Re-releases and HD upgrades are all the rage these days in video game world and Rayman Legends, released in the distant days of 2013, has returned on the Nintendo Switch. Hurray? Yes, it’s a fantastic game! The 2D Rayman platformers have been a major highlight in mainstream gaming and, whilst it’s fashionable to ridicule Ubisoft these days, it’s proof the developer is a shining light in the industry… most of the time.

You have stunning indie titles such as Child of Light and Valiant Hearts from Ubisoft, but the developer has courted criticism for its Assassin’s Creed series, use of microtransactions, and other gubbins. Then we have Rayman Legends, an excellent 2D platformer which was released years back on pretty much everything. We’re getting definitive on the Switch, apparently, so is this good or bad news? WELL!?

Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition

Back in 2011, the sensationally good Rayman Origins launched us back into our love for video games. After a brief hiatus due to boredom with the overabundance of violent titles, we picked Origins up on the Nintendo Wii after seeing some glowing reviews and… whammo!

It was genius. Cripes, it was something old and new at once, with a dollop of surreal humour, huge amounts of imagination, stunning music, and, boy, we were sold that this era of gaming could match the golden age of the 1990s.

Rayman Legends followed it up and it’s more of the same but ramped up a bit, which is nice. It all depends on how much you love the series… or this type of game. We adore 2D platformers like this which channel the ’90s SNES heydey of brilliance, whilst adding in modern hoohahs and all that. Others might not be so enthusiastic.

Simply put, this is a game brimming with imagination and humour and we, with our earplugs in and digging away in handheld Switch mode, were swept along with it all again. It’s simply a joyous experience.

However, the Definitive tag is pushing it – it is clearly a lazy way to launch an old game with a few new features chucked in for good measure. We would be unimpressed with this corporate exercise, but the Switch breathes new life into the game anyway and, you know, it’s an excellent game.

Other downsides? It’s also an “old” game, you may already own it on your graphics box or Steam, or you may hate all this ship and, like, you don’t play kids games and, like, Nintendo sux and, like, you play grown-up games like shooty boom ratta tatta tatt CoD. Good for you!

Should I Pay Or Should I Go?

We’ve seen some genuinely scathing reviews for Definitive Edition. Whilst we agree this isn’t definitive at all, this is still an excellent game.

The usually reliable Destructoid, however, lamented the lack of graphical improvements (like, snoooooore, dudes) and handed it 4.5/10. Nonsense. If you’ve not played the game before, this is an brilliant purchase at this low price. If you have – well, handheld mode. Totally worth it for 25 squid!

Although online comments sections are usually crammed out with bitter maniacs eager to spill their bile across the internet (with video games sites offering some of the absolute worst belligerence), there was one excellent comment we came across from minky-kong:

"Now that Rayman Legends has been ported to absolutely every system available can we have a new one instead?"

Indeed. Whilst we can celebrate getting to run through this game again after multiple years, we would have preferred Ubisoft to, like, you know, make a new Rayman platformer. Capeesh? Comprende? Understand? You fathom? Deciphered? Grasped what we’re getting at? Get it? Uh!?