I’m anticipating playing Rayman Mini soon, so I thought I’d revisit my favourite Rayman game while also catching up on this port. Is it the definitive version…??
My friend Tonya, lifelong duck aficionado, chose this for our little game club this month. Well, they picked the console game specifically but I duked and went for the handheld tie-in, and I don’t regret it.
As an addendum to my Rayman quest, I picked up two different ports of Rayman 2. Comparing the two was informative, as each has been enhanced in different ways (for some good references for this check out the Rayman PC wiki). But first, a brief rundown of the game and my impressions.
My mega playthrough of the Rayman series last year has deepened my appreciation for the series. The previous two smart device games, Jungle Run and Fiesta Run, were great and good respectively. My expectations for this game were therefore very high, especially when I found that it would contain new characters and concepts.
The wait after the game had soft-launched in New Zealand was painful. Then, it launched worldwide, but exclusively for the new Apple TV, in a weirdly skewed version of the Rayman Legends release. Turns out that the game can be played as an auto-runner like the last two, but using an Apple TV controller remote thing changed it into a free-moving style. I played it on iPad and got along perfectly fine.
Adventures really pushes the free-to-play model hard, but somehow it comes out less obnoxious than Fiesta Run. It’s been more thoughtfully designed to keep players coming back and with lots of unlockables, rather than just milking them for powerups. I still prefer Jungle Run’s simple and pure model, where I can play as many levels as I choose and perfect them, but Adventures feels fresh, plays well, and isn’t too annoying.
Excitingly, the game has an original plot. There’s something about a magic tree, and these friendly blobby creatures, and an enthusiastic ship captain guy with a flying boat. So it’s not super deep but a game like this introducing new lore is a nice bonus. The nebulous goal is to collect many creatures to restore the tree, which feels like it would require months of constant play to achieve, and I’ve started to see repeated levels so I probably won’t sustain that long.
The game has a strange and restrictive play system: you travel to one of the 5 primary worlds from Legends, do 2 or 3 levels plus an optional harder level, then get an egg and have to wait several hours for it to hatch before you can do more levels. It’s frustrating to adjust to this new “short bursts” play style but that’s what the game demands if you want to enjoy the new levels. These are the highlight of the package, coming in several varieties. For example, you may need to collect Lums, race to the finish, or defeat enemies. But the way the game uses the conventions of Legends and its own tasks to design imaginative and fun (though short) levels is the reason to play.
The blobby thingamajigs help you by scouting secrets, sucking in Lums, or giving you a damage shield. It’s not often necessary to use them; in fact I feel that their usefulness doesn’t live up to their promise. Filling up your collection of them is satisfying though, akin to Legends’ “creatures” but more fleshed out and with an unfortunate “rarity” system. As the big new gameplay mechanic they do a good job building the game around them, but I just don’t feel the need to use them most of the time.
The achievements are a good incentive, the new costumes for the four characters are neat, and the levels have nice variety. But the controls can be finicky with an expanded moveset reduced to taps or swipes. The reuse of Legends material is well done, along with introduction of unused concepts from that game such as Dracula’s Castle, ghosts, and flying pigs. You may get annoyed at the slow trickle of crystals, the game’s premium currency. As you can see, my feelings are a little mixed but my takeaway after some time of playing is positive. I heartily recommend giving it a go for as long as you can stand it.
The Ubisoft guest characters of Academy of Champions, low-res pixel style!
I played this soccer game recently, and regrettably couldn’t get far enough to unlock these and experience the novelty of this low-key Ubisoft crossover myself. The back of the box has a shot with most of these bar Jade; this picture can be seen on a retrospective that one of the developers published, wherein they themselves seem to have forgotten she’s in the game. But thanks to BG&E fansite Beyond Good & Evil Myths I was able to find this shot, to see how she looks in the game (despite the name, her presence is not a myth). Mm, BG&E was great…
Rayman, Rabbid, Jade (Beyond Good & Evil), Thief (Prince of Persia 2008), Altair (Assassin’s Creed 1), Sam Fisher (Splinter Cell)
I recently realised there were just a few things left to cover before I can really wrap up my playthrough of the “classic” Rayman games. The final two pieces of software are somewhat similar to some of the educational games made in the Rayman 1 era. I’m just going to talk about them real briefly because come on, I want to play Origins so badly!
Rayman 3 Print Studio
A simple program that was produced around the release of Hoodlum Havoc itself. It was also bundled in with 2 and 3 in some later collections. It allows you to arrange pictures, text, and graphic elements to make collages in a number of templates, such as greeting cards or bookmarks. The pictures are renders and concept art from 3 and apparently also from 2, including for example a previously unseen concept of Ly (although that could have been from the planning stages of 3, I don’t know). Not super educational I know, but creative. If you’re desperate to know more, just go here or see it in “action” here.
Rayman Raving Rabbids Activity Centre
This neat little application includes most of the print studio functions of the above, but with stuff related to the first Rabbids game. It also has a handful of minigames that recall those of the first title, as well as a simple painting tool. When I found out about this game I was delighted that despite so much time passing, the educational Rayman 1-based games were being revived in some way. The truth is though that the minigame format had really been converted into the main game, in a much more comprehensive way. At least it has a few other functions, and the 3 minigames it contains are actually unique to this program. Also the title screen has the massive, imposing Rabbid mech as seen in a few places outside of the lead Rabbids title. Read more here or watch this.
And that is truly it. With this, I tie a nice big bow around the entire pre-Origins Rayman series. It was quite a ride, with a lot of quality titles: 2 and 3 were very good 3D platformers, and several of the handheld games were enjoyable. As I suspected though, Origins was a triumph that surpasses anything that came before, also bringing a revitalisation of the franchise that offered great spinoffs as well. But the older games have certainly earned a place in my heart, and I do plan to go back at least for the PS2 port of Rayman 2. The chronicle of my look back at the Rayman series is here. Thank you for reading.
As part of an attempt to play a bunch of Rayman games, I branched out a little to this Ubisoft casual soccer game. It turns out I didn’t get far enough to even see Rayman. I didn’t feel too bad giving up on it though, as its relevance to the Rayman world is even less than the second and third Rabbids games, which I’ve decided to ignore.
I’d describe this game this game as “Harry Potter but with soccer instead of magic”. It’s based around a solo campaign mode where you play a soccer-loving boy/girl who has been selected for a wonderful, special boarding school all about soccer. Instead of Dumbledore we have Pele, yes the famous Brazilian football star Pele. Instead of Slytherin House there’s the rival Scythemore Academy. They serve as constant opponents in the campaign, and often use dirty tricks to skew the odds. There’s also a neat plot twist whereby your contract was faked and included a forced transfer to their school in third term.
I also got slight Psychonauts vibes from the game, with its cast of cartoony fellow students who each have requirements if you want to recruit them. The campaign is structured by terms, with each day having a few activities to get through including training, matches, shopping for new items, quizzes, etc. There’s a variety of drills that play out like minigames but they generally use a common control scheme so it feels cohesive. These allow you to upgrade your character, but only at certain times.
The forced activities structure feels limiting and although you can go back if you fail a milestone match, I just found the first one in third term too difficult. With no access to my trained squad, only myself, I couldn’t customise enough to overcome the two-goal penalty. Am I going too in-depth? What I mean is, it got hard and upgrading is slow. Also my skills apparently hadn’t improved to the point where I could score goals reliably, especially as the opponents got tougher. That’s when I realised that all that was standing between me and playing Rayman Origins, one of my favourite games of the last decade, was a concession that this game had beaten me.
Although the game can be frustrating to play and inconsistent in its difficulty, it has appeal. The characters are cute and the look of the fields is impressive, with colourful and eventful backdrops that change as a match progresses. Not to mention the curved playing surface which evokes an Animal Crossing world. The school hub also has some visual character.
Its status as an Ubisoft crossover also was a draw for me. Characters like the Prince of Persia (2008) will turn up, and apparently later Rayman, Jade (Beyond Good & Evil) and Altair from the first Assassin’s Creed, although I didn’t get to see them. There are costume options such as Rayman gloves or Jade’s camera that you can wear. It’s just too bad this stuff is mostly saved for late in the game, as the only way to unlock it for multiplayer use even is to progress the campaign. What’s more present are Rabbids; running the shop, and serving as opponents in a variety of drills, it’s nice to see them integrated into the world and it even makes sense with the later Rabbids games.
I can’t really recommend this game. I know I’m more persistent than a lot of people with sticking with games, and who knows this game might hit you in the right spot, or your kids for that matter. But I wanted to play soccer with Rayman, and I just couldn’t do it, and it lost its fun factor for me. At least it looks nice, and they don’t shoehorn in too many motion controls (Wii Motion Plus support is optional… heck, it might help to play better but I ain’t trying it now). DNF
Rounding out the Raving Rabbids games proper that I’m covering in this playthrough, it’s the DS version. Despite having the same cover art and name, the three versions (Wii/PC/XB360, GBA, DS) are very distinct. In this case, it’s a combination of traditional 2.5D platformer and touch-controlled autorunner, with some minigames thrown in. It’s based more closely on the console version as it exists than the GBA one, which worked out some of the project’s concepts.
I’d explain that partly by it coming a few months after the initial Wii/GBA release. The later development time also seems to inform the plot, as the opening cutscene mentions the Rabbids invading Earth, which seems to be borrowed from the in-development-at-the-time Raving Rabbids 2. In-game evidence, however, suggests that it’s the same setting in the Glade of Dreams as the first game.
Costumes return; four this time, with new elemental affinities. They’re activated by corresponding pads, and the cues in the level leave no confusion about which is required. It’s simple but works for blocking off areas or what have you. The gating is important because each level has 2 or 3 different paths you can take by replaying it, which require jumping around between the level menu hubs when new abilities are unlocked.
So each level has 3 phases: the first is in 2D platforming style with 3D models on an occasionally rotating plane. Finishing this phase takes you to a minigame, either converted from a corresponding one in the Wii game or made new for the touch screen. After this is an autorunning part, seen in the screenshot where costume powers are freely available and you have to use the touch screen and power-switching to remove obstacles. It’s reminiscent of the Murfy-only parts of Rayman Legends. Later in the game you get a flying machine thing which works like the autorunning bits but with shooting and a grappling plunger gun.
An interesting thing about this game is its look and feel; it’s seemingly built with the same engine and some assets from the DS port of Rayman 2. It’s got the same font and sound effects, and some carryover mechanics and animations (including an overly sensitive ledge grab). It’s cool that they repurposed it for a 2D game, but one that feels so very different to the actual 2D Rayman games. On the other hand, music is taken from the console Rabbids game, heavily featuring the dance tracks (yes, especially Girls Just Wanna Have Fun), and loading screens show what looks like Rabbid concept art.
The level designs are quite simple, with nothing too challenging. Enemies are Rabbids with different weapons such as plunger guns or vehicles, the elephant demon guys (seen in the screenshot) from the graveyard parts of the console game, and various other creatures, some unique to this game (including a flying robot fish boss). You deal with them with a basic short-range punch attack, or a longer-range and more powerful attack that throws a Yellow Lum, looking like the attack from R2. Yes, in this game Yellow Lums are not special or finite but common ammunition. They can also be cashed in for health at certain spots so it’s not a bad idea, but the game throws them at you so often that after a few capacity upgrades I constantly used them and never ran out, so it’s not too balanced. Enemies drop stars that fill an experience meter, which on level up will increase your max health. Again interesting idea but it tops out well before the game’s end, and it would have been nice to do something else with that other than health upgrades.
So the DS game is an interesting little concoction; take a brace of Rabbids, a dash of Rayman 2, and mix in a whole lot of odd new gameplay ideas that don’t always work super well in practice. It goes to show that overall the first Rabbids instalment had some unique things to offer for the series as a result of being a combination of Rayman stuff with the emerging Rabbids phenomenon with their associated, shall we say, “voice”. It’s not the most fun or polished game, but I appreciated it as “Rayman done differently”.
Until now I haven’t really dealt with reconciling the three original Rabbids games to each other and the greater Rayman universe. But now that they’re done let’s have a quick crack. It doesn’t help that they each feel so different, but here’s how I see the plot. The Wii version doesn’t have much of a resolution but the final shooter segment does show Rayman plundering their base, followed by his escape. Of the important named Rabbids, Pink is destroyed but Serguei unharmed. The GBA version must be after this, as this time when Rayman is captured they’re not so lenient and confiscate his hands. Since the Glade has now had time to react to the surprise invasion, Ly and Murfy have shown up to help. The game ends with Rayman defeating a prominent Rabbid contraption, which is sometimes referred to as their mothership. This must be when they decide to leave the Glade and set their sights on easier targets, namely Earth, which carries into future Rabbids games. The DS game possibly represents Rayman trying to abort their invasion of Earth before they’ve left. He defeats Seguei at the end (named as Rabble Droid in the game), tying up the loose end of the power structure established in the console game. This vacuum is filled in later games, though, apparently, and his efforts aren’t enough to prevent the invasion of Earth. Oh well, at least they’re not bothering the Glade anymore. That’s my summary, and it’s possibly more thought than the developers put into maintaining a consistent narrative! Nah, just kidding, they’re alright.
So that’s the main releases of the Raving Rabbids era covered. But there’s a few little things to go, not least of which are the next few mobile titles. Keep track of the Rayman posts I’ve made here.
It’s hard not to get wistful about what Raving Rabbids could have been—a full-blown adventure with silly but sinister bunnies invading Rayman’s peaceful world—but even with the waggle-tastic party game that it became, you can see glimpses of that concept coming through.
That’s not to write off the party game that it became. Like any minigame collection there are some duds, but a lot of them are enjoyable and use the Wii remote in interesting ways (albeit ways we’ve now seen many times and have become bored with). It is important to remember that this was a Wii launch title, and a spinoff like this is fair enough. The later games are less interesting though as the Rabbid concept evolves (or devolves) into its own “forced wackiness” thing as it loses its connection to Rayman.
So the idea is that Rayman gets captured (along with some baby Globoxes with a strange new appearance) and forced by the Rabbids to compete in a series of trials for their amusement. As he wins more events, he is awarded plungers which he eventually uses to escape his prison cell. Meanwhile, the Rabbids gain more and more respect for him, although that doesn’t really amount to anything. The periodic light gun shooter-style segments were my favourite part; they are the bits that primarily show Rayman’s rescue of the Globoxes although that too is undermined in the ending; still, the final challenge as you shoot your plunger gun while roaming through the menacing and mysterious Rabbid base is atmospheric and climactic. There’s just still a disconnect between the framing device and these sections that reveals the true nature of the game as a fun tech demo party game… thing.
As I said you expect some dud minigames, and some that even block your progress, but the story mode has the concession that only three out of every four games must be passed. There’s always one dancing game in a set, with covers of songs in various genres with Rabbid-style vocals including, infamously, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. I found these easy; generally, the precision games were the difficult ones for me although momentary motion control failures could also be troublesome for the action-based ones.
I think the highlight was some of the visual design, seeing how the concepts of the Rabbid characters like Serguei and Pink, robotic bunny mechs, and different locations had come through from the concepts to the finished product. The locations range from Wild West deserts, junkyards, to more abstract settings like inside a Rabbid’s brain, to Rayman 2-style beaches and graveyards (these were particularly atmospheric). There’s other creatures involved too like sheep, pigs, and cows with odd proportions, rideable giant bats and warthogs, and these elephant demon things that are seen in the graveyard. Rayman’s costumes seem an important part of the Rabbids thing; in this game they’re purely cosmetic but you can mix and match bits of them… seeing Rayman in pants though is just weird.
Some of the minigames feel like a chore, but some are quite fun. It’s not a real Rayman game to be sure, but it’s set in his world and you can see through the waggling and silliness to the idea that the Rabbids would have been important to Rayman’s story; that aspect is still there at least in this instalment. And I embrace them as part of his history, but I’m also glad he was able to continue having platforming adventures without them.
The Rabbids are resented among some Rayman fans. For a while they “took over” the series with overly juvenile humour, minigame collections rather than platformers, and a shifting focus away from Rayman, his friends, and his world (after the first one, I think they’re mostly set on Earth, and Rayman himself disappears after the third). For the purposes of my series playthrough, I’m covering the first instalment only, as I think it’s still in the Glade of Dreams and its handheld iterations are platformers.
And if you’ve been following the series, there’s no way you’d want to miss this. The minigame focus of the first main Rabbids game was the result of a drastic change in design partway through development. This small GBA game is the successor not only of the original Rabbids platform adventure, but combines that with concepts from an unrelated cancelled prototype for “Rayman 4”. Not only is RRR GBA the closest thing to a “proper” Rayman 4, it honours the whole series.
Firstly, it follows closely on the heels of Rayman 3 GBA. A similar art style and feel, borrowed sprites and gameplay, even the Mode 7 3D racing levels (although on the whole it’s a bit less polished those bits are at least done better here, I feel). Rayman also starts with most of the abilities he gained over that game, which are supplemented by costumes, albeit more like personas than the implementation in Rayman 3 proper. Again we have undefined creatures in cages, yellow Lums (along with red, blue, and green), and even Ly and Murfy along to help (Globox and R3-type Teensies have cameo appearances). Certain sound effects and jingles are (like both previous GBA games) carried over directly all the way from Rayman 2. Finally, thanks to the Rayman 4 concept, the environments are either new to the series or updates to Rayman 1 worlds, complete with classic and classic-feeling enemies. So we’ve come full circle.
All this together made it feel nostalgic as I played. It plays well too, with secrets tucked away but not too hidden, and strategic combat. Levels are broken up occasionally with a shooting gallery minigame (hosted by a Rabbid with a Magician hat!!), or a timed speedrun-type level. Boss fights are varied in goal, but between the cool first boss (a large Antitoon replica) and the last, a giant robotic Rabbid, you fight the same buff Rabbid multiple times, which is a bit lame. The costumes are generally underused and a bit awkward to switch to, but not an inherently bad idea.
Now it must be said: the game is very short. For me, it was over in an afternoon. As I’ve said before, it doesn’t automatically lose points for that, but I do wish there were just a few more levels, or something to do in the village hub between worlds. It’s obvious after reading about the origins of the project that this represents a fundamentally cut-down version of the Raving Rabbids/Rayman 4 vision. But, it is the only version we have of it and for that I cherish it.
It’s interesting how you can draw a line through Rayman 1 to Rayman 3 GBA to Rayman Raving Rabbids GBA, and get in a fairly consistent tone a 2D platformer experience of the whole pre-Origins series: 1, 2, a bit of 3, and what 4 could have been. The other thing I noticed was the concepts that would work their way into the revitalised Rayman series: the Organic Cave is similar to the parts inside the giant dragon in Origins and Fiesta Run, and the Rabbids’ Lair world looks so much like Legends’ castle archetype. Cool stuff! Although it’s short this comes highly recommended, if only for the concepts, the synthesis of series elements, having a real platforming adventure against menacing Rabbids. Don’t overlook it!
And here we round out the Rayman 3 era of games; it’s much shorter than Rayman 2 with its many spinoffs. And even this group can’t shake a deep connection to Rayman 2, despite my feelings that each numbered entry was fairly distinct. For example, Hoodlums’ Revenge once again bases its soundtrack mainly off of Eric Chevalier’s R2 score (for the fourth unique game since R2 itself). Make no mistake, it’s in the R3 mold through and through, but it also reintroduces Yellow Lums as a collectible (they also replace yellow gems as the low-value pickup ideal for starting a combo) as well as Green Lums as checkpoints, and Blue Lums as they appeared in Rayman 3 GBA, but now paired with the Throttle Copter powerup can. As with R3GBA, it enhances the connection between the games and makes the world feel more full and alive.
Unfortunately the game itself is mediocre at best. It’s ambitious as a pseudo-3D isometric platformer on a system not powerful enough to do true 3D satisfactorily, like Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty’s Revenge, but it just doesn’t work too well. I guess Backbone felt it necessary to restrict the levels to right angles to aid the platforming, but it makes the world feel artificial in the process, a problem none of Rayman’s games have had so far. Even then, it’s difficult to determine your position and height relative to the ground, which coupled with the somewhat dodgy hit detection makes the game frustrating to play.
Water is now deadly to Rayman apparently. There’s a mercy in that you take only minor damage from landing in it once and can bounce back out, but the second or third bounce will invariably kill you. This does let them introduce the new mechanic of the coracle-style boat, as well as the fire immunity can for running on lava. Speaking of new gameplay, Globox is playable here, either solo or in some levels you can switch between them to solve puzzles. It’s a nice addition and gives that same feeling of buddies on an adventure that Rayman 3 had (the plot rehashes R3 pretty shamelessly). But Globox is slow and gets spooked by Hoodlums; you must drink plum juice to hit them. It’s not as fun playing as him since he has less options, but at least he doesn’t have to make tricky jumps and can’t fall into water.
Despite this appearance of variety, the game is quite short on content. Few levels, few music tracks, and short on visual variety in its too-bright environments. Shortness can be a virtue but the repetitive music is much less so. At least the Teensies you rescue from the requisite cages have a plethora of amusing one-liners (and they even have an unused Teensie tribe design from R3 as one of the randomly picked dialogue portraits, although the sprites are all palette swapped Minimuses).
The plot is ridiculous. Globox is possessed by Black Lum powers (for the third time), only this time it’s some kind of residual essence left by Andre from Rayman 3. As you progress he gets more belligerent as Andre influences his mind directly (which is a bit different to R3) until finally you find out that he’s been transformed somehow into a clone of Reflux. Which makes no sense. There’s also a lava monster boss that looks exactly like a Knaaren for some reason. There is some amusing dialogue between a temporarily-aggressive Globox and an unobservant Rayman but there’s little explanation for the Hoodlum activity, etc.
So Hoodlums’ Revenge is an attempt at a handheld Rayman game that’s not simply a 2D platformer, but it’s flawed in almost all areas of execution. The best I can say is “it’s fine”. Trying to keep a combo going is still engaging and combat is… well, fine, as long as you use the lock-on. As expected, it’s ultimately derivative of R3 but has its own small flourishes. It’s not good, but I guess that’s OK.
And that’s it for Rayman 3 stuff (R3GBA, R3, this, and that one Flash game). You can keep track of my Rayman Quest here. Up next we’re starting on Raving Rabbids stuff, stay tuned.
What I’d heard about Rayman 3 led me to expect it to not fit in as well with the other games, with Michel Ancel not being involved and all. Playing it was a pleasant surprise, as I enjoyed it quite a bit! It actually fits quite well as a follow-up to Rayman 2; sure it does some things differently but what sequel doesn’t? 2 itself was very different to 1, after all.
So what’s new in Rayman 3? Well, it has a score system, which is the counter you can see in the corner in screenshots. Defeating enemies and collecting the gems scattered around gives you points and doing such actions in quick succession builds a combo meter for more points. The gems themselves are new; Lums appear as part of the story but only red ones (and black). Also new are the cans which give you a temporary power-up as part of a costume (and also double your points while they last). The scoring system has been integrated well into the game as a whole, even unlocking silly little minigames which is its only purpose apart from score-chasing, which people are into. Always thinking about your score is an interesting twist, planning your collection to maximise your combo.
Also new are the cinematic elements. There’s more plot, and the situation changes as you progress. The game is also fully voice-acted, more so than the Playstation versions of Rayman 2. Characters will natter at you throughout, and for the most part it’s endearing unless you have to replay a section. I guess John Leguizamo (Luigi Mario himself!) is the only real big name, but he does Globox, a major part, and he does a great job at it. He’s depicted as simple-minded but written well with lots of jokes. He plays off Andre, the Black Lum who Globox swallows early in the game, so there’s constant banter and contact with the antagonist a la Banjo-Kazooie or Portal. Billy West (who played Rayman in the Animated Series) is Murfy, unfortunately only for one level with many wisecracks and fourth-wall breaks. David Gasman’s Rayman doesn’t talk much, and the other minor characters aren’t bad except the three Teensie doctors you see for plot, who are crude German, hippy, and Asian stereotypes respectively.
This aspect of Rayman 3—the voices, I mean—may turn people off, but I liked it as part of what this game was trying to do. In fact the whole game left me feeling positive; the levels are well designed, it looks gorgeous, it expands the Rayman universe in clever ways. Sure there might be too many shoe-racing segments but it was just nice to play a 3D platformer again. The power-ups help change up the gameplay every now and then while restricting your moveset to keep things simple. It even made me feel a bit emotional at the end, when Globox starts feeling attached to Andre, and there’s a scene right at the end where you as a player have to transform him back into a Red Lum—reminiscent of the final moments of Snake Eater (ok I haven’t played it but I’ve heard about it).
So you can tell I would recommend this. It’s not on as many platforms as Rayman 2 but it’s easier to access the best one in this case, as the Rayman 3 HD port for last-gen consoles is it. You do miss out on the unique minigames on the GCN version when connected to a GBA, though. It may feel a little more linear than Rayman 2 but later levels open up a little more, with some doubling back and plenty of secrets to discover, and there’s still platforming here despite a bigger focus on combat. But again, I prefer to appreciate the game for what it’s trying to do rather than comparing it directly to Rayman 2′s gameplay. But that’s just me reacting to my perception of this game’s reception. Anyway, enough waffling, it’s fun.
Despite the name, Rayman 3 GBA is almost totally based on Rayman 2, but it also plays very much like Rayman 1. As such it goes a long way toward making the series feel cohesive and bridge some gaps. The speculation is that the team at Ubisoft (the Rayman PC wiki claims it was made by Ludi Factory, but I don’t think that’s true after reviewing names in the credits) was working on a 2D iteration of Rayman 2 for GBA when Rayman 3 was in development, and at the last minute added a few enemies and design elements from 3, along with the name and boxart for branding purposes.
As I said though, the gameplay very much makes it a sequel to Rayman 1. The large, detailed sprites also help it to look and feel like an extension of it, although as with the Rayman 1 GBA port (and Tonic Trouble GBC) they leave the playing area feeling cramped. (Another quick similarity to TT GBC: unused content from the main game makes its way in here in the form of Scaleman the Hoodlum boss who appears in R3 concept art.) You have Band Land-style sliding, swinging from Purple Lums, telescoping fist attacks, etc. Ly of course takes the place of Betilla to give you new abilities, some of which are unique to this game. Funnily enough the map screen is a hybrid of Rayman 1′s world-level overview and the 2D traversable screen of Rayman 1&2 GBC. Most of the environments (which look pretty nice) and setpieces though are taken from Rayman 2.
The plot involves the Black Lum (possibly Andre, although that doesn’t sit perfectly with the theory that this is a prequel to 3) inhabiting Globox as in 3, but Globox is not heard of again after that. Razorbeard seeks the power of the Black Lum and apparently joins forces with it at some point, and you have to fight through Robo-pirates, Black Lums, Zombie Chickens, and the occasional Hoodlum to stop him and his Grolgoth (again). The usual cages must be smashed, but it’s never actually established who is in them. Teensies appear in Rayman 3-style guise only at the end of each world.
R3 GBA also follows R1 in terms of its difficulty. Extra lives are scarce and deaths come easily. Without savestates I might even have ragequit as I did with the original game, where I didn’t have such conveniences. Luckily I was able to complete it, as I found the meshing together of series elements to be fascinating. Hint for finding yellow lums and cages: in each section, try walking left from the starting point. You’ll be surprised how often that grants rewards.
I couldn’t test the multiplayer modes, or the extra minigames from connecting to Rayman 3 on the Gamecube via the special Link Cable. The multiplayer seems to be expansions or competitive versions of existing gameplay; I haven’t mentioned the Mode-7 car racing levels, which control pretty badly. The GCN link though supposedly does some cooperative stuff using both screens, which sounds interesting.
I should mention that this game was ported to the Nokia N-Gage. It ends up looking better, with slightly smaller, cleaner spritework which may actually expand the visible play area, despite the horizontally smaller screen. Not sure about that, but it probably sounds much worse. There’s no way to emulate N-Gage games though so the GBA will do. There was also a version for Symbian that’s greatly cut down compared to this version, which I’ll talk about later when I cover other mobile games.
I have to reiterate how much this draws from the 3 main classic Rayman games to make something that feels cohesive. For that reason it’s essential for Rayman fans and really deserves its place as a “Rayman 2.5″. It looks really nice and has great conversions of Eric Chevalier’s Rayman 2 score to sound good as well. Just be prepared to use savestates if you’re going for 100%, especially on the kart racing or waterskiing levels.
