Mobile Monday: Rayman Jungle Run

As part of Ubisoft’s recent, and much needed, revival of the classic Rayman Series(that being NOT raving Rabids) with Rayman Origins and the upcoming Rayman Legends, they have decided to jump on the mobile bandwagon an release the first Rayman Mobile Title, Rayman Jungle Run. When I first heard about this game, I am going to be honest; I assumed it was another Temple Run rip-off that Ubisoft shat out to try to get in on the popularity. But, I was pleasantly surprised by the simple, Unique and fun game that they released. You play the title character, Rayman, as you dash, jump and fly through a jungle-themed obstacle course and grab all the “Lums”. It’s a simple concept but is extremely well executed. Each level is fast-paced and short in length but the perfectionists will end up playing through each level to make sure and grab every single of the 100. No easy feat as you progress into the harder levels.

Mechanically it’s a runner style game: as soon as your character starts running, you keep moving forward unless you jump or hit an obstacle, sort of in the light of Bit.Trip Runner. But, unlike its predecessors it adds some additional control elements like wall jumping and hovering; not new concepts to the games industry, but perfect to change things up and keep things interesting in an already well-polished game experience.

It has the usual level and world progression that you would think of in a typical platformer. The difficulty is just right and progresses at a good pace, and you don’t feel like new mechanics are really thrown at you when you haven't even grasped the current ones. As you progress to other worlds you gain access to new abilities like hovering and wall running, and they do an excellent job showing you how to use them without a hand-holding tutorial.

At $2.99 it was a little more expensive than the average run of the mill Mobile game, but I promise the polish and fun of the game make it worth every penny of your hard-earned fun money. Rayman Jungle Run is available now on iOS and Android!