Rayman Legends Coming To Vita

Five exclusive levels, challenge mode, multiplayer, touch controls and much more.


Ubisoft has confirmed that Rayman Legends will come to PlayStation Vita on August 30th in Europe and September 3rd in North America. The announcement follows news earlier this year that the former Wii U exclusive is also headed to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and marks the first portable version to be announced thus far.

According to Ubisoft, Legends on Vita will use touch controls "to zoom, take out enemies, and manipulate platforms, cut ropes to clear a path and much more." Legends will also feature two-player multiplayer, online challenges, Prince of Persia and Splinter Cell-themed levels and five Vita-exclusive touch maps.

In order to understand how the Vita version will be different from the console iterations, IGN spoke with producer Abderrazzak Elkaouni -- working on the title at Ubisoft Casablanca -- about how Legends stands apart on Sony’s portable, plus what kind of exclusive content Vita players will receive.

“Rayman Legends Vita captures the magic of the other platforms while adding many unique features and fun to the game,” Elkaouni told IGN. “Players can use two consoles in local multiplayer, and play all the levels in the game in co-op mode. You can use the zoom feature at any point in the game, which gives you a chance to check out the graphics in more detail or even find some hidden goodies. One thing we’re really excited to add this year is that players can use the Rear touch pad to avoid blocking the view with their finger.”

Elkaouni also explained that compared to Rayman Origins on Vita last year, Legends takes better advantage of the system’s features, including new modes and control methods.

“Gyroscope is something we’ve featured a lot in our videos and demos for Legends and it translates really well to the Vita,” Elkaouni explained. “Second, as we said we’ve made a big improvement with the Rear Pad for the touch sequences, in order to free the player’s line of sight in game. Finally, we have been able to create specific ‘touch screen’ levels which give a whole new type of gameplay element for Vita players.”

The Vita version of Legends will also feature the challenge mode that previously came to Wii U, allowing players to “compete against your friends and players worldwide in new online challenges created daily and weekly and see how you rank on the leaderboards.”

Unlike the Vita version of Origins, Legends will feature multiplayer. According to Elkaouni, “All Rayman Legends levels are designed to be played in multiplayer mode. So you can join anyone playing at any time as Murfy who has a unique set of skills focused on the touch-based aspects of gameplay. The connection works through WiFi or adhoc console connectivity capabilities. The first player will be the host. He has to initially enable ‘open mode’ in the game preferences, and the second player will join as guest.”

Elkaouni also explained that the Vita version “includes social features connected to Facebook so you can share your scores in the challenge mode and various other modes."

The game's leaderboards offer "extended social features through the PSN. Players can compare scores with other players around the world, challenging them and adding them from the leaderboard to your list of contacts in PSN.” Legends will also include five exclusive touch-based levels on Vita (called “Murfy’s Challenges”) and “the level of difficulty is higher in these levels so your skills will most definitely be put to the test.”

More than anything, expect the Vita version to look great. Xavier Poix, managing director of Ubisoft’s French studios (including Ubisoft Paris, Annecy and Rayman developer Montpellier), told IGN the Vita version is “breathtaking,” and Elkaouni added that “top quality graphics is a huge focus for the team and definitely requires a lot of work. Since the graphics for Rayman Origins were so awesome, the graphics in Rayman Legends have to be even more awesome.”

Rayman Legends will also be released on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii U on August 30th in Europe and September 3rd in North America. For much more, check out our impressions of challenge mode, and look out for impressions of the Vita version leading up to its release.