Rayman Legends Retold Doubles Down on Its Best Feature With a Dozen Musical Levels

Ubisoft Montpellier and Ubisoft Milan have expanded Rayman Legends Retold with a dozen musical levels, doubling the celebrated rhythm-action segments that made the original 2013 platformer a cult classic, ahead of its 3 December 2026 launch across PC, PS5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X/S. The twinned studios are leaning into the game’s most beloved inheritance rather than reinventing it, and after spending several hours with the title — including both a remade and a brand-new musical level — the preview build suggests the delicate balance between goofy charm and platforming precision has been preserved.

The original Rayman Legends introduced its signature musical levels at launch, turning gibberish renditions of hits like “Black Betty,” “Eye of the Tiger,” and “Woo-Hoo” into some of the series’ most iconic moments. They distilled everything the franchise stood for: playful, slightly silly joy delivered through mild platforming peril that is “not too hard, not too easy.” When the Retold remake was first announced, the prospect of moving the game from pure 2D to 2.5D raised concerns that the illusion could be broken. Those fears appear to have been unfounded.

A Dozen Songs, Two New Additions

So far, two new musical levels have been confirmed. The first is inspired by the Macarena, and at one point in the madcap dash through a Mexican wrestling rink-cum-kitchen, players get to watch the luchador boss they’ll face later performing the iconic dance.

The second is inspired by MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This.” Together with the six original songs, these bring the total to a dozen — though the preview notes that, by his count, four more remain unaccounted for.

“It has been one of the best experiences of my life, to be honest,” says Marco Renso, animation and realisation director on Rayman Legends Retold at Ubisoft Milan, when asked about working on the new musical levels. “As a game dev, I’ve always loved musical levels, but working on new ones… it doesn’t happen often that you get to work on something so creative and enjoyable. Making it all come together is like conducting a composition yourself; every asset, every beat, it has to work together to create a rhythm and pacing experience.”

Marco Renso, Ubisoft Milan

Renso describes the musical levels as “one of the most creative environments possible,” where every element must sync to create a cohesive rhythm and pacing experience. The design philosophy is as much about delighting the player as it is about making them smile, and the new tracks are intended to be transgenerational — songs that both older and younger players can enjoy together, whether a child points out “that’s my track” or a parent recalls growing up with the tune.

A “Russian Doll” Engine

Crucially, the gameplay feels exactly the same as the original game — a deliberate choice, given how a divergence in mechanics could have alienated the fanbase. This is because the UbiArt Framework, which powers the physics, gameplay mechanics, and collision, runs inside another engine that handles the visuals, audio, and rendering. The result is a “Russian doll” effect: the core still runs as it did originally, but re-rendered more beautifully.

The shift to 2.5D also opened up new storytelling opportunities. Renso points to the zip lines featured in several musical levels as an example, where a long stretch can be a moment with no required input — a chance to bend the camera and appreciate the background spectacle before being thrown back into the action.

Difficulty and DNA

On the question of difficulty, Loïc Gounon, brand producer at Ubisoft Montpellier, acknowledges that Rayman is not a hyper-casual platformer, even as the studio aims to get parents to play alongside their kids. “Rayman is not Hollow Knight,” he says. “But still, there is a DNA of die-and-retry platforming here. So it’s not, like, a hyper-casual platformer, but it’s also not the most hardcore Metroidvania, either.”

“The toughest part has been choosing the tracks,” Gounon laughs. “There’s so many options early on. But when it comes to the selection of tracks, we wanted to have a bit more choice, you know? We wanted more tracks for everyone. We really want something for everyone.”

Loïc Gounon, Ubisoft Montpellier

Looking Ahead

Gounon has previously described Rayman Legends Retold as a “new starting point” for the franchise, and his own history with the series runs deep — he played the original on PS1 as a launch title and worked on Rayman 4 in 2006 before joining Ubisoft. “This isn’t just a one-shot remake; it’s part of a much bigger picture that we hope is going to capture original fans, but also their kids, and introduce them to this wonderful world.”

The game was delayed from 1 October to 3 December 2026 in order to “make sure every detail gets the care it deserves.” Ubisoft has delayed Rayman Legends Retold The revised window should see the title launch into a less crowded market, arriving on Steam, Epic, PS5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X/S just before the November release of another major franchise title.