Game Reviews

Rayman

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Rayman
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Here's a fact for you – are you sitting down? Rayman is the best-selling PlayStation game in the UK. As in, ever. Yes, you read correctly: Rayman sold more copies on Sony's first born than Gran Turismo, Tomb Raider 2 or even Metal Gear Solid.

New generations may find it difficult to believe, but before Rayman ended up having to fight for screen time with hordes of mentally unsound rabid bunnies, the little limbless critter had his own critically acclaimed 2D platformer. Released on the PlayStation in 1995 (as well as on the Atari Jaguar, Sega Saturn and PC), it sold by the tanker load and provided the financial foundations to take on the international market for a previously little known French company called Ubisoft. Yes, the very same.

The reasons for the game's popularity are obvious from the off. Rayman comes from a gentler age of console gaming, a simpler time when levels scrolled from left to right, collecting 100 of something meant an extra life and killing prostitutes with baseball bats was only an option for those who'd completely lost their mind.

And as such it's easy to see Rayman as one of the last of the great 2D platformers. Because despite its flaws, that's exactly what it is: a great 2D platformer.

The story goes that in Rayman's world everything is just peachy, with the Great Protoon maintaining harmony and balance. At least it is until the evil Mister Dark steals the Great Protoon and defeats Betilla the Fairy as she tries to protect it. The electoons who used to gravitate all around the Great Protoon lose their natural stability and scatter all over the world, causing all sorts of horrible creatures to emerge.

Got all that? Good. Now guess whose job it is to sort it all out?

The first notable difference between this and its contemporaries, besides the fact that Rayman the character has four limbs fewer than your average woodland creature or Italian plumber, is that the age old statute of jumping on enemies' heads to kill them doesn't work here. Instead, you have to punch them, an ability which can be upgraded with fast and long variants, collectable as boxing gloves scattered about the levels. Of course, jumping itself is still very much at the centre of the action and after a few levels you learn how to use your hair as a helicopter rotor so that you can bridge longer gaps between platforms.

The level structure is non-linear, with everything viewed on a main map screen where you can choose which levels to do next (within reason). This is necessary as you often need to revisit levels to grab trapped electoons that were out of reach the first time around (but which are made available after certain abilities are acquired). It's a simple formula expertly executed, full of light-hearted thrills, variation and 'one more go' appeal.

Visually the game is beguiling, oozing charm and atmosphere, as well as being home to some of the most intricate detail and fluid animation of any 2D platforming game ever released. The sound is similarly fantastic, with loads of incidental effects that, though varied, carry the same signature resonance that collecting a ring in Sonic or a coin in Mario has.

While on the subject, the soundtrack also triumphs, and was clearly written to make good use of the superior sound afforded by the consoles of the time, with full-on surreal orchestral numbers and bongo lead jungle beats.

The big gripe is the difficulty factor. Rayman may look cute and cuddly, but it's tricker to navigate than a Victorian sewer filled with lava-filled chasms, nuclear land-mines and robot sharks. Even by only the second world, enemies, hazards and jump sequences that require pixel-perfect precision are bearing down on you with the weight of a neutron star.

In fact, it can be so difficult that at times the odds seem unfair, especially with the old-skool finite number of lives and continues set-up (which, sure, can be circumnavigated by the irksome process of saving and reloading between levels and deaths).

Having said all that, I ought to stress you shouldn't let it put you off. If you are up for a challenge, then 2D platformers don't come much better than Rayman, especially for a mere £3.50. It's a classic that may have passed many a player first time around and therefore a most welcome release on the PSP Store. Grab it now.

Rayman

You probably didn't realize you needed this old-skool, highly polished platformer, but you do. Just don't expect it to be easy
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