Chickaroo Reviews - Rayman (PS1)

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Chickaroo Reviews - Rayman (PS1)

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Hey this year (2015) is Rayman’s 20th anniversary! So let’s look back to his first adventure way back on the PlayStation 1. Was it a good start though?Game: Rayman
Systems: PlayStation, Atari Jaguar, Sega Saturn, MS-DOS, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, DSiWare, PlayStation Network
Release Dates: Jaguar: 9/1/95 (NA)
PS1: 9/1/95 (NA), 9/22/95 (JP), 12/??/95 (EU)
PSN: 5/29/08 (PAL), 7/17/08 (NA), 4/11/12 (JP)
Saturn: 10/30/95 (EU), 11/17/95 (JP), ??/??/95 (NA)
MS-DOS: 4/30/96 (NA), ??/??/96 (EU)
GBC: 3/24/00 (JP), 3/??/00 (NA), ??/??/00 (EU), 5/31/12 (World Wide 3DS VC), 7/25/12 (JP 3DS VC)
GBA: 6/10/01 (NA), 6/22/01 (EU)
DSiWare: 12/7/09 (NA), 12/25/09 (EU)
Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier
Fairies, Magic and Darkness, Oh My!
Story: Rayman is set in a very fantasy-esque world. One day, an evil man named Mr.Dark tries to steal the Great Protoon and kidnap a fairy named Betilla who looks over the land. And now it’s up to little Rayman to get the Great Protoon and Betilla back!
2D Game’s Last Breath (For Now)
Gameplay: Despite being on 3D platforms at the time, the game is mostly in a 2D style. So it is a side-scrolling platform. The game is a bit simplistic, though it can be hard.
You control Rayman, a little guy who has floating limbs. With that in mind, he can throw punches, literally. That’s how he punches in the game. And he can also charge up his punches to throw them longer. Other than that, Rayman can still do simple things such as run and jump. There are some levels that do change up the gameplay style too. Such as a level with you riding a big bug like creature to get to the next area. Enemies are a bit easy to defeat. But the game does get progressively harder as it goes on.
Rayman can also get upgrades to his moves set too. Once he beats a boss, he can get a new move, such as holding on to ledges and using his hair as a helicopter for hovering (this move later becomes a staple to the series).
There are also collectibles as well. Little blue orbs scattered around the levels to collect and honestly, I can’t remember why they are there.
Being On-Disc Makes it Much Better
Graphics: The game was originally meant for the SNES. But because the Super Nintendo was slowly dying, the game was moved to 3D platforms instead. This gave the developers a chance to rework the animations and make them smooth and beautiful. And yes, this game is very colorful and inspired by European fairy tales. The game looks very cool with its cartoony style and appeals to a younger demographic. But anyone can enjoy this game no matter the looks.
He Sure Has Musical Taste, That Rayman
Music: The music for this game is pretty good. The music can range from a variety of genres. From light playful tunes to rock and roll sounding tunes. Heck, the main theme for the game reminds me a lot of Spyro 1's music (and that game didn't come out until 1998).
Music is composed by Rémi Gazel.
Is This Limbless Guy Our New Hero?
Overall: Rayman, at the time was an excellent platformer. It sold very well and had a few spin-off games before getting a sequel. But does that game hold up today? Not really. The controls are a little funky (as for the case for most PS1 games, looking at you Tomb Raider). The game can be difficult with cheap enemy placement too. But other than that, it’s a good start to a French video game character that would be widely recognized for years to come.
Happy 20th anniversary Rayman! Keep on dreaming little guy!
3 / 5
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