héral along with Grant Kirkhope, and full voice acting (including David Gasman as Rayman and Billy West as Murfy, both reprising their roles from Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc). The first standalone console Rayman game since the original Legends, it is set to be released on 1 October 2026 for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.

When asked why Ubisoft decided to remake Rayman Legends, Rayman brand producer Loïc Gounon said that Rayman Legends Retold was intended to serve as a foundation for the future of the franchise. In a separate interview with GamesRadar+, Gounon said Ubisoft believed it might be time to return to more adventurous 3D Rayman games, adding that such a direction was the plan "if everything goes well". When asked regarding the fate of previous releases of Rayman Legends on modern platforms, the official Rayman Twitter account confirmed they’d be “staying put”.