Posts Tagged ‘rayman’
Podcast: Genre Study – Platformers (Part 2)
This week Fred and Jam wrap up the platformer genre study. They start with analysis the 16-bit era, which many consider to be the pinnacle of 2D platforming, and then move on to 3D. 3D platformers were an interesting impasse in that they marked the future of game technology and design while also making way for a strong batch of platformers that refused the third dimension.
Podcast: Legends of Rayman
This week Fred is joined by Chip Cella of the B-Team Podcast to discuss one of the few colorful platformers born completely from the 3D generation, despite the first game playing on a 2D plain. Ubisoft’s Michel Ansel all but saved the then struggling developer/publisher and gave way to a challenging but fun series starring a character with no limbs.
Opening Song – Rayman Theme from the original Rayman on PS1
Closing Song – Madder by Groove Armada (Fred incorrectly refers to this song as Hoodlum in the show)
Rayman 2: The Great Escape (Ubisoft)
Four years after the release of the original Rayman and plenty of celebrated success, Ubisoft released a sequel that changed the concept of the series entirely. Unlike the original cartoon-like platformer that was tough as nails, we were greeted with a dark, 3D rendered platformer. While the jump to 3D was hit or miss for various gaming staples, Rayman found a welcome home with Rayman 2: Great Escape, touted by many (myself included) as one of the best 3D platformers ever developed.
If I mention a cutesy 3D platformer that stars evil robots and pirates it would be hard to tell if I was talking about a Ratchet & Clank, Rayman, or even Conker because the idea is so recycled. While the plot may remain the same, that’s where the comparisons end. Instead of the aggressive worlds that had one goal – to kill you – of the original, we are now given fully rendered open environments that crave exploration. For the most part you are tasked with going from the beginning of any level to the end, but along the way you also collect the glowing lums from the original. For the lums that are on your path and along the way this is no big deal and it will surely get you to end of the game, but if you want to unlock everything you will have to find all 1,000 lums. That is where the game goes from a simple level-to-level game and becomes a test of platforming abilities and risky gameplay. It felt a lot like the convention we saw in Super Mario Galaxy, where the game can literally be as hard or as easy as you like, but back in 1999 this was a new concept. Rayman 2 is also much easier as a whole, which allows you to appreciate the game and environment instead of threatening to destroy your controller with every new turn. It’s just a fun ride with enough levels to secure a 6-10 hour campaign.
Rayman (Ubisoft)
Rayman wants to be a strong classic platformer, and it’s really a shame that the steep difficulty curve will turn off even the most determined of contemporary gamers, because from an aesthetic and game design perspective this game should be appreciated. Alas Rayman has been ported to console after console and seen commercial success, but I wonder how many people have actually experienced most of what this title has to offer.
During the mid 90s there was no shortage of consoles – both the 16-bit generation and 32-bit generation were coming to be, not to mention CD consoles – and Rayman was caught right in the thick of it. Not only that, but thanks to Mario and Sonic, platformers were among the highest in popularity behind fighting games. The title began life as a brainchild of Ubisoft creative director Michel Ancel (who is also responsible for cult favorite Beyond Good & Evil) and the then struggling developer/publisher bet the house on his creation and won. Rayman started life on the Super NES as a two-player title based on various cultural fairy tales and eventually it was decided that the game would receive a cartoon makeover with better animation and subsequent move to the Playstation CD add-on for the SNES (read that story here). When Nintendo announced the cancellation of both the Playstation and Phillips CD projects Ubisoft wanted to move to the Jaguar thanks to its specs and eventually chose the Sony Playstation as the lead console. As you can see, the game was already bouncing from console to console.
Gaming History 101 