Rayman 2: The Great Escape

It's difficult to know how to rate platformers from the 90's. It was still early days for the genre and many developers were still trying to figure out how character and camera controls should work. I've seen many people criticize Super Mario 64 for such things but frankly it's insane how much Nintendo got right on their first attempt. Just look at how Bubsy turned out.

Both Rare and Nintendo would go on to release many classic platformers on the N64 and establish the collectathon genre. At the tail end of the 90's, the console would receive another classic but this time not from Nintendo or Rare - Rayman 2: The Great Escape - but this would be far from the best version of the game.

The Dreamcast port of Rayman 2 is widely regarded as the best version of the game (superior even to its PC port) thanks to upgraded textures, smooth 60fps gameplay as well as a few additional extras thrown in on top. I would also go as far to say that this is the best platformer released for the Dreamcast bar none. Even Sega's own Sonic Adventure titles just aren't as consistently good as Rayman 2.

A big factor in why Rayman 2 is so great is just how well it controls. Thanks to the steady pace, the camera is rarely an issue despite the lack of a second analog stick to position it with. Rayman also controls really well, he is neither too sluggish or too slippery and his helicopter hair which makes precision platforming a stress-free affair. On top of this Rayman is just a joy to control and move about with the way he rapidly climbs walls, grabs ledges, performs flips and swings from purple lums.

There's also a great variety in the levels of Rayman 2, you'll be sliding down slopes in well choreographed getaway segments or surfing on rockets to break things up when platforming gets too monotonous. Another big element which can make or break a platformer is its character and persinality and I'm pleased to say this game has that in spades. Rayman and his buddies are all well designed and charming to look at. The worlds which you'll be jumping and running around are nice to look at and there's a cool atmosphere to it: You've got these jungles and temple-like environments which are quite down-to-earth but they will often throw these subtle otherworldly aspects whether it be the wildlife or just a distinctly inhuman structure, almost to remind you that this is something otherworldly.

Something I love about Rayman 2 is its restraint. I've already talked about the environments which strike a good balance between real and fantasy but it seems Ubisoft knew just how far to push and take certain things. Rayman 2 is part of the collectathon genre but there isn't an ungodly amount of things to collect; DK64 this ain't. The difficulty of this game is also well-tuned. It's a good length, taking around 8-10 hours to finish, it isn't a hard game but it's also not a complete cake walk to play through. Rayman 2 has it's harder and more challenging moments but they're well spread out and it never gets too frustrating. The developers knew what aspects to focus on. Combat in this game isn't horrible but it's also not terribly deep so it makes sense to focus on the platforming elements, particularly with Rayman controlling so well and the environments being intriguing to explore.

I think it speaks volumes on how well this game has aged when you see the huge amount of times it has been re-released. The original N64 version had to trim back certain parts to fit on cartridge (namely the soundtrack and textures), the PS1 port would scale back things even further but the PC and Dreamcast versions would restore all that cut content and visuals giving us a definitive way to play - but wait, there more... The PS2 would also see a port with some extra minigames added, the Nintendo DS and 3DS also received a version and even the iPhone would receive an official release over 10 years after the game's original release date.

This review covers both the PC and ps1 versions as they're two different games following the same story.

I'll start with the pc version which I've heard is also the Nintendo and Sega Saturn versions. This is a quirky follow up to a game that I've never played, nor do I have any intention on doing so due to all the bad things I've heard of it. The article is unique for its time and the characters are charming with their dialogue that's delivered in what I can only describe as simlish, this is further complimented with the level design which takes full advantage of Rayman’s powers at any given moment which he acquires regularly throughout the game. I also enjoy the soundtrack as I feel it’s very catchy, although this was back when every game had a great soundtrack as opposed to nowadays where they tend to be generic and/or consisting of ambient sounds. The story is rather basic and it's not going to win any hardest game of the year awards, however it's a good entry point into 3d platformers of the late 90s thanks to its solid presentation.

Now for the ps1 version, it has everything I've mentioned so far but also removes certain parts of the pc version including large chunks of levels and a bonus round mechanic (which I'm OK with as I feel that didn't add much originally.) To compensate for this, voice acting was added which I feel wasn't a worthy trade off due to how poor it was (not helped with the 4kids style dialogue this version was saddled with.) That said, I felt the boss battles were better handled here than in the original and even added character to them thanks to the voice acting and updated dialogue. I also noticed the graphics were much better here even if there was less content to enjoy this treatment, I think this version was built from the ground up as opposed to copying the pc version with this in mind.

Both versions have their pros and cons, however I feel the pc version is merely slightly better than the ps1 version as that ultimately has more to offer as well as not having some awful voice acting from the characters. They're both worth your time, however that's the version you should go for if you can only play one of them.

It took a few years, but someone other than Nintendo and Rareware finally managed to bring a 3D platformer to the N64 with impressive controls and a camera that behaves itself. Both are big reasons Rayman 2 is as good as it is.

I admire the game for not going down the typical collectathon route; rather, it plays more like a 2D platformer on a 3D plane. Environments are relatively tight and concise in design, fostering refreshingly focused gameplay through short, sharp levels. That said, the game can in places feel ever so slightly caught between a 2D and 3D scope and I would've liked to see the tighter 2D-esque design principles doubled down on.

I have to dock half a star for the painfully frequent on-rails sections. Think the Super Mario 64 bumslide but with obnoxiously-placed one-hit-kill obstacles. Infuriating.

Despite not being clear on the box, Rayman 3D is a port of Rayman 2: The Great Escape. In this game, Rayman starts out weak and powerless, captured by the robot pirate Admiral Razorbeard. His cell-mate, Globox hands Rayman a silver lum (fairy-like creatures) which was given to him by Ly the fairy. This restores his powers enough to make his escape from the pirate prison ship. Rayman then sets out to find Ly to further regain his powers. From there he is given the quest to save the Glade of Dreams, and to do so, he has to recover the four masks to give power back to the spirit Polokus to assist in stopping the pirates.

Scattered around the levels are a total of 1,000 yellow lums and 100 captives. A few of the levels require a certain level of lums to progress, but the requirement isn't too strict as it never halted me despite never straying too far to collect them. Each level offers the chance of playing a bonus stage if you do collect every lum and captive within. The collectables mean that completionists will replay levels to collect everything, although I don't think there's much motivation to do so.

There are also a few other variations of lums which are useful within each level. Red lums restore Rayman's health, green lums act as checkpoints, and purple lums are floating rings which allows Rayman to swing from them to cover large gaps.

As you progress, the level design aims to keep things fresh. There's plenty of platforming and swinging over ledges, use of 'vehicles', hitting switches and bringing objects to marked areas. So you will be picking up powder kegs and throwing them at destructible panels, riding a rocket creature over perilous terrain, flying on a rocket keg, riding plums down rivers, and chased by a flying pirate ship over falling bridges.

The automatic camera is helpful for showing you the way forward, but it can be awkward if you want to backtrack to find the secrets that lay outside the main path.

Rayman can walk and run with the analogue stick, jump by pressing the B button, and pressing it a second time causes him to glide. Y is to attack which strangely, he shoots energy balls rather than throwing his fist.

There's not much combat within the game, but it seems a bit over simplified so that it seems like an unnecessary distraction. Once you hit the enemy, you need to wait for him to flash several times before you can attack again. It's a case of rinse and repeat, and Rayman has far more health than the enemies, so it's just a matter of time until they are defeated.

The colour palette is surprisingly dark and there's not as much variation in theme compared to the original Rayman which had a more interesting, vibrant world. This one looks rather dull in comparison.

One seemingly minor thing that was a great annoyance was the fact that every time you load up the game, Rayman is positioned at the start of the island, so you have to navigate over the entire map just to find the level you are on.

I've read a lot of comments about the game suffering from poor frame-rate or double vision on some areas, but I had no problems what-so-ever.

Given that the game is old and has had several ports to various consoles, there's a good chance you will have already played it, or could acquire it for a budget price. If you do want to play it on the 3DS, then it is a decent game, albeit nothing special.

Rayman 2 is a lot different than the first game. It is no longer a basic 2D platformer that is hard as nails but instead a 3D somewhat open World game with levels not too different than say Banjo Kazooie or Spyro the Dragon. Rayman 2 is pretty fun and has decent enough level design and platforming and it is a bit overlooked. Yeah I don't think its anything great and does have somewhat awkward controls and camera but I think that's more of being a late 90s 3D platformer than being bad game design. I wouldn't say this is better than the other 3D platformers of the time, but it still makes improvements to the Rayman series and while I may have grew up and have more nostalgia for the first game, I'll admit that this game is much more polished and enjoyable for newcomers to the series.

Rayman 2 is all over the place, its "great escape" happening in the first minute of the game, its weird mask collection being so sporadic it has no true bearing on proceedings, only a few Lum gates incentivising exploration without the natural character upgrades that brings, and a wild atmosphere built on so many influences it only has the mildest of consistently absurdist streaks to keep it going. But you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way. The 3D platforming is tight and involving, the journey always exciting and showing off new things, the story having enough weird asides for a kid's game and none of its design cul-de-sacs cheapening the experience. Very high on the 3D platformer hierarchy.