Rayman 2: The Great Escape (Windows)

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Description

Admiral Razorbeard and his gang of robot pirates have enslaved all the creatures in Rayman's world, including the peaceful Teensies and the Lums, which give life to the earth. Rayman has been captured by the pirates as well and is lamenting his troubles in his prison cell, when he meets his good friend, Globox. Globox has smuggled in a silver Lum, given to him by the great fairy, Ly. With the power of the silver Lum, Rayman is able to once more shoot his fists. With his power restored, the pair escape the flying prison ship and embark on another adventure to save the entire world!

Rayman 2: The Great Escape is the sequel to Rayman, a 2D side-scrolling platform game. Unlike the previous game, Rayman 2 is entirely in free-roaming 3D environments, similar to Super Mario 64. Rayman has many unique abilities that can help him get around the world. In addition to being able to shoot his fists, he can use his hair to hover like a helicopter, and even glide on air currents in certain places. He can climb certain walls and ceilings and can even use his fists to swing from special purple Lums which are shaped like rings. Rayman also has many unique items at his disposal, such as powder kegs which can be carried or fly like jets, strange warheads with legs that he can ride and steer like bucking mules, and gigantic plums that can be thrown into the water to create new paths.

Rayman's goal is to find the four masks of the world, which allow the owner to reawaken Polokus, the spirit of the world. These masks are scattered far and wide, and are well hidden and guarded, so it is not an easy task. By gathering the yellow Lums, Rayman will gain access to new worlds, which will take him to the locations of new masks. Collecting yellow Lums also rewards him with new powers and life meter extensions.

The Nintendo 64 and Windows platforms are the original version of the game. The Nintendo DS version sticks closest to this version.

The Dreamcast version adds a new area to the original version called Globox Village which contains exclusive mini-games. The mini-games are unlocked by collecting six hidden Globox crystals. Also, other changes include The Hall of Doors being changed into a new place called The Isle of Doors, and more Robo-Pirates to contend with, including a new type not seen in the original version. The iOS and Nintendo 3DS version are based on this version, but don't include the Globox Village section. However the 3DS version features a dynamic difficulty curve, with the game getting easier if too many lums are missed.

The PlayStation version features a heavy alteration of the levels with some being merged and some being removed altogether, although there are also some new areas as well. This includes a new unlockable bonus area that was from the originally planned 2D version of the game that was scrapped. The amount of collectible Lums was reduced from 1,000 to 800. This version characters are also voiced with actual real languages instead of the whisper speak of the other versions.

The PlayStation 2 version adds minigames, exclusive items like the Lumz Radar, and offers more abilities for Rayman to purchase and use. Along with some expanded level revisions with lums being placed in different locations, there are three new bosses to contend with. The Hall of Doors has become hub locations, The Minisaurus Plain, Globox's House, and The Rainbow Creek. Bonus challenges can also be played by freeing caged Familiar Spirits. These prisoners are exclusive to this version of the game. The game also gives the option to use either the real language voice overs or the older version's style and lets players save mid-level.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Trailer

Alternate Titles

• "雷曼2：胜利大逃亡" -- Chinese spelling (Simplified)
• "Rayman: Revolution" -- European PlayStation 2 title
• "Rayman DS" -- Nintendo DS title
• "Rayman 3D" -- Nintendo 3DS title
• "Rayman 2: הבריחה הגדולה" -- Hebrew spelling
• "Rayman 2: Revolution" -- PS2 title
• "Rayman 2: A Grande Fuga" -- Brazilian title

Part of the Following Groups

• Green Pepper releases
• Middleware: RenderWare
• PlayStation 2 Platinum Range releases
• PlayStation Platinum Range releases
• Rayman series
• Software Pyramide releases
• Ubisoft eXclusive releases

User Reviews

By far the best 3d platform on the PC.	Rensch (216)
A brilliant leap from 2d to 3d!	Arejarn (5887)
The new king of platformgames!	Qlberts (60)
An overall good play..........	ThE oNe (6)	unrated

Critic Reviews

Adrenaline Vault, The (AVault)	Dec 21, 1999		90
Absolute Games (AG.ru)	Dec 05, 1999	90 out of 100	90
Computer Games Magazine	Dec 16, 1999		90
ActionTrip	Mar 28, 2000	89 out of 100	89
Gameplay (Benelux)	Oct 30, 1999	88 out of 100	88
GameSpy	Dec 30, 1999	87 out of 100	87
Jeuxvideo.com	Dec 02, 1999	17 out of 20	85
JeuxVideoPC.com	Dec 14, 2003	17 out of 20	85
GameSpot (Belgium/Netherlands)	Dec 21, 1999	83 out of 100	83
Hacker	Dec, 1999	69 out of 100	69

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
Frontpage Cover	3	Corn Popper (69071) Aug 29, 2007

Trivia

Character name changes

The names of a few characters changed during design of the game.

The original name of Globox was Globber.
The original name of Razorbeard was Razorface.
The original name of the Teensies was Smalbeings.
The original name of Polokus was Polochus.
And the robo-pirates were originally named the Mysterious Guild.

Development history

Originally, during the early development of Rayman 2: The Great Escape, it was going to be a 2D side-scroller. However, because of the new and constant usage of 3D graphics in games of that era, the original 2D design was scrapped and Ubisoft decided to make their franchise 3D as well. Details and screenshots of the original prototype can be seen here.

Extras

The PSX release of Rayman 2 originally came with a digital watch.

Japanese version

In Japan, purple is the colour of death. Because of that, some characters with purple in them were changed. Rayman's body was made blue, Sssssam the snake turned into a kind of green, and Jano's hat was turned red. But the most bizarre change was made to Ly, who's body was changed from orange/purple to white/pink.

References

The purple general who sells Razorbeard the Grolgoth is also featured in Tonic Trouble's opening cinematic.

Awards

• PC Player
  • Issue 01/2000 - named as "Best Platformer in 1999"
  Information also contributed by Arejarn, Kalrac, and Patrick Bregger
  [edit trivia]
  
  

  Related Web Sites

  • Rayman 2 (The official UBI Soft site for Rayman 2)
  • Wikipedia: Rayman 2: The Great Escape (Information about Rayman 2: The Great Escape at Wikipedia)
  Bilal Ibrar (56) added Rayman 2: The Great Escape (Windows) on Aug 15, 2000
  Other platforms contributed by Lance Boyle (1465), GTramp (66765), Kabushi (252604), Alexander Michel (269), Ben K (23897) and Grant McLellan (622)