Rayman 2: The Great Escape

Rayman 2: The Great Escape
European cover of the Dreamcast version.
Developer(s)	Ubisoft Montpellier (Nintendo 64 & Dreamcast) Ubisoft (PC, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Color & Nintendo 3DS) DC Studios (Nintendo DS) Gameloft (iOS)
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft (Nintendo 64, PC, Dreamcast, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Color, Nintendo DS & Nintendo 3DS) Gameloft (iOS)
Producer(s)	Arnaud Carrette
Designer(s)	Michel Ancel
Composer(s)	Eric Chevalier
Engine	RenderWare 2 (PlayStation 2 version)
Platform(s)	Nintendo 64 Windows Dreamcast PlayStation PlayStation 2 (Rayman: Revolution) Game Boy Color Nintendo DS (Rayman DS) PlayStation Network iOS Nintendo 3DS (Rayman 3D)
Release	October 29, 1999 Nintendo 64 PC Dreamcast PlayStation PlayStation 2 Game Boy Color Nintendo DS PlayStation Network iOS March 1, 2010 Nintendo 3DS
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player

Rayman 2: The Great Escape is a platform video game, developed by Ubisoft and first released on October 29, 1999. It is considered to have raised standards regarding 3D, level design and game play, being praised by numerous reviews. It was first released for the Nintendo 64, PC, Dreamcast and PlayStation, and was later adapted for the PlayStation 2 as Rayman Revolution (Rayman 2: Revolution in North America), the Game Boy Color as Rayman 2 Forever (Rayman 2 in North America), the Nintendo DS as Rayman DS, for iPhone/iPod Touch, and as Rayman 3D on the Nintendo 3DS. Unlike the other games in the series, Rayman 2 takes a slightly darker tone. The game has been mentioned on several "Best Games Of All Time" lists.

Synopsis

Setting

The game centers on the invasion of the Glade of Dreams, the world where the game takes place, by robot pirates from outer space. In order to repair the damage to the world and defeat the invasion force, Rayman has to collect 1000 pieces (800 in the PlayStation and Game Boy Color versions) of the world's core (called Lums) and reunite four magical masks which will awaken Polokus, the world's spirit. Polokus has gone into hiding a long time ago, however as he is the creator of "all that is and will be," he is the world's last hope.

Plot

Rayman 2 takes place in a world called the Glade of Dreams. An army of Robot Pirates, led by Admiral Razorbeard, invades this world and destroys the Heart of the World, the world core. This greatly weakens the resistance's power and disables Rayman's powers, leading to his capture.

Globox, a friend of Rayman, is later also captured and put in the same cell as Rayman aboard the Pirates' prison ship. Globox gives Rayman a silver lum given to him by Ly, a fairy friend, which restores his powers. Rayman escapes the prison ship, and is separated from Globox again. He learns that in order to stand a chance against the Pirates, he needs to find four ancient, magic masks to awaken Polokus, the spirit of the world. He travels through the Glade of Dreams via the Hall of Doors, a magical place linked to various locations in the world, controlled by the ancient Teensies.

In the course of the game, Rayman frees Globox who had been captured again, and they continue together for a short while until Globox departs again to go find his family. Later, Rayman finds Globox's wife Uglette and learns that he has been imprisoned on the Prison Ship. Rayman also encounters his friend Clark, a strongman who has stomach problems due to eating rusty pirates; to continue through the level, Rayman has to cure Clark by means of an elixir.

Eventually, Rayman recovers the four masks and awakens Polokus, who makes quick work of the pirates on land. In the air however, he has no power, and Rayman is tasked to dispose of the Pirates' Prison Ship, where Admiral Razorbeard also has his headquarters. In a final battle Rayman fights Razorbeard, who is controlling a giant robot, the Grolgoth. Eventually Rayman destroys the robot and while Razorbeard escapes in a small escape pod, the Prison Ship explodes. Rayman is presumed dead and only one of his shoes is found, but during his funeral, he appears again, walking on a crutch.

Screenshot of the Fairy Glade, the second level of the game

The game is played from a third-person perspective and the player has control over the camera, though in some situations this control is limited to only certain angles. At several points in the game the player loses control during cut scenes, which typically show dialogue between characters. The gameplay is also interrupted by a cut scene taking place in Admiral Razorbeard's room aboard the prison ship several times. During these scenes, Rayman is not present.

By collecting lums, the player unlocks more information about the game world and its back story, which can be read by standing still and pressing a specific button for some time. Some back story is also obtained through (optional) instructions from Murfy, a "flying encyclopedia" who provides explanations on all kinds of gameplay elements.

Gameplay

In contrast to its predecessor, which was a 2D platformer, Rayman 2 is a 3D platformer. The player navigates through a mostly linear sequence of levels, fighting enemy Robo-Pirates, solving puzzles and collecting lums. Collecting enough lums gains the player access to new parts of the world. Part of the lums are hidden in small cages, in which other freedom fighters or Teensies are imprisoned, and can be obtained by breaking the cages.

Rayman starts the game with minimal abilities, and he can gain more abilities as the game progresses. The main weapon available in the game is Rayman's fist, with which energy orbs can be shot. The orbs can be charged before shooting them, making them more powerful. Rayman can also enter a strafing stance allow him to easily aim orbs whilst avoiding enemy attacks. Rayman later gets the ability to swing across 'Ring Lums' to clear large gaps. Rayman is also able to use his helicopter hair to slow his descent while jumping, with some segments later in the game allowing him to fly with his hair. There are also various items Rayman can use throughout the game, such as explosive barrels he can throw, giant plums he can ride on to carry him across dangerous surfaces, and rockets he must ride on in order to access new areas.

In addition to the main, story-based level sequence, there are also several levels in which the player can gain bonuses in a time trial. Additionally, by collecting all lums and breaking all cages in a level, the player unlocks a bonus level in which one of Globox's children races against a robot pirate. When the player controlling the child wins the race, Rayman gains health or a powerup.

File:Rayman 2 music sample.ogg

Music sample

Versions

Rayman 2 was released on a wide variety of platforms, with several differences and name changes between the versions.

Nintendo 64 and PC

The Nintendo 64 version of Rayman 2: The Great Escape was released first, followed by a PC release later that year, with slight improvements to the PC version (including graphics and music). The PC version is compatible with computers ranging from around the year of 1999 to the present day, although it can sometimes be difficult to get an original retail copy of the game to run on Windows XP or Vista. Fan-made patches have been released to correct some of the problems that occur on more recent configurations. The game cannot be installed on 64-bit computers, because the DRM in the installation disc is 16-bit. However this seems to be fixed in Windows 8 x64 operating systems.

On May 26, 2011, GOG.com re-released Rayman 2: The Great Escape, alongside Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc and Rayman Forever, made to be compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7, along with a digital version of the game's soundtrack as bonus content. On January 26, 2012 Ubisoft announced that Rayman 2 will be added as a bonus for preordering the PC version of Rayman Origins.

Dreamcast

Entitled Rayman 2: The Great Escape, the Dreamcast version has various changes from the original Nintendo 64 and PC versions, including several 2D sprites being replaced by 3D models, and a slightly zoomed out camera angle (which was also used in Rayman Revolution). The Dreamcast version also has exclusive mini-games, playable by finding hidden crystals and changes to the world map (the Dreamcast version uses The Isle of Doors instead of The Hall of Doors as the world map) and final battle. Many features in the Dreamcast version are retained in Rayman Revolution, such as the camera angle and the 3D models. This version has received the highest average reviews, winning 'IGN Dreamcast Game of the Year 2000', and a 9.6 score from IGN.

PlayStation

The PlayStation version was developed by Ubisoft Shanghai, and the first version to have the characters speaking real languages (English, French, German, Spanish and Italian), replacing Raymanian. Numerous level design changes were made, and some levels were just removed altogether. The entrance to "The Cave of Bad Dreams" is no longer in "The Marshes of Awakening", but instead, in "The Menhir Hills". There are only 800 Yellow Lums in this version and the number remains the same all through the game (the scene with Razorbeard eating one of the Yellow Lums was changed so that he would eat a Red one instead). Some exclusive characters are present in this version, including the pirate assassin Ninjaws, and characters that did not have speaking roles in the other versions, such as the guardians Axel, Umber, and Foutch, now speak to Rayman in their own exclusive cutscenes when he confronts them. In this version Axel and Foutch are misguided and think Rayman is a thief but Umber is not. It is no longer possible to choose between the treasure and the elixir in The Cave of Bad Dreams, since the player is given no interaction in the respective cutscene, and Rayman automatically chooses the elixir. Additionally, this version features an exclusive mini-game for players who collect 90% of the Yellow Lums (which is actually a 2D prototype of Rayman 2). Rayman 2 was later released as a PS one Classic on PlayStation Network on December 18, 2008 in North America and on July 28, 2010 in Europe.

PlayStation 2

This version, titled Rayman: Revolution (Rayman 2: Revolution in North America), was released a year after The Great Escape. It features some enhancements including new levels, some level revisions (although Ubisoft got the names of The Sanctuary of Rock and Lava and Beneath The Sanctuary of Rock and Lava in the wrong order, and omitted the “Rock and” parts of their names whilst doing this), new music tracks, three new bosses (complete with Latin names below their English ones), Yellow Lum redistribution, and an enhanced cameo from the first Rayman game's mosquito boss, Bzzit (the son of the villainous Moskito). The Hall of Doors is replaced by three central hubs in which to walk freely and discover the game, although there are portals in a place called The Teensie Circle that appears in all three hubs that the player can use to warp straight to levels in that hub or other hubs. However, they must beat either at least once to unlock the portals. Also, this is the only version in which the 1,000th Yellow Lum can be obtained normally and will change the total back to 1,000 (the game never tells players if the Lum Razorbeard ate was a fake or if the Pirates tested the radar on him and he coughed it up as a result before storing them away), as opposed to being a super-secret hidden Lum in the Tomb of the Ancients (which never changed the total back to 1,000). Instead, the player obtains the 1,000th Lum the minute they get the Lumz Radar after beating Clark, a Revolution exclusive gadget that helps the player find any Yellow Lums they missed. English and other voices also return, but they are optional in this version, so the player can choose between the gibberish present in most versions of the game; Raymanian, or the real languages in the main menu options. However, the frame rate is lower than the 60 frames per second rate of the Dreamcast version. And finally, for some reason, whenever the player revisits levels, the music in most areas of them is replaced with ambiance, nor are players allowed to revisit The Woods of Light and The Cave of Bad Dreams.

Game Boy Color

Titled Rayman 2 Forever (Rayman 2 in North America), this version is a 2D side scroller, and follows up with the story of the other versions of Rayman 2. It was released in June 2001 in North America and December 2001 in Europe.

Nintendo DS

The game was ported to the Nintendo DS under the title Rayman DS. Very few changes have been made to the game from the Nintendo 64 version, with the exception of the addition of touch screen controls.

iOS

Using the engine of Rayman 2 for the Dreamcast (despite this, all three minigames and the Globox Village in the DC version were removed) another port was released for Apple's iOS-based portable devices on March 1, 2010. It features landscape touch-screen controls, with a figurative analog stick on the left and two on-screen "buttons" on the right-hand side of the screen. This and the PlayStation version are the only two versions that do not have the Baby Globox minigame.

PlayStation Network

The PlayStation version of Rayman 2: The Great Escape was released in 2008 in North America and 2010 in Europe on the PlayStation Store and can be played on the PlayStation 3, PSP and PlayStation Vita consoles. On April 30, 2012, Rayman Revolution was released for the PlayStation Network in North America as part of the PlayStation 2 Classics range.

Nintendo 3DS

At a Nintendo event held in Europe on January 19, 2011, Ubisoft revealed several titles in development for Nintendo 3DS, which included a port of Rayman 2 titled Rayman 3D to be released at the system's launch. Ubisoft confirmed that this version is a port of the Dreamcast version (and like the iOS version, the 3DS one also has no minigames nor the Globox Village) with "major updates on key game play elements such as accessibility, progression and learning curve." With this release, versions of Rayman 2 have been launch titles for two Nintendo handheld consoles.

Development

Very early into the development of Rayman 2, it was a 2-D game for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. This was later scrapped for the 3D game that Rayman 2 became. Pictures of the 2D version and concept art (a green villain with a chainsaw) and mentions of powers such as the platform fist were published in gaming magazines such as EGM. A stage of this beta version was unlockable in the PlayStation version of Rayman 2.

Reception

Reviews

Reviews (Original, non-DS version)
Publication	Response
GameSpot	9.3/10
IGN	9.6/10
MetaCritic	90/100
GameRankings	93%
ActionTrip	8.9/10

Rayman 2 received acclaim from both critics and fans, scoring a 9 on Nintendo 64, 9.2 on PC and PlayStation and 9.6 on Dreamcast from IGN. It also received 'IGN Dreamcast Game of the Year 2000'. It was praised in most aspects including gameplay, audio, graphics and controls, praising the colorful, vibrant worlds, the soundtrack, and the varied gameplay. IGN's Brandon Justice called it "the most impressive feat of game design and execution the platforming genre has ever seen."

The reception for Rayman DS was mixed, citing graphical flaws and camera problems, While it did support controlling the game via the touchpad, this was regarded as sloppy and awkward. partly caused by the game being a direct port of the Nintendo 64 version. Rayman 3D has also gotten a similar reception due to being a direct port of the Dreamcast release, with no true usage of the 3DS's capabilities except for stereoscopic 3D.

References

• John Powell (April 26, 2011). "Recycled 'Rayman' looking his age". G4TV Canada. Retrieved April 26, 2011.