Rayman

The Good
On the graphics area, this game does a very good job. Everything is colorful and alive. There's a lot of attention to details. For example, there are butterflies flying around and big dancing flowers on the ground. Everything is animated beautiful and the backgrounds are simply excellent to look at. The gameplay is good too. Rayman moves smooth and as he gets further into the game, he gains more and more powers. The difficulty steadily grows and it will take a while before you get the hang of a certain level. The story is good enough too. The Evil Mr. Dark has stolen the Great Protoon, which provides and maintains harmony and balance in Rayman's world. He defeats Betilla the fairy, who is the Protoon's guardian, and flees too his hideout. Evil guys start capturing the friendly electoons. Rayman now must travel through the six worlds. Along the way you'll find cages with electoons. After you break all of the cages in th first five worlds you can go to the last world where Mr. Dark resides. The six worlds are: Dream Forest, Band Land, Blue Mountains, Caves of Skops, Picture City, and Candy Chateau. They are varied and have excellent level design. There are many fun twists such as flying on a bug, floating on a plum and sliding down cake cream. Rayman has weird and fun powers such as a power fist and helicopter hair, which he gains by reaching Betilla. Enemies are smart and not always so easily defeated. Finally, this game has amazing sound for it's time that really is atmospheric and you will soon find yourself humming along with the beautiful tunes.

The Bad
This game is far too hard, even just halfway the game, the levels are very challenging, making you feel you,ll never complete this game since the later worlds are even harder. This feeling becomes even stronger when you read the manual which says you need to break each cage in the first five worlds to reach Mr. Dark. I also found that the levels, although varied and well designed, didn't have very original themes. Themes like forests, caves, candy and music have been used in many games such as Zool, Jazz Jackrabbit, and off course Mario.

The Bottom Line
Although it looks and plays well, the levels are too hard and not very original. However Rayman's powers and characters and absolutely worth a look. If you are a platform gaming expert, and looking for a real challenge in this genre, you'll like this. If you are looking for a less big challenge but still a good challenge you'll be better off with one of it's sequels.

The Good
I think the good things about this game is that you earn special abilities, unlike most games, where you start out with them and then have no challenge. I also like the fact you can punch much farther than an inch. Plus,it's darn funny, for example, fish sometimes fly outta ponds or lakes to knock you down and if you punch them they smile and their teeth crack and fall out. And last, the awesome classic backgrounds, the forests and mountains are breath-taking!

The Bad
Sometimes it's a small bit...ummm...childish. Like the first boss is a bug, which is cool but when you defeat him rayman walks up, pats him on the back, they become friends so easily, and rayman rides this bug around for the entire next level.

The Bottom Line
I'd say it's the game to look for, it's just... FUN!

The Good
In the classic console war of PlayStation vs Sega Saturn, the Saturn always came out as having the more vibrant colours and running faster (at least concerning 2D games) – this game is very much the living proof of that. Rayman looks so stunning, it holds up to today’s standards with no sweat. The graphics are simply phenomenal, with a huge colour palette and very nicely done animations (some of which the PlayStation version lacks). The music in Rayman is also very good, being on par with the graphics in what concerns the overall “pretty” look the game has to offer. It has a wonderful array of instruments at its disposal, and the arrangements are lovely. The gameplay is quite adequate for the game type, and the use of newfound powers to overcome obstacles is nicely done. The bosses are also entertaining and varied, which is a plus.

The Bad
There is only one flaw I’d point to this game – the (sometimes) utterly unfair difficulty. Some areas of the game are just plain simply frustrating, to the point of making many-a-gamer to simply give up on the game. My personal advice? Don’t do it – playing the game ends up being a rewarding experience.

The Bottom Line
Rayman is a game that at first glance seems very appealing (and it is), but which also possesses the capability to steer gamers away due to its frustrating difficulty. If you are able to persevere, you will find yourself immersed into a true fairy-tale world, filled with beauty and awe-inspiring sets and music.

The Good
It was graphically stunning! Animations were the best you could get for that time
The various worlds in which you evolved, while classic, were used very good. In the musical world, for example, some platform were made of percussions and jumping on them would produce a percussion sound. And there are plenty of similar pleasant details
The controls were more than decent
It's long, with plenty of levels


The Bad
The worlds were maybe a little bit too classic
There is no real innovative concepts
The game was way too hard, especially for its most probable audience : kids ! Reaching the middle of the game is already a kind of miracle, and after that, the game will probably kill you in frustration


The Bottom Line
Rayman would have been one of the best platform games for the PC if it wasn't so frustrating. I doubt many people will ever make it to the last level.
Do not (I repeat : do not!) give this game to a violent kid or he'll probably destroy your computer, yelling nasty words you didn't know he was aware of and leaving him in a nasty mood for months because he'll be dead frustrated.

The Good
The graphics are cartoony and great to look at. They did show of the powers of the then new Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation very nice. GO UBISOFT!

  One way the Saturn version wins SLIGHTLY over the Playstation version is the voice acting in the intro. In the Playstation version, the little hat guy sounds light and boring. In the Saturn version, he sounds more humorous. Also when Rayman gets hit by an enemy he makes a high pitched squeal. I'm not sure if this is a good thing, but not a bad one.

 The music is fantastic. Rayman has some of the best music in gaming history. CD quality sound (in gaming) in 1995 was brand new and this was a great way to start it off.<br><br>**The Bad**<br>     Nothing really.<br><br>**The Bottom Line**<br>     Rayman is a more slow paced game. It is not like early Sonic games. Nevertheless, Rayman is just one reason to get a Sega Saturn, Playstation, or even..THE 64-BIT ATARI JAGUAR!!! HA, HA, HA!!!!


 Oh Atari Jaguar, at least you are.... uh...... 64-Bit?


 Rayman is a great game. BUY IT NOW!

The Good
Rayman has been a huge accomplishment from Ubisoft. There have been many Rayman games, but this one stands out.

Rayman Advance truly takes the Gameboy Advance and turns it into a real blaster with graphics. RA's bright colours and textures(well...not really textures) really make the game look great.

The level layout was amazing too, as all the levels are reasonably big, and it's fun guiding (the huge) Rayman across them.

Sound was no problem, the music and sound effects are good.

The game plays very well. The controls are quick and responsive, and the controls have been mapped out nicely.

The Bad
Nothing.

The Bottom Line
Rayman delivers a well fulfilled promise of enhanced pocket gaming to it's greatest. I give Rayman Advance a well deserved 5 / 5 .

The Good
Fabulous, just fabulous, Rayman is really cute and nice, keeping you away from the really violent games of today, whatever anybody says, this game is not a "kiddie's game", the only thing it does is not get an M or T Rating, the levels are just beautiful, and after playing it shortly, I got addicted, I am now playing the GBA version as a Rom File with the VBA Emulator (oops, don't tell anybody!) Rayman, Rayman, and Rayman, great graphics, great gameplay, great everything!

The Bad
Nothing bad at all, not in the least, well, except the slight difficulty of the GBC/GBA version!

The Bottom Line
Rayman is a great game suitable for ages 3-80, and it is a good challenge for "unbeatable gamers" out there who have finished most of the newest FPS and adventure games.