Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc

Through a series of events, Globox ends up swallowing the Dark Lum leader André. Rayman must guide Globox to see the doctor and defeat the evil Hoodlums on the way. Platforming games don't really need a story, so the task of finding three doctors is just an excuse for Rayman to go on a journey.

You'll be doing the standard 3D platforming tasks like jumping across platforms, climbing walls, collecting items and the occasional combat. Rayman has his usual gliding and combat abilities. Rayman throws his fist to attack enemies and this can be charged for a more powerful attack. When he is close to enemies or objects which he can interact with, he auto-targets them. In combat, you can strafe around enemies and doing so allows you to throw a curved punch. These curved punches are vital in defeating certain enemies and are used in a handful of puzzles/interactions in order to progress.

The small, magical race called Teensies still play the part of the hostages and give Rayman power-ups or gems, although since the power-ups are vital for progression, not many of the Teensies are hidden which removes a huge aspect of previous games in the series.

Rayman can pick up power-ups which grant him special skills for a short period of time, though the amount of time differs per ability. The Red cans (Heavy Metal Fist) grant Rayman metal fists that are capable of breaking down doors and providing extra attacking power. Green cans (The Vortex) grant the ability to perform a whirlwind punch which lowers certain platforms. The Blue (The Lockjaw) can provides a hook-shot which is used for grappling and swinging across flying Lums. Yellow (Throttle Copter) cans give Rayman a helicopter hat which allows him to fly vertically. Orange (Shock Rocket) cans provide a short-range guided missile for hitting switches located in tunnels.

These ideas imply there may be clever puzzles that make you think. However, the way the obstacles and power-ups are given to you mean that the game is played in a linear fashion, and not much thought is required at all. It's just a case of reaching a dead end, defeating the enemies/freeing the Teensie, grabbing the power-up and using this to progress.

Defeating enemies, collecting gems, and freeing Teensies will award you with points and you can gain combo multipliers. Accruing enough points will unlock bonus mini-games and videos. The videos are supposed to be humorous training videos for the Hoodlums, although the videos are very similar to each other and contain recycled scenes, so even those are tedious to watch.

One big annoyance of the game is the camera. It's supposed to be automatic, but quite often you find yourself running towards the screen. You can manually intervene but often find yourself fighting against it, leading to some frustrating moments.

There's a few distractions thrown in to keep the game-play varied but none of which really add much to the game due to the simplicity and brevity of these sections. There's some stages where Rayman will ride beams of light and you jump from platform to platform, collecting as many gems you can. Some sections of levels shrink Rayman and he rides his shoe in a bumper-car style game against his other shoe. There's a level where you run between cannons on a ship, firing them at monsters.

There's plenty of stronger enemies/boss fights too, although each of them seem to last longer than they should and become rather tedious to take down.

Rayman 3 features voice actors performing in English rather than the usual Rayman language from the previous games. Rayman sounds dorky and Globox sounds annoying but I guess it suits the characters. The dialog is often silly and self-aware. “You were a lot nicer in Rayman 2” says Globox if you punch him.

The graphics still hold up well today, given that it was originally released in 2003. The controls can feel awkward at first, but once you get used to them it's just getting used to battling with the camera. Xbox 360 controllers are recognised without configuration.

In Rayman 2, the game had enough challenge and was interesting enough. Rayman 3 just seems simplified to a point where its almost boring throughout the entire game. Collectables are optional and the Teensies are often in clear view which means you can blitz through the game without much thought, rather than keeping out a keen eye like in previous games. Rayman 3 is functional, but its a step back from Rayman 2.