Opinion: Why Rayman Origins Is 2011's Most Overlooked Game

I'll freely admit that when I placed Rayman Origins (9/10) in the bottom third of my Top 15 Best Games of 2011 list, it was mainly because I had only played the first few levels of the beautiful platformer and so couldn't properly determine its overall quality. Having now ploughed some hours into the game, I can now state without doubt that this is the best platforming game I've ever seen on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 (LittleBigPlanet included!), a stunning turn by Ubisoft that puts nearly every other platformer released this generation to shame. Central to this is the wonderful art style- a masterclass in how to get 'kiddie animation' right, Origins employs overwhelming vistas of deep beauty that often threatens to be the death of you when you're busy gaping at it rather than playing it. On top of that, though, there's a great whimsical soundtrack, a shallow yet nostalgic plot and best of all dozens of innovative levels that harken back in terms of creativity to the 16-bit days of Super Mario Bros and Sonic The Hedgehog; yep, it's really that good! Why, then, has Rayman Origins barely sold 500,000 copies since its release back in November, when Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 shipped three times this on its opening day alone? There are a few reasons why I think Origins is sadly one of the year's most overlooked titles, and I'll give my own thoughts on each of these...
RELEASE WINDOW- Quite why Ubisoft thought it would be a good idea to release their new Rayman game, a risky reboot likely to alienate much of its hardcore audience with its cutesy visuals, in such a busy season as Q3/Q4 when Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Gears of War 3, Forza Motorsport 4, Need for Speed: The Run, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3, Batman: Arkham City, Uncharted 3, Zelda and so many other big titles were on their way is beyond me. Had the publisher either delayed the game to a Spring 2012 release window (this for me would have seemed the best tactic) or released it in the rather bleak Summer of Gaming when the best we got was L.A Noire (8.5/10) is beyond me! At the very least, the publisher should have sensed something was wrong when they were releasing Assassin's Creed: Revelations (9/10), which while in many ways the weaker game (though not completely) boasted a greater fanbase appeal. Had Ubisoft delayed or moved forward Origins' release, I think their sales margin could have been far greater than it turned out.
THE VISUALS- This was always going to be a sore point: games with such wonderful animated graphics are often restrained to the Xbox Live Network and PSN due to many gamers' seeming animosity towards them, so Origins was undoubtedly taking a risk in marketing itself as a full retail product.I reckon £40 is a totally worthwhile investment for such a finely-tuned, stunning title, but the graphical style may well have convinced many potential buyers not to part with their hard-earned cash.
CRITICS' LACK OF ATTENTION- Rayman Origins holds an average score of 91% on Metacritic- that makes it the eighth highest scoring game on their list for the last 90 days, which encapsulate all of the big Q3/Q4 releases. That's a truly impressive feat given the nature of that daunting list of greats, and something Ubisoft should be immensely proud of right now, a definite indicator of the need for a sequel if there ever was one. Still, while I'm glad Origins was recieved so well critically, I still think it deserves much more attention than it got- for example, its 9/10 review was relegated to a half-page in the Official Xbox Magazine, almost seeming an afterthought in the flood of recent games. Had critics really emphasised what a breakthrough Origins is for 360/PS3 platforming and encouraged more hardocre gamers to buy it, its sales margin could have increased dramatically, and we wouldn't be in this sorry situation today.
SLIM MARKETING- But most criminal of all was Ubisoft's apparent lack of care for any kind of marketing campaign for Origins. We got just a few posters and demos for the game, something shared by average titles like Dead Island, RAGE and Spider-Man: Edge of Time, none of which the developer should ever have to associate with having produced a product which is such a league of its own compared to them. If and when Ubisoft commisions a sequel for release in the near future (hopefully), they need to seriously rethink their marketing campaign, as Origins deserved so much more!
So, there you have it- my reasons why Rayman Origins appears to have been overlooked by the vast majority of gamers. I encourage you now to at the very least give this one a rental in this upcoming brief time of relative quiet for the world of video gaming, because despite feeling like it's over a little too soon (more because of the sheer enjoyment you'll get out of every moment) and like there are many more innovations still to come, it really is one of the most fun and striking games I've played for a long, long time! Need proof of its brilliance? Just watch the beautifully rendered video below...