I got some great four-player gaming in with Rayman Origins this weekend at rAge. The guys I played with were complete strangers and highly varied in skill levels as well as age, but it was a really fun experience. That’s because Rayman Origins is a game that is pure quality in graphics, design and style.

It’s the New Super Mario Bros Wii of this year - the best option for a four-player local-multiplayer gaming session for friends or family looking for more than just a party game. Not that I have anything against party games.

There were three levels playable in the demo version of Rayman Origins that I played, and each level has a different theme - jungle, desert and cave. The game follows a very similar format to New Super Mario Bros Wii - 2D side-scrolling platforming with four characters on the screen at once. The main difference is that the characters are noticeably different in shape (although roughly similar in ability), and you can walk ‘through’ your friends (although you can punch them if you want), and the main attack is punching rather than jumping on things. The art-style is similar in some ways to Earthworm Jim, although with cleaner lines. It’s very attractive and the high-definition resolution (1080p) suits the genre without compromising on frame rate.

A number of distinct gameplay elements are on display in the demo. For example, you can drop in and drop out at any point in the game. I’m not sure how the gameplay adjusts (like, whether there are more hearts available when more players are in), but it’s very easy to join in while others are playing.

Like in New Super Mario Bros Wii, if one player dies they become a bubble (they don’t return in a bubble, they literally fill up with air and float around like a bubble) and if another player slaps them they return to life. You can also control your bubble as it floats around, giving a little more control over where you want to return. If all players end up as bubbles you have to start the stage again (and we didn’t experience any kind of checkpoint system in our play-through even though we died a lot).

Each player can collect what look like golden butterflies, and your ‘score’ at the end of the level is the number of butterflies you’ve collected. The player with the most is given the best position on the ‘podium,’ which is one of those funfair displays where you stick your head through and look funny because your ‘body’ is some weird-looking drawing.

Rayman Origins is quick-paced and quite tough. The gameplay is a blend of platforming and punching things - ‘X’ jumps and ‘Square’ punches (or in the case of the character I was using, blows air which hits enemies). You can also double-jump, which doesn’t jump higher but maintains your jump over a longer distance. You can run by holding down R1, and if you punch while running you do a head-butt move instead of your normal punch. Note: this was all with a certain small character with a big nose, not with Rayman himself - his moves might be slightly different in execution but they’re the same in effect.

You can die with one touch from an enemy or a spiky obstacle, although if you have found an extra heart you get an extra touch. This isn’t frustrating though, since with multiple players you always have a good chance of returning back to life (but of course, while you’re a bubble your friends will be collecting all of those yummy butterflies).

The pace is maintained by making all players follow the leader - when one player reaches a choke-point in the map everyone will be whisked through it to the other side so you all end up together again, and when one player ends the stage it ends for everyone immediately. There are also some bonus butterflies for the person who ends the stage so there’s an incentive to make things move quickly.

I’m expecting to have a great deal of fun with Rayman Origins. It’s the sort of game I will be able to play with various groups of friends and with family. The quick, punchy gameplay is backed up by a great art style, and the three levels in the demo show a lot of variety and interesting ideas. There will be over 60 levels in the final game, so it’s going to last a while as the levels are not particularly short.

Rayman Origins is out on 15 November in the US and on 25 November in Europe/South Africa. It’s on my must-get-for-holiday-time list, and if you’re the type of person who enjoys playing games with others in the same room rather than singleplayer games (or if you’re just looking for a break from the FPS/Action deluge of this holiday season) then it’s certainly a game to look at.

Purchase: