Essentially The gamepad functionality in Rayman Legends is just a less intuitive method of using wii mote as an on screen pointer. When I played the demo, I thought having to look between the 2 screens just to control your fairy friend was a tad exhausting if you're playing on a tv and damaging to the pace of the game (not to say its not enjoyable). Playing the Pupeteer demo with PS move, I was reminded that there have been many games with a similar gameplay mechanic of having a companion to interact with the environment on the wii and they all work better than the gamepad set up IMO (Mario Galaxy, Zack and Wicky and Lost Winds amongst the most notible).

Lost winds, one of the games that used a similar mechanics on the wii.

Would you rather play the game with the wii mote and Numchuck, or with the gamepad? 

So far the game is confirmed to support classic control and wii remote play (horizontal), but no word on whether it will support wii mote and numchuck.

gamepad all the way. played the demo and it sold me on the controls

I HATE the wiimote.

So gamepad always and forever.

this a serious thread? The gamepad is what sold me on the game lol. Never was into Rayman before.

Do you mean Lostwinds?  It was a pretty good platformer on WiiWare.  It also had a sequel that was even better.  They are exploration style platformers if you are interested in that sort of thing.

Have you played any of the above games on wii or games with similar mechanics? Their set up works exactly the same as rayman with the gamepad. I found rayman fun but thought it suffered from minor issues that are not present when using the wii mote and numchuck where the entire focus is on one screen and at no point do you need to priotise controlling the avatar/fairy above platformin. One of the best things about rayman orgins is building momentum, having to use the touchscreen slows that momentum down IMO.

Actually I had the exact same thought when I played the demo. The gameplay would be simplier and better (not having to drop eyes) with the IR of the wiimote. I saw nothing in the demo that couldn't have been done, and most likely done better on Wii. Aside from the asymmetrical gameplay aspects, I felt the same about many Nintendoland games I played.

Wiimote/nunchuk all the way.

platform games are more suitable with the gamepad functionality in mind, leave the wii mote plus numchuck for FPS.

You could definitely play Legends with a wiimote, but I don't think it offers a distinct advantage over the gamepad for a 2D platformer.

Gamepad. Works flawlessly.