Rayman

Genre: Platformer

Players: 1

Game Company Bad Behavior Profile Page: UbiSoft

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Review:

Rayman was first released in 1995 on PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and Atari Jaguar, and the game has since been ported to numerous other platforms. Among these ports was a version released on the DSiWare service in 2009, which was then grandfathered into the Nintendo 3DS eShop when that system was released. Unlike the Game Boy Color Rayman game available on the Nintendo 3DS via the Virtual Console service, this is a direct port of the console game (or at least, as I am to understand it, a port of the PC version of that game).

In terms of presentation, Rayman is quite a nice looking game for its era – the game features colorful, detailed environments and well-animated characters (even if Rayman himself lacks limbs, he is otherwise very articulately animated), with a sufficiently bouncy soundtrack and cartoony sound effects. The overall result is a presentation that’s generally pleasant and even endearing, but nothing truly impressive.

Much the same thing could be said for the gameplay. Rayman doesn’t tread any particularly new ground in the genre Mario built, and never comes close to those heights, but it’s still a generally fun and pleasant experience.

Unfortunately, that experience does come with its ups and downs in this release. Much as with the Game Boy Advance port of Rayman, the DSiWare version of the game suffers due to the fact that the resolution and size of the screen simply doesn’t allow for the same amount of real estate as the TV does on the console versions of the game. While not as restrictive as the Game Boy Advance version, this still does make it easier for enemies to sneak up on you, as well as making it more likely for players to encounter leaps of faith. The DS version tries to alleviate this some by showing a wider-view “map” on the bottom screen, but this feels like slapping a Band-Aid on the issue rather than fixing it.

In terms of features, this version of Rayman lacks the level editor found in some versions of the game, and in its place is a… odd new feature exclusive to this release. As with other versions of Rayman, the game’s mid-level checkpoints are designated by a character taking Rayman’s photo as he stands behind a standee cutout. In this version of the game, while Rayman is getting his photo taken, apparently the player is too, with the game snapping a shot of you using the 3DS’s camera. This isn’t used for anything, and doesn’t even appear to be saved beyond the moment it’s displayed. It’s a cute little addition, but not one of any significant consequence.

In the end, Rayman is a decent but imperfect port of a solid but unspectacular Platformer. Fans of the genre looking to have some version of Rayman’s first adventure will find this to be the best version of the game to see release on a Nintendo handheld, but it’s still far from great.

tl;dr – Rayman’s release on the DSiWare service and subsequent port to Nintendo 3DS is a mostly solid port of a decent Platformer, but the limited screen dimensions do cause some issues. This is far from the best way to play this game, but it is at least a good one.

Grade: C+

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