Ubisoft PlayStation Vita Titles Preview – Part Two

Before we start part two, have you checked out part one of the Ubisoft Vita titles? If not, then click here to read it, before checking out the rest of this article!

Ubisoft are looking to support the Vita strongly from the beginning, with some classic names being released (Lumines) as well as some amazing games from last year being brought to the console too (Rayman Origins).

Continuing the short demos that were available to me, I picked up two of the Vita’s most talked about titles and took them for spin.

Lumines: Electronic Symphony

Apparently, I’ve been living under some sort of rock for a while now, because upon picking up the Vita, this title was news to me. I hadn’t heard anything about it, despite my regular trawling of the internet for new releases, but I don’t see this as a downpoint, as it allowed me to pick up the game as a first time experience.

Immediately I started making links to Tetris, with falling, rotatable blocks bringing back past horrors of spending hours upon hours trying to get those coloured blocks in a line, however Lumines is so much more than that. It still holds the same incredibly annoying, yet highly addicting feel, but works on a different level completely.

Along with the similar, yet intriguing gameplay comes a huge array of lights and colours that will keep your eyes stuck to the screen for days, despite what the doctors might say. The game is beautiful, even though it gave a dull impression on the first look. Before long you’re seeing sparks and interesting colour combinations that had me hooked like a cat with a red pinpoint laser.

And what compliments the lights so well is the music that goes alongside it, creating beautiful melodies whilst you’re trying to wrap your head around the intense puzzle aspects of the game. And seeing as I’m a man who tries desperately to distance himself from melody making, rhythm based games, I found that I was thoroughly enjoying myself.

For a simple game, the combinations that you could create started to become mind-bogglingly complicated, and without much practice I was already stringing together long music making, colour inducing combo’s that not only gave me a large score, but was incredibly satisfying.

Will this game be a success on the Vita? Definitely. Without a doubt. Why? It’s rather simple. Lumines: Electronic Symphony has taken the cold hard winning strategies of all handheld games before it. Instead of attempting to bring a fully fledged game to the palm of your hands, it instead brings you a simple, yet highly addictive and challenging game. Lumines is a game you will want in your hands, that you can sit on the sofa and play instead of reading a book, and receive the same justifying feeling.

Rayman Origins

And it keeps on getting better. This game I HAD heard about, and I don’t even think living under a rock would have been enough to escape the utter uproar this game has made over the past two months.

Rayman’s return to fun-loving, quirky platforming peaked towards the end of 2011, with many, many people changing their GOTY decisions at the last minute to accommodate for it. The game allows for players to take on a multitude of levels that are both challenging and incredibly fun.

But I don’t need to be telling you this. Everyone’s played it, watched it, re-played it, ate it, etc, etc. I’m sure what you lovely people want to know is: Does it work on the Vita?

I doubt I’ll ever be saying these words again, as the pessimist inside me is already choking at the thought alone, however the Rayman Origins port for the Vita is perfection. An already fantastic game that made so much hype for itself fits flawlessly into the Vita format.

My first niggling suspicion was that the controls would be messed around and complicated compared to what we had been used to, to accommodate for the Vita’s positioning, but it was the smoothest game I had played during the day. Everything was where I expected it to be, and it took me literally no time to pick up and play.

The adventure and gameplay aspects weren’t tedious because I had already played it twice (okay, thrice), in fact it was refreshing, and the small screen doesn’t dampen the effect the game has on the consoles. Nothing is lost through the transition unlike many other games.

The adaptability Rayman Origins has continues to shine through and through. The game is platforming at its very best, and the Vita does not appear to tarnish that in any sort of way. Continuing the tradition, it will serve as another fantastic platform for you to indulge in some Rayman goodness once again, no matter how many times you’ve played it previously.

And despite release dates, the Vita is going to be the first time you can get your hands on a portable copy of the game, with the 3DS version not releasing until March. With an already full line-up, Rayman Origins is the diamond that sparkles amongst the releases, a diamond so bright that you’d be stupid to not even consider getting this as one of your launch titles.

I wish I could tell you I was being biased, but the game literally speaks for itself. Being able to play full HD Origins on the train will be amazing. If you were doubting your pre-order because you already owned the game, don’t, and if you have yet to pre-order, I can only highly recommend you give Rayman Origins a look. You won’t regret it.

Thanks for reading the two part feature on Ubisoft’s Vita line-up. Be sure to check out all the Vita Reviews coming out this week.