Rayman (video game)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Rayman | |
|---|---|
 PC version cover art |
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| Developer(s) | Ubisoft Montpellier |
| Publisher(s) | Ubisoft SoftKey (PC, Mac, DOS) Sony Imagesoft (with SoftKey) |
| Designer(s) | Michel Ancel (lead designer) Alexandra Steible (characters) Vincent Gréco (lead programmer) |
| Platform(s) | Atari Jaguar, Windows, MS-DOS, Mac OS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Windows Mobile, PlayStation Network, Nintendo DSi (DSiWare) |
| Release date(s) | Atari Jaguar September 1, 1995[1] PlayStation, Sega Saturn JP September 22, 1995 EU November 1995 PC[2] NA April 30, 1996 Game Boy Advanced NA June 11, 2001 EU June 22, 2001 AUS June 22, 2001 JP December 31, 2001 PlayStation Network EU May 29, 2008 NA July 17, 2008 DSiWare NA December 7, 2009[3] |
| Genre(s) | Platform |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: K-A OFLC: G |
| Media | CD-ROM, cartridge |
| Input methods | Control pad, joystick |
Rayman is a 2D platform video game designed and published by Ubisoft. It was released on September 1, 1995 for the Atari Jaguar and MS-DOS, and two months later for the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn consoles. A port of this game was to be released for the Sega 32X, but was cancelled when the system died off due to low popularity. The traditional side-scrolling game revolves around the titular character's quest to save his world from the evil Mr. Dark. The game features the use of 65,000 colours.[1]
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[edit] Gameplay
Rayman is a traditional side-scrolling 2D platform game. The object of the game is to free all the electoons and defeat Mister Dark's minions across six worlds: Dream Forest, Band Land, Blue Mountains, Picture City, Cave of Skops, and Candy Chateau.[4] Only when every electoon is freed will Rayman be able to enter into Mister Dark's hideout in Candy Chateau.[5] Otherwise, the player must traverse the levels and reach the goal (a signpost with an exclamation mark on it) at the end. But usually, since all of the levels in the game are divided into several parts, said goal post usually acts as a transition to another part of the level.
Scattered around each level are little blue spheres called Tings. If Rayman picks up a hundred of them, he gains an extra life, but they can also be used to pay the Magician, and enter a bonus stage. When Rayman dies, he loses all of the Tings he collected.[5]
As well as Tings, Rayman will come across a variety of other power-ups and bonuses, among which a golden punching fist, a faster punching fist, power to restore Rayman's lost life energy and flying blue elves that will shrink Rayman down in size.[5]
[edit] Rayman's powers
Rayman obtains a number of different powers during the game. Some are given to him permanently by Betilla the Fairy, while others are obtained temporarily for certain levels.[5] The permanent powers are (in order of acquisition): telescopic punching fist, hanging onto ledges, grappling (grabbing onto and swinging from flying rings), helicopter hair, and running.[5] The most notable is helicopter hair, making gameplay significantly easier, especially when it comes to jumping along moving platforms and enemies, and serving as a characteristic element of the game as well.
[edit] Patches
Since the release of the game, several patches for various versions have been released.[6]. Most of these patches that are widely used, are based on DOSBox.
[edit] Development
Early in its life, Rayman was going to be about an eleven-year-old boy named Jimmy. Jimmy takes advantage of the realms that he discovers within his computer to create a fantasy world called Hereitscool. When evil invades Hereitscool, Jimmy turns into a superhero named Rayman to save Hereitscool. This idea was scrapped, and Rayman is his own being in his own world in the final version. There were a few comments in the story, such as "Sorry folks, this appearance can't last. Do you want to play or what?", but they were cut for the final version.
[edit] Updated versions
[edit] Rayman Gold
Later, on September 28, 1997, Ubisoft released an updated version of the game for the PC. This bundle had the original Rayman in its entirety, as well as a level editing package, known as Rayman Designer. The package contained 24 original levels, with the same gameplay but a few new concepts: now Rayman has to collect 100 Blue Tings in a level before he can finish it. A few other interesting features were added, like colored tings that trigger special events, additional objects and a timer to show the player how fast they can complete this level. With Rayman Designer, players could make their own levels and share them with others via the internet, a feature that didn't particularly catch on.
The British Focus Multimedia edition of Rayman Gold does not include the music tracks at all; the game should have redbook audio tracks. Since the soundtrack was quite popular with fans, this is a significant error of omission.[6][7]
[edit] Rayman Forever
Around a year after that, Ubisoft released Rayman Forever. It was the same as Rayman Gold, except it contained a bundle of 50+ new levels, a level editor, and a fridge magnet. Also various sections of the soundtrack were erased to save space on the 500MB disc.
[edit] Rayman Collector
Another level set, similar to Rayman Gold and Rayman Forever, was released by Ubisoft in late 1999. This one featured sixty levels, many of which were considered, by fans, to be very short and dull. This considered to be an extremely rare game. It was only released in France, therefore it is in French. Those who have it should be able to figure out the game play if they played any other version of Rayman before he went into 3D.
[edit] Game Boy Color version
Ubisoft also released Rayman for Game Boy Color, which contained all the Rayman 2 music and worlds, but had the storyline of Rayman.
[edit] Rayman Advance
Rayman was ported to the Game Boy Advance with similar qualities to the PlayStation and PC versions (there are a few missing levels). The music, however, is of lesser quality, due to the GBA's limitations. Also, Rayman, instead of having three or five energy points, has four or six.
In 2005 Rayman Advance was bundled with Rayman 3 on a single GBA cartridge as Rayman 10th Anniversary.
[edit] Jaguar Version
The first Atari Jaguar version adds new areas and removes some of the ones available in the PC/PlayStation/Sega Saturn games. For example, in Blue's Mountain, the level Mr. Stone's Peaks is missing the second area entirely where Rayman has to cut 2 ropes with his Helicopter Hair before a stone ceiling crushes Rayman into the water. Also, in Picture City, the level Eraser Plains retains the 3rd area but it has been changed to a completely different place. The last world (Candy Chateau) also features completely restructured areas compared to the other ports. The Electoon cages found on the removed areas were moved to previous or further areas of the stage. The ability to shrink is also missing from this version and one of the last boss phases (Space Mamas) has been completely ignored. Also, Rayman can't slide on bells in Band Land and ice in Blue Mountain.
[edit] PSP and PS3 Version
On May 20, 2008, the original PlayStation version of Rayman became available on the UK PlayStation Store for £3.49. This is the same as the PSOne version and runs on the PlayStation Portable under emulation. It runs on the PlayStation 3 as a PlayStation game.
[edit] Nintendo DSi Version
On December 7, 2009, Rayman became available on the North American Nintendo DSi (DSiWare) shop. Updates include camera integration and touchscreen map selection.[3]
[edit] Fangames
Several games have been made by fans.[where?] Many were originally complete clones, but some were later remade with new graphics while still imitating the engine design. Game engines have been written in languages including ActionScript[8][9], Game Maker Language and JavaScript. Other unreleased fan projects focus on remaking the original Rayman game in 3D.[where?]
[edit] Sequels
Rayman 2: The Great Escape was released for the PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, Nintendo DS, and PC systems. The PlayStation 2 version of the game is titled Rayman 2: Revolution. The Nintendo 64, PC and DS versions are identical in terms of gameplay. The DS version was named "Rayman DS". The PlayStation version has fewer lums (800, rather than 1000) and smaller levels than all other versions.
Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc was released for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, N-Gage, and PC. All versions are identical in terms of gameplay. In addition to that, a Game Boy Advance game with the same title exists, but it is a 2D platform game, nearly identical in style to the original Rayman and to Rayman Advance. Series creator Michel Ancel dropped out of work on Rayman 3 to work on Beyond Good and Evil.
Rayman: Hoodlum's Revenge was released exclusively for the Game Boy Advance. It is a direct sequel to Rayman 3. Despite continuing the storyline, this is not a major Rayman game like its predecessors.
Several spin-offs have also been released, including Rayman Arena and Rayman Rush, as well as the Rayman Raving Rabbids series of games. Whilst the latter is a series of party games, the Game Boy Advance and DS versions of the first game in the series are more akin to classic Rayman platformers. Remakes of Rayman 2 have been re-released with enhancements or minor changes for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS as Rayman Revolution and Rayman DS, respectively.
[edit] Reception
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7.0 out of 10 (PS)[14] |
Rayman was awarded both "Best Music in a CD-ROM Game" and "Best Animation" in Electronic Gaming Monthly's 1995 Video Game Awards.[15] The game sold 900,000 copies in two years.[16] It is also the best selling PlayStation game of all time in the United Kingdom, beating titles like Gran Turismo and Tomb Raider 2, with around 5 million copies sold.[17]
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Rayman Greatest Hits". Ubisoft. http://www.ubi.com/US/Games/Info.aspx?pId=62. Retrieved 2009-12-28.
- ^ "Rayman Review". GameSpot. http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/action/rayman/review.html. Retrieved 2009-12-28.
- ^ a b "Classic Rayman and Street Fighter Games Lead a Luminous December Lineup". Nintendo of America. 7 December 2009. http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/ddQH48likFQNfbvryziHBw2_iPQeYVGA. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
- ^ Rayman's Worlds
- ^ a b c d e "Original" Rayman Game Playing Basics
- ^ a b Patches for running Rayman on modern OSs
- ^ Mobygames: Rayman Gold
- ^ Rayman 1-II Fan Project
- ^ Rayman 1-II Other Details
- ^ "GameSpot rating". GameSpot. 1996-06-11. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/rayman/review.html. Retrieved 2009-05-09.
- ^ "Allgame rating". Allgame. http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=2253. Retrieved 2009-12-28.
- ^ "Metacritic rating (Rayman Advance)". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ds/raymands?q=Rayman. Retrieved 2009-12-28.
- ^ "Rayman Advance rating". IGN. http://uk.gameboy.ign.com/objects/012/012960.html. Retrieved 2009-12-28.
- ^ "Rayman IGN rating (PlayStation)". IGN. http://uk.psx.ign.com/objects/000/000069.html. Retrieved 2009-12-28.
- ^ Electronic Gaming Monthly's Buyer's Guide. 1996.
- ^ ""Strategy and Management of Industrial Brands" (Malaval, 2001) pp. 297-8". http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qs_wtkc_WB0C&lpg=PA297&dq=rayman%20game&lr=&pg=PA298#v=onepage&q=&f=false. Retrieved 2009-12-28.
- ^ PlayStation's last hurrah
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rayman |
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