Ubisoft’s Rayman series is making a comeback this fall with Rayman Legends Retold, a total reimagining of 2013’s Rayman Legends, Ubisoft announced during PlayStation’s June 2026 State of Play showcase. The remake will launch on Oct. 1 for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.
Co-developed by Ubisoft Milan and Montpellier, the remake rebuilds Rayman Legends in Ubisoft’s proprietary Snowdrop engine. (That’s the engine that powered Star Wars Outlaws and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.) As you’d expect, that brings some overhauled art direction to Retold, but there’s much more to the remake than flashy visuals. In a hands-on demo ahead of its reveal, gamexplore played through Retold’s first two worlds and got a sense of its brand-new levels, voice acting, music, and more.
On the remake scale, Rayman Legends Retold lies somewhere between Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Dragon Quest VII Reimagined. The basics haven’t changed much: It’s still a quirky platformer where Rayman hops over obstacles, using Murfy to tickle enemies and cut ropes. Its creative levels haven’t aged a day, nor have the tricky side challenges you need to pull off in levels to rescue Teensies or collect coins.
The most immediate difference is in production value. Though still cartoon-like in nature, the updated visuals make it look more like a modern CG-animated film. The level backgrounds have way more depth and detail, giving you a much greater sense of place while you’re wandering through a swamp. There are brand new 3D cutscenes that flesh out the story, the lighting is more realistic, and characters are now fully voiced. (Retold will feature eight language options in total.) You can even see some of the pores on Rayman’s nose in cutscenes. None of that is better than the charming original, per se, but it does come off as though Ubisoft is preparing to turn Rayman into a mainstream multimedia hero.
The real value of Retold is in its brand-new content. It adds a sixth world meant to close off the revamped story in a more climactic manner. It will feature five levels and a new final boss, all of which can be played in four-player co-op. Additionally, Retold will bring additional music stages (featuring some modern songs, Ubisoft teased), an “evolved” version of the Kung Foot minigame, and more options in the Cave of Trials mode.
While I didn’t get a chance to try any of that, I did try one of Retold’s other new features: Dragon Rides. These are new 3D levels featured at the end of every world where Rayman gets on the back of a dragon and flies to the next area. They’re spectacle-heavy shoot-’em-up levels where you need to dodge around approaching obstacles as you fly and shoot fireballs. It’s a slight inversion of Legends’ typical levels in how it handles collectibles. Here, you start with an army of Teensies on your dragon. Each time you take a hit, you lose one. You only collect the ones that make it to the end with you.
The two levels I played were a fun change of pace and a smart way to visualize what moving between worlds looks like. The only quirk is that aiming your fireballs at obstacles can be tricky since there’s no reticle to guide your shot. Otherwise, the levels slot in naturally to the story’s flow and make sense with the new cinematic art style.
The new content comes with one more surprise: Retold features 55 minutes of new music. It’s composed by both Rayman Legends composer Christophe Héral and Grant Kirkhope, the legendary musician behind Donkey Kong 64, Banjo-Kazooie, and more. Kirkhope previously collaborated with Ubisoft on its Mario + Rabbids series, and teamed up with Héral for Sparks of Hope’s Rayman in the Phantom Show DLC.
Is a full remake of a 2013 platformer that still very much feels modern really necessary? Perhaps not, but it’s nice to see Ubisoft going the extra mile with Retold anyway. It’s a substantial reimagining that doesn’t mess with the existing platforming excellence; it just builds around that foundation in respectful ways. The promise of a totally new world is exciting, and Dragon Rides are a nice original touch. The more detailed visuals and cutscenes hardly feel necessary for a Rayman game, but I suppose they offer a tease of what’s to come for the series. During a video presentation, Ubisoft stressed that Retold is the start of a “new era” for the Rayman franchise. It sure sounds like an entirely new game could be in the pipeline and Retold is showing you what to expect. Whether that will catapult Rayman back into the mainstream spotlight is yet to be seen, but it will at least give more people an excuse to revisit a great platformer.
Rayman Legends Retold will be released Oct. 1 for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. It will retail for $40, which is the same price as Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition on Nintendo Switch.
