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Rayman 2: The Great Escape
Developer: Ubi Soft
Publisher: Ubi Soft
Category: : 3D Adventure
System Req: Pentium II 233, 64 Mb RAM, 3D card, gamepad
Might look like: Rayman, Tonic Trouble, Earthworm Jim 3D
Editor's Note:This is a review copy which has no manual
Date posted: 28 November 2000 (Requested by Readers)
Written By: Jochen
- This game was reviewed on PIII 500Mhz, 128 Mb RAM, CL Geforce 2 GTS 32Mb, Win98SE -
We also test other games on
"PlayDevil.com Game Machine"
Background Story
Pirates have taken over Rayman's world, and they have imprisoned him and most of his friends.
Rayman has escaped from the pirates, but he needs to regain his powers in order to free his friends from the pirates and their boss, the evil Razorbeard.
Ly the fairy is the only one who can help him, but she too has been captured by the pirates.
To free her, Rayman must battle pirates and disable the machine that has placed her in suspension. The pirates have broken the primordial energy of the world into a thousand pieces, called "lums".
Rayman needs to recover these lums in order to regain his powers. Also, the red lums contain vital energy that can restore Rayman's health.
The dude without limbs
Rayman 2: The Great Escape is the sequel to … surprise, surprise … Rayman, but it offers so much more than just some new levels.
This time Rayman is in full 3D ( he still has no limbs though ), just like Earthworm Jim 3D recently, but in my humble opinion it offers so much more gameplay-wise.
But let's not overrush and take it step by step.
The Manual
As mentioned above I reviewed this game without a manual. Why, because this review copy came straight from "Ubi Soft" and therefor did not include a manual like in the retail version.
This has not been a problem though as I found the controls myself pretty fast, which is also a notion to the high accessibility of this game, even if you play with the keyboard.
  
Let's get cartoony!
As with the first Rayman, the graphics have a certain cartoon style over them with a lot of bright colors and shapes that bend in all directions.
Your enemies look highly exaggerated ( a piranha = the size of a car … hmm) but of course this also adds to the fun factor and I found myself more than once laughing over some silly looking character.
But be warned : they look silly but you get attached to them ! Lobox for example ,your best friend, looks like you would want to hug him : you would almost feel sorry for him.
This character design is just too good to be true and is not found in any other 3D platformer on the PC (except maybe 'Tonic Trouble', another Ubi Soft production).
The graphics are also very fluid, even on my old VooDoo II and there are a lot of special effects, like vortexes and special lighting effects.
Overall the graphics of this game are in one word 'breathtaking'. Not in a way like you will have never seen before, but in a way of extreme detail. Hell, even the flowers dance to the rhythm of the in-game music… . A great thumbs up for Ubi Soft !!
  
Dance to the tunes of Rayman 2!
Come on, don't be afraid !
The music in the game is so good in setting the right mood ! The main tune is simple, but oh so mysterious ! Every world has it's own music style and as there are some 20 levels, you get some pretty good music throughout the game.
But what I like even more are the voices of the characters. They talk, but you won't understand a single word from what they say. They whisper in a very hilarious way. The first time I heard that little bee (or whatever it is … check one of screenshots, the one with the big smile) I was charmed and excited at the same time.
This is very well done and another thumbs up to Ubi Soft
  
Conclusion
The gameplay in Rayman 2: The Great Escape is just awesome !
It is the right mix of action and puzzle solving, tied together by a challenging difficulty throughout the 20 very different themed levels.
It plays very good, even with a keyboard but you cannot reconfigure the keys and that must be the only negative point I found. Given that I played this game for nearly a month before writing this review this is an excellent result.
This is the first review I've written in which I can express my feelings in so little words, but I can only add that Rayman is to the PC what 'Sonic' and 'Mario' are to the consoles.
In other words : if you want to buy only one 3D platformer on PC, make it Rayman !!
-Jochen
Ratings
Manual:
N/A% |
Graphics:
90% |
Music & Sfx:
93% |
GamePlay:
92% |
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This game scores
 
on our 5-point Rating System
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