- Rayman 2 The Great Escape.
Product Description
-------------------
After a few years in retirement, jumping game giant Rayman
returns with a new 3-D adventure game that will keep you hopping
through several graphically stunning game environments. Fans of
Sonic, Mario, and other cartoon-like jumping games will probably
enjoy the familiar gameplay of Rayman 2. While the French-created
Rayman character may not be as recognizable as Sonic or Mario, he
does bear a distinct animated look that will win over younger
gamers. This strange cartoon creation manages to keep it together
despite lacking any body limbs to connect its head, hands, and
feet.
While younger players will appreciate the cartoon-like 3-D
gaming environments, this game promises to challenge experienced
gamers with 13 3-D game environments and 45 unique levels.
.com
----
Rayman 2 follows in the footsteps of Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie
as another classic 3-D action game for the Nintendo 64. Rayman,
who is strangely huge in France, is a strange yellow creature
with hands and feet that are magically connected to his body by
invisible appendages. This odd character can glide like a
helicopter and throw his fists around as well as jump, climb, and
swim. As in any decent action jumping game, Rayman meets up with
many friends and enemies on his quest. Your mission is to rescue
hostages held by the vile Robo-Pirates.
The game has an odd cinematic feel to it--perhaps due to its
widescreen presentation and cutscenes. A cute feature is the
design of the characters, who speak in their own forms of cute
gibberish. Graphically, this game is rich with deep dark colors
spread out over 50 levels and 20 worlds. Hiding in these levels
are colored "lums" that can be used to open up new worlds or to
restore Rayman's energy. These come in handy when you want to
breathe underwater for long periods of time. Rayman must also
collect magic s and crystals, among other goodies. --Robb
Guido
Pros:
* Vivid 3-D graphics
* Huge number of levels
* Lots of gameplay variety Cons: * The Dreamcast version looks
even better
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Review
------
As an original character-based game, Rayman 2 offers action,
puzzles and advanced graphic effects that make it both fun and
challenging. The game takes place in 3D environments, so players
can help the main character roam throughout each level. Rayman 2
is a highly-produced, non-violent game. (Jason R. Rich, Parents'
Choice®). -- From Parents' Choice® (
/exec/obidos/subst/partners/marketing/parents-choice.html )
With more than a year between the announcement of the release
date of Rayman 2 for the N64 and the actual release this month,
fans eager for another serving of Ubisoft's limbless platform
hero have been patiently waiting for some time now. And
fortunately, Rayman 2 proves that good things really do come to
those who wait. Rayman has finally made the transition into a
fully 3D realm, and although not as well known as Link or Mario,
Rayman 2 proves that you don't have to have a hugely popular
character to make a great 3D platform game. Evil mechanical
pirates led by the maniacal Razorbeard are enslaving the
population of Rayman's world. It's up to our jointless hero to
collect four magical s that, once united, will awaken a
ing god who will help Rayman defeat the pirates. Along his
quest he'll pick up lums, which are magical fragments of the
stars. He'll also free creatures enslaved by the evil pirates and
run into a host of friends who will help him achieve his goal.
Rayman 2 really immerses you in the world of Rayman. The game
offers stunning graphics, incredible sound, and tons of
rtunity to interact with other characters. Almost immediately
you'll run into Globox, an old friend who helps you escape from
the pirate ship. From there, you'll encounter a cute fairy, a
collective of tiny magical beings, a muscle-headed giant, an
imprisoned whale, a polite water snake, and a few other
surprising characters. They'll help you along the way by opening
new routes, pulling you across chasms, giving you new powers, or
even volunteering information. The graphics are simply
astonishing. Taking full advantage of the Expansion Pak, the
enhanced visuals in Rayman 2 are some of the best I've ever seen
on the N64. There's absolutely no pop-up, and the game flows
smoothly from one part of a level to the next. You won't be truly
impressed until you stand atop a ledge and switch to a
first-person view, in which you'll be able to look down on the
entire level without any hint of fog. Rayman himself looks great,
and the character design is wonderful. The robo-pirates have just
the right combination of menacing and doltish, Ly, your fairy
friend, looks positively elfish, and Jano, the Keeper of the Cave
of Bad Dreams, looks like he belongs in a nightmare. I was most
impressed with the raw a of creativity in Rayman 2. Most
platform games give you tons of ledge jumping and room exploring,
with little deviation. Rayman 2, however, is packed full of
different modes and minigames. From waterskiing, to swimming
alongside a whale, to riding a rocket-powered horse, to flying a
flaming powder keg, Rayman 2 is full of gameplay surprises.
Indeed, there's plenty of platforming in Rayman 2, but the
frequent use of different gameplay elements keeps the game fresh
and exciting. Also, the game is very good at surprising you.
While there are not a lot of objects in the game, there are
several ways to use each. A powder keg can be tossed at bad guys,
thrown at doors, used to break open cages, and even lit to create
a rocket. This system always keeps you wondering what, exactly,
you're going to do with an item you run in to. Even though Rayman
2 doesn't feature real speech, the sound in the game is some of
the best I've heard on any video game in a long time. While each
level has its own distinctive tune running in the background,
certain scenarios will cause the music to change tempo, or even
switch to a different track altogether, giving the game a truly
interactive sound system. And if that weren't good enough, the
music is actually really good. But that's not all the sound
department has to offer. The sound effects in this game are great
too. Detailed down to your footsteps, you'll hear every snoring
pirate, every plink of your shoes hitting hollow metal pipes,
every swinging cage, and everything else you'd expect if you were
actually Rayman. I tried playing the game without any sound, but
only got about two minutes into it before I had to turn it back
on - it's that essential to the game. The control is so intuitive
you'll wonder why other games even bother with bogging down the
player with complex control schemes. You can jump, use your
helicopter move to glide, shoot purple rings to swing, hold Z to
lock onto a target a la Zelda, and stand next to an object to
pick it up. That's all you must do to get you through every level
of Rayman. You won't need a complex item inventory screen, a
lives count, or even much of a life bar, for that matter. With
the wonderfully simple control and nothing more, Rayman 2 still
manages to be a challenge without frustrating you with complex
button presses or making you figure out what item to use where.
Rayman 2 is definitely one of the best platform games I have ever
played. With a wonderfully humorous story, excellent game
mechanics, and perfection in almost all other categories, I don't
see how Ubisoft could have done a better job with Rayman 2 on the
N64. A truly excellent game on all fronts, Rayman 2 proves that
sometimes you have to take a little time to do something
right.--Ben Stahl--Copyright © 1998 GameSpot Inc. All rights
reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium
without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. --
GameSpot Review
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