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When did Ubisoft start becoming awesome again? Who would have thought the French studio would be the one to properly reinvigorate the 2D platforming genre, thus beating Nintendo at its own game? That's how I felt when I first played Rayman Origins at last year's E3 and then the Wii U sequel at this year's.
When I saw the trailer for Rayman Jungle Run the other week, I was impressed by how fun and fluid it looked. I thought to myself, "If the limbless wonder was able to do so much good on home consoles, imagine what he could do on mobile devices!"
I'm beyond ecstatic to say that my early impressions were right on the money; Rayman Jungle Run is touchscreen platforming done oh so very, very right.
Rayman Jungle Run (Android, iOS [reviewed]) Developer: Pastagames, Ubisoft Montpellier Publisher: Ubisoft Release: September 19, 2012 (iOS) / September 27, 2012 (Android) MSRP: $2.99
What is often the biggest shortcoming of any touch-based platformer? The controls, of course. The more virtual buttons a game tries to squeeze on the screen, the more likely the game will fail to register your inputs. Without tactile feedback, it's hard to tell when you're just outside the button's input detection boundary until you tap the screen and nothing happens.
Jungle Run streamlines controls by taking a page out of auto-runners like Canabalt -- Rayman is in constant motion, so all you have to worry about is dodging obstacles. Unlike Canabalt at its ilk, you aren't running along an endless horizontal corridor, gunning for that elusive "high score." This is a true blue platformer with chasms, spikes, enemies, floating platforms, wall jumps, and other hazards.
The game is split into four worlds with 10 stages apiece. Each world introduces a new ability, giving you plenty of time to grow accustomed to a particular mechanic before the next one appears. In the first world, all you have to do is jump. Though there is a jump button in the bottom left corner, you can trigger the action by tapping anywhere on the screen, save for the top corners which are dedicated to the "restart level" and menu commands.
In the second world, you gain the hover ability, executed by holding your finger on the screen once you are airborne, which you can also use to catch air currents to lift you higher. In the third world, you are introduced to wall running, which offers some clever gravity-defying challenges. In the final world, you learn how to punch through wooden barricades and enemies along your path. Punching is mapped to a separate button in the bottom right corner which, unlike the jump button, has to be pressed, but at least it's large enough that you'll never accidentally miss a punch.
Reaching the end of a stage is not all that difficult, but your true goal is to collect Lums, the golden firefly-like critters found in every Rayman game. There are 100 Lums in each level, and finding them all will require you to take more precarious paths, intentionally miss jumps, or discover a hidden doors. By collecting all the Lums in at least five stages in a world, you'll unlock that world's tenth stage, a balls-hard run through the Land of the Livid Dead. Here, there are no Lums, only an increased risk of sudden death. Thankfully, as with all the other levels in the game, these are a minute in length tops, so there's never that sense of lost progress should you want to restart a stage.
The icing on the cake is the art, which has been pulled directly from Rayman Origins. Normally, I would call out a developer for reusing copious amounts of assets, but the graphics from Origins are so colorful, bright, and beautiful that I have no objections about their reappearance here. This is a game you play with a smile plastered across your face, nodding your head along to the cheerful music and detailed animations.
Unfortunately, the game ends full-stop upon completion of the final stage. There is no fanfare, no "congratulations" screen, just a boot back to the main menu. Feels rather abrupt, but I don't know why I was expecting anything else. Jungle Run is just a series of narrative-less challenge levels, but it's so fulfilling that at times you'll become confused into thinking it's something "greater," if that makes any sense. Not really a bad "problem" to have.
That's not to say Jungle Run doesn't offer rewards for the dedicated player. The more Lums you collect, the more wallpaper you earn, which can be saved as the background image on whatever device you are using. It's not much, but how often does a game award prizes outside of the game itself? The challenges are reward enough on their own, so these are but pleasant extras.
Rayman Jungle Run is proof that platformers can work on touch devices if you tailor the them to the strengths of the hardware rather than attempt to recreate a console experience. Had this merely been a watered-down port of Origins, it would have invited direct comparisons and highlighted the flaws of touch-based gameplay. Instead, it's a game with bite-sized levels and sensible controls yet all the action of its console brethren. This is what companion software ought to be.
THE VERDICT
9.0 /10
Superb: A hallmark of excellence. There may be flaws, but they are negligible and won't cause massive damage to what is a supreme title. Check out more reviews or the Destructoid score guide.
I hope it runs well on android >.<
I been having too many problems with compadibility with games. Some games like angry birds refuse to run properly but I had toki tori and edge run perfectly. I rad robot unicorn attack run perfectly but became unplayable after an update :/
I know the art is reused (which is more then fine), but are the levels themselves completely new or are they levels from Origins cut into smaller pieces?
"Rayman Jungle Run is proof that platformers can work on touch devices if you tailor the them to the strengths of the hardware rather than attempt to recreate a console experience."
So let me get this straight, a constant run, barely any skill platformer is proof you can do platformers on mobile?
Haha, I was gonna say the same thing, emayer. I loved Rayman Origins, it looked great and felt great, but it felt similar to DKCR which had better controls, better level design and was more exciting.
@emayer & Pandareus
Me too, I loved Rayman Origins, but DKCR had much better aerial movement and a quicker, more controlled feel, even with the dreaded waggle-roll (which wasn't really that bad).
Although it's a toss up as to whether the final falling-steampunk-castle level from Origins or the first secret level from DKCR wins the award for the best platforming level in years.
More on topic, considering the several levels in Origins that pretty much required constant running (all the treasure levels for example) I can certainly see how it would translate particularly well to an auto-runner for mobile.
Origins was better than DKCR, I say this as a fan of both. They play similarly (even down the bonus levels) but Rayman has the better art and more importantly, NO pointless waggling shoehorned in. Fuck shaking the wii remote while playing a precision based platformer.
Waggle is definitely a flaw of DKCR's, but everything else about the game is so fantastic. The platformimg is tight, the worlds are vibrant and imaginative, the level design is exceedingly clever and dynamic, and the difficulty is top-notch.
I pity those who are so allergic to motion controls that they'll refuse to give a damn good game like this a chance.
I wouldn't call the motion controls in DKCR "waggle". A quick shake is more like it.
It definitely would have been better to give players the option to map that move to a button on the classic controller, but with a little physical dexterity and practice, it's easy enough to pull off the shake move with precision and proper timing.
I love DKCR, but whether you call it a shake or a waggle, you're right, Holmes; they should have had an option to assign "roll" to a button. Having to use motion controls for such an essential move really took me out of it and frustrated me when it came time to do those tight speed runs.
I'm sorry but of ALL the platforming games I've played this generation nothing lit my spark quite like Rayman Origins, it was just executed THAT WELL.
This comes from a gamer who shares a strong passion for platforming games. I mean I own a copy of every side scrolling Mario game with the exception NSMB 2, and a copy of every side scrolling Sonic game, as well as games like DK Country, Aladdin, Bubsy, Hook, etc.
That's not to take away from the many other fine platformers that have come along the way, but Origins really is just that well crafted with beautiful animation, smooth gameplay and hella fun multiplayer.
I'm just gonna be the dick who blatantly states that 'mobile gaming will never live up to console gaming' which is really a crock of dooky as well (it's quickly drawing more support as technology improves). I just hate mobile gaming because a phone was meant to be used for communication purposes, not gaming (imo).
@emayer, Holmes - A controller shake that would be better off mapped to a button, I think, perfectly defines waggle.
I've given the game a chance, and the nature of the input is just wholly unappealing to me. Gameplay is my most revered tenet when playing a game, and when an important command is forced onto an unenjoyable input, that really tarnishes my experience.
The controller is the interface between a player and their game, and the facilitator to my enjoyment. When that interface blemishes the experience, similarly to how a chain is as strong as its weakest link, my entire experience is lowered.
To illustrate my point with hyperbolic example, with a little practice and physical dexterity, banging my head on the wall to squash a bug is easy enough... but that doesn't mean I want to do that, especially not in a genre that's hugely defined by its precision-based inputs. The previously existing method of input, physical button pressing, is unarguably more precise, and intrinsically less frustrating. The verdict of the 'quick shake/waggle' is that it's either not a big deal or a game breaker. That sounds like a terrible replacement for the tried and physical buttons - and that's also how I generally feel about touch controls (which is why I hope this has Xperia Play support!).
I hate how Origins' run button is mapped to triggers. I think a function as vital as that deserves a face button. This flaw, however, does not and should not sour everything else the game does well.
I've had zero issues with the shake-to-roll in DKCR, but then again I've only played through the first world. Maybe the rest of the game demands more precise roll timing or something.
@revrevolution
And game consoles were meant to only play games without the hassle of PC shortcomings, but they are multimedia hubs with digital content and they require patches and updates. Things happen.
And if you are upset about playing games on an iPhone, use the iPod touch instead. That way, you won't actually be playing on a phone. Problem solved.
@Tony
If I know you as much as I think I know you based on what I've gleaned from your writing, I'd bet that if you attempted to do all the time trials in DKCR, you'd wish that there was an option to map "roll" to a button.
Also, I agree that a game like this (Jungle Run) is a stunning example of how you can make classic gameplay language work with new mediums. That being said, I am hoping for a PC port (or a 3DS port, for that matter), because I'm never going to have a cell phone.
"I wouldn't call the motion controls in DKCR "waggle". A quick shake is more like it."
Sorry, but that's the very definition of splitting hairs. Incidentally check out 'waggle' in the dictionary:
'v.intr. To move shakily; wobble: waggled down the steps.'
I assume you mean that it didn't bother you and I have to say that I tend to agree with you. The shake to roll has only given me a couple of issues, so it doesn't bother me too much. That said it's unnecessary and would be better served by button presses (at least as an option).
I have not attempted time trials, no. I'm sure its something that I could adapt to with little frustration. As someone who has owned a Wii since the beginning and was never as bothered by most motion implementations as others have been, I see such controls as nothing more than skills that need to be honed in order to perform flawlessly.
@Tony
It stands that DKCR is a modern platforming classic. If you ever play it and 100% it, I still bet you'd see the lack of a button for "roll" as a poor design choice.
God I need this. Origins absolutely blew me away, and more of that is a good thing. I hope they go straight for the difficulty on these, cause anyone that did Land of the Livid dead will tell you, when Rayman wants to challenge, an autorun function just saves you the job of holding down the button yourself.
Also, if Stealth thinks that there is no skill to the new Ubi Rayman games somebody needs to get that man a spoon so he can eat my ass.
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