Rayman Origins

Origins moves with the quick-change artistry of a Chuck Jones cartoon, taking you from avalanches of popcorn to mysterious grottoes lurking beneath wonky fishing villages, but when it settles onto a really striking idea it’s more than capable of getting the most out of it. In a sandswept temple, for example, the game gets a good ten minutes of action from just filling the screen with clouds of angry bats, and forcing you to drive a path through the middle of them by ringing gongs that will clear them out of the way.

It’s a simple enough idea, but even here the developer pours on the invention, spacing out those gongs through a maze of twists and turns, and throwing in sudden drops and shifting platforms. For a few nail-biting moments, you become a sort of gong yourself and have to move through the level at double-speed while the bats come closer and closer. Then, at the end of it all, your reward for all this work is to risk your life once more – and in an entirely different way, no doubt - in the next level.

Origins is fun to mash through on your own, but it comes alive in co-op, with up to four people clustered around a single screen helping each other out or - just as often - sending each other to their deaths. It’s Rayman by way of New Super Mario Bros Wii, with the clutter of moving bodies making the game harder rather than easier, while each new player ups the potential for hilarious mishap.

Every playable character – after Rayman, you’re joined by Globox and two Teensies – has its own saggy, misshapen animations, but the same basic arsenal of slaps, jumps, and a haerocopter floating move, and there are lovely little interactions to discover as you smack each other around or bounce on each other’s heads. As with Mario, when you die you respawn in a floating bubble and have to wait for another player to release you. And as with Mario, strange and frantic tactics are born in the frenzy of button-mashing when all else seems lost.

Mario may not have needed this kind of back to basics approach, but Rayman really does. The oddball hero has been quietly falling to pieces for the last few years, descending into a muddle of distracting mini-games and underwhelming launch titles, so it’s good to see him back in such mesmerising form. With Origins, Ubisoft has found a perfect way to restart his cartoon heart, by the looks of it - along with a brilliant collection of old ideas to make him feel new again.