Rayman drew the short straw. While quality Mario games continue to be released and Sonic stars in far more titles than he should, Ubisoft's limbless platforming hero has been largely forgotten. Rayman Origins is hoping to change that by bringing the series back to its roots, but at the same time making it feel more modern with ridiculously charming 2D visuals and four-player drop-in co-op. It's a game that's as fun as it is hard. And from what I played, it's really hard.

I played through three stages, and while the introductory portion was relatively simple, the last two sections were punishingly difficult. Even with a trained Rayman Origins demo-player as my co-op partner it still took a dozen or so tries to get past each level. One of the stages pits you against a boss—a giant, amorphous blob liberally covered with spikes—but you can't actually attack it. Instead, you avoid it as it chases you through a cavernous underground setting. Make a wrong jump and you land right in its mouth. Move too slowly and you'll end up with the same fate.

The other trying stage was essentially the opposite and put you in the role of the chaser. Only instead of a giant boss creature, you’re chasing a treasure chest with no desire to be opened. In order to catch it you have to navigate a ridiculous number of obstacles, including pointy blades that randomly shoot up out of virtually every surface.

When playing co-op, if your partner dies they’ll be concealed in a floating bubble that will stick around until you can give it a slap and pop it open. It's quite similar to the system in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Entering a new game is as seamless as playing on an arcade machine: you simply tap a button to enter and a new character shows up on screen. The drawback is that it doesn't look like the game adjusts the difficulty based on how many people are playing. Unlike NSMBW, though, the levels never felt empty when playing with only two people.

All of the difficulty in the game, though, is hidden beneath a layer of beautiful, high-definition 2D art. Rayman Origins simply looks stunning in motion. Every bit of the world feels alive, from the platforms that sprout arms to help swing you to safety to the incredibly detailed backgrounds. Both Rayman and his bulbous side kick animate smoothly and the whole game just makes you remember why 2D games still exist.

As a single-screen multiplayer game with beautiful visuals and challenging gameplay, Rayman Origins could be the next great platform game, something that's becoming increasingly rare. In addition to the Xbox 360 version I played, the game will also be coming to the PS3, Wii, and 3DS on November 15, while a Vita version is expected in early 2012.