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| GENRE |
| Platform |
| DEVELOPER |
| Ubi Soft |
| PUBLISHER |
| Ubi Soft |
| NUMBER OF PLAYERS |
| 1 |
| CONTROLLER PAK |
| yes |
| RUMBLE PAK |
| no |
| RAM PAK |
| no |
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Rayman 2: The Great Escape
This game has been cooking in the oven for a long time. It was first announced several years ago and has seen it’s release date pushed back many times since then. Fortunately, Ubi Soft has spent the extra time very wisely and it’s clear that they were very focused on creating a grade A game, rather than cutting corners in order to reach a deadline. The final product is one sweet platformer that’s definitely been worth the wait. The story is set in a surrealistic world filled of a variety of cartoon-like characters. The overall plot largely adheres to standard "stop the evil overlord from enslaving the world" scheme. It all boils down to your basic good versus evil story line, but the clichés end there! The rest of the game elements are highly original and very well construed.
visuals
In standard mode, Rayman 2 is on par with the graphics in Banjo Kazooie. From grassy meadows to the menacing pirate ships, everything is brilliantly textured and has a very complete and polished look. Put the game in high-res mode and wowsers! You’ve got what is probably the best looking N64 game ever! The words visually stunning come to mind. The environments are so lush and that you’ll find yourself quickly getting immersed into Rayman’s world. Finally, somebody other than Rare has figured out how to create vast landscapes without any sign of fogging! The overall look is decidedly cartoonish and creates an excellent fantasy/adventure type of atmosphere. The stages are all laid out in linear order and are accessible via the mystical hall of doors. This main area features a large fissure that opens up into outer space. Inside this space are several swirling warp portals that Rayman must jump into in order to reach each specific level. The ambiance of mystery and wonder created by each stage in the adventure is absolutely incredible.
audio
The audio in the game is just terrific. All the sound effects are superbly done and suit the context of the characters quite well. Probably the most notable audio achievement is the "fake-talking" when each character speaks. It's similar in concept to the speech in Banjo Kazooie. Whenever a character says something, sub-titles appear along the bottom of the screen while the character babbles along with gibberish that sounds sort of like real speech - only you can't audibly understand a word. It all sounds really nifty and is even more convincing than Banjo's "fake-talk". The pirates sound particularly cool with their mechanized rants. Also, the tunes are good, but they're not spectacular. That's not to say that the sound samples and music production values are not high quality, it's just that the music isn't all that inspirational or catchy. Still, it's appropriately atmospheric and enhances the experience far more than it detracts.
gameplay
This game plays as good as it looks. Rayman himself responds perfectly to the analogue stick and it doesn’t take very long before controlling him becomes second nature, leaving you to focus your attention on the aweinspiring graphics and infinitely interesting environments. The adventure mostly plays like a forced path 3D-platform game. At each stage, you’ll follow a set path from start to finish, however some paths will lead you back to earlier sections and many stages do have alternate routes leading to new areas. Ubi Soft designers need to be commended for going that extra mile to eliminate much of the potential frustration in the gameplay. Without going into too much detail and ruining any surprises, I’ll just say that the levels are designed in such a way so that particularly difficult tasks don’t require you to start from the beginning every time you make a minor mistake. There is no shortage of highly inventive levels here. One minute you’ll be riding two-legged rockets, and the next, flying through the air with explosive barrels. Game dynamics keep changing so gameplay remains fresh even after playing for countless hours. Throughout each level you’ll be searching for 50 Lums while trying to free some of the natives who have been locked in cages by the nasty pirate army. Although it’s not necessary, collecting all 50 Lums in a stage will unlock a bonus area, where you’ll control a special character and battle for extra power-ups. Rayman will slowly gain more and more abilities as the game progresses. In addition to being able to throw energy balls at his enemies, there’s also a really cool swinging feature that conjures up fond memories of playing Bionic Commando on the NES. The enemy attacking system takes a page from the book of Zelda and uses the Z button to lock onto baddies while you strafe back and forth to avoid their fire. Unfortunately, there isn’t as much variety with the enemies as there is with the gameplay. In fact, there are only a few different types of pirates and they all have pretty much the same appearance. But with robotic baddies this cool lookin’, who needs variety!?
multiplayer
N/A
overall
The N64 is well know for it’s platformers. There’s no denying that Mario 64 still towers over most platformers released over the past couple of years. Personally, I consider Banjo Kazooie to be the best game of ’99 after Zelda. Rayman 2: The Great Escape comes to this system and establishes itself as a contender amidst the likes of these legendary games. In fact, I can say with a clear conscious that Rayman 2 is absolutely THE BEST FORCED PATH 3D PLATFORMER ON ANY SYSTEM TO DATE. PERIOD. I’ve played just about every platformer on every system and I can honestly tell you it’s that good. Whether you’ll like it more than Banjo Kazooie will simply be a matter of personal preference. But hey, with platform games this good, who really cares which is better
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