I've played Rayman Legends Retold - it's what you'd expect and that's a very good thing

It's been an astonishing 13 years since the last mainline entry in an iconic gaming series - and no, I'm not talking about Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto franchise.

I'm on about Ubisoft's popular mascot Rayman. He's not had his own mainline game since Rayman Legends released back in 2013.

But he's now back as Ubisoft is revisiting and reimagining the classic platformer, this time entirely built in 3D which plays as a 2.5D platformer, with Rayman Legends Retold.

There's a new story, fully voiced cinematics, a new villain, a sixth realm and new levels on top of what was already in the original.

I've been hands on with the first few levels of Rayman Legends Retold and although there are loads of new elements to a platforming classic, it still feels like a familiar Rayman game - which is a very good thing.

In classic Rayman fashion, controls are straightforward but level design means you need to master them quickly to progress / Ubisoft

Rayman Legends Retold is a rediscovery and expansion of Rayman Legends in 3D. With it being fully 3D animated, the game does lose that hand-painted 2D art style which I do miss but Retold still looks good on the whole.

The gameplay is still quintessential Rayman Legends, just with more of it, and that's good. I played a work in progress build of a handful of levels through the first two realms, the Old Teensie Kingdom and The Stinkbog, and the Rayman formula is in full effect from the off.

As well as getting from point A to point B with various platforming challenges in front of you, you also have to find and rescue Teensies. There are 10 in each level, eight of which you'll find when progressing and with the other two, you have to find hidden entrances and complete a challenge to rescue them. These act like minigames.

Like Rayman Legends, the 2D levels start out deceptively simple, very gently easing you in with simple mechanics like jumping, punching, ground pounding etc and introduces companions such as Murphy who can cut things like rope and rotate certain objects.

As always in Rayman games, timing is key / Ubisoft

But you quickly have to master these to progress through further levels as the challenges presented to you increase in difficulty fairly steeply. This is incredibly fun though and I never felt annoyed at failing, it just made me determined to do better.

It's helped that there isn't that much of a penalty if you get a certain section of a level wrong, you'll respawn pretty much just before that tricky section starts. That's crucial for maintaining the momentum and making Rayman Legends Retold never feel like a frustrating slog.

There are a number of 3D levels, like the dragon ride ones, making it a 2.5D platformer and these are great at helping break up the 2D levels. There are new musical levels too but I didn't have the chance to play any of these yet.

I've had a blast with Rayman Legends Retold and can't wait to play more of it.

The 3D animation for Rayman Legends Retold looks great but I do miss the distinctive hand-painted 2D art style / Ubisoft

Now for some of the background and additional features of Rayman Legends Retold - it's a new era for Ubisoft, according to developers, and Ubisoft Montpellier and Ubisoft Milan have been developing this together for two years.

Ubisoft is using the Snowdrop engine to develop it, which is the same one the studio has used for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Star Wars Outlaws and Tom Clancy's The Division.

There are five brand new levels along with a new boss and a new game ending. Couch co-op is seamless and up to four players can join at any time.

There are additional game modes too, including Kung Foot Evo with more depth and options than before and Cave of Trials, an endless platforming challenge mode.

Rayman Legends Retold releases on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC on 1 October and will be priced at $39.99 / €39.99.

Elsewhere from Indy100:

• Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition shows Pokemon how to do a celebration release
• I've played three hours of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced - there's one thing I can't get enough of

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