App Assessment: Rayman Jungle Run

Ubisoft has released their own entry in the popular one-button, free-running genre with our limbless hero, Rayman.

Rayman Jungle Run by Ubisoft is essentially what you get playing Rayman Origins with a busted controller that only lets you move Rayman ahead of the level. The spin-off casual title is split into four of Rayman’s abilities that are unlocked as you complete each set of 9 levels.

The game feels very much like Rayman Origins, having been built on the same UbiArt framework, except it is the game that will be doing the moving, and the player is relegated to the one-tap controls for jumping, hovering, wall-running and the punching of enemies.

Your basic objective is to collect all 100 lums on each level, including the 3 skull coins that are worth 20 luis apiece. Working on the same model of its console counterpart, the game is all about trying again and again each time you fail, though it is near impossible to lose a “life” during the earlier parts of the game. Don’t expect to grab all 100 lums on your first run, because the levels are tricky that way.

Meeting the 100-lum mark will earn you a tooth and collecting teeth from at least 5 of these levels of unlock the tenth Land of the Dead level, which is much brutal than the normal levels with death lurking around every platform. IF you do succeed, your time is recorded on the Game Centre leader boards for posterity.

The game is wrapped around a soundtrack that will get old really fast when you keep repeating a level to try again, but the graphics are still as gorgeous on a Retina display. Collecting lums will unlock special wallpapers for your device, though there isn’t much else once you ace every level. You could, however, earn the impossible achievement for getting all 3600 lums without dying once.

Final Assessment: On the Fence
Fans of Rayman and especially Rayman Origins will want this on their devices, but those expecting a full Rayman Origins experience where you actually control Rayman will be disappointed. Don’t get me wrong. The game is really, really fun. Having the game make Rayman run on his own is actually what makes this slightly more special than a regular platforming game, so it as a special game mode DLC going for S$3.98 on the App Store. The game is also coming to Android next week.

Rayman Jungle Run by Ubisoft [iTunes App Store]

App Assessment is where we introduce interesting apps and games that land on our mobile devices. These apps may not necessarily be perfect, but are definitely worth a shot at getting from the store.