Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition

Genre: Compilation / Platformer

Players: 1

Game Company Bad Behavior Profile Page: UbiSoft

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Review:

Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition, released in 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch, is a Compilation of different versions of the 1995 Platformer Rayman.

Here is what I thought of each of the games in this collection:

Game	Genre	# of Players	Score
Rayman (SNES Demonstration)	Platformer	1	N/A (F)
tl;dr This is just a tech demo of the game well before it was ready for release, including only one small area with a little platforming, no enemies, no collectables, and very little that actually resembles the final Rayman game other than the main character looking similar. This is more of a fun extra than an actual game.
Rayman (PlayStation)	Platformer	1	B+
tl;dr An excellent version of a very good Platformer. It starts out slow, but there’s good progression as you gain abilities, good variety in levels, and exploration that encourages you to revisit levels later. There are nasty compression artifacts on the video, but otherwise this game has aged exceptionally well.
Rayman (Jaguar)	Platformer	1	B
tl;dr This is largely just the PlayStation of the game, but without the video cutscenes and with worse sound.
Rayman (DOS)	Platformer	1	A-
tl;dr This is largely just the PlayStation of the game, but without the video cutscenes and with some odd sound issues between levels. However, players can also access 124 additional levels from the game select screen, a huge bonus.
Rayman (Game Boy Color)	Platformer	1	C
tl;dr This game is loosely based on the console version of the original Rayman game, but it is a separate and unique game with its own level design. It’s a decent Platformer, but not an extraordinary one, and it’s made somewhat less tolerable due to its terrible sound.
Rayman Advance	Platformer	1	C-
tl;dr Rayman’s Game Boy Advance release is really hurt by its limited screen size. This would otherwise be a decent port of the original game, but with this major flaw I can’t imagine any good reason to play this when you can play one of the console or PC versions of the game.

While this release nominally has six games in it, it’s really just two: Four different versions of Rayman, the completely different Game Boy Color game, and then a tech demo. The highlights here are definitely the DOS version, the PlayStation version, and the Game Boy Color game, since each of these has things to offer that the other releases don’t.

I should note that this isn’t a comprehensive selection of releases of the original Rayman, since it lacks mobile versions of the game. However, given that these were derivatives of the Game Boy Color and console releases, I think only the most nitpicky of completionists would demand these.

I should also take a moment to note that it’s honestly a bit puzzling that this is such a limited release, since developer Digital Eclipse is known for going above and beyond in their releases – I would have really hoped to see Rayman 2 and Rayman 3 included here as well, but even if UbiSoft wanted to remain stingy, they could have included Michel Ancel and Frederic Houde’s first games developed for UbiSoft (Mechanic Warriors, The Intruder, Pick ‘n Pile, and The Teller), since they’re featured here in the making-of story and there’s no possible way UbiSoft has any intention of releasing these older games elsewhere. This wouldn’t be something new for Digital Eclipse, either, as they essentially did exactly this in The Making of Karateka.

This being a Digital Eclipse release, you’re treated to a history of the creation of the game, including video interviews with creators Michel Ancel and Frederic Houde, UbiSoft president Yves Guillemot, and more UbiSoft staff, pretty much all in French launguage with English subtitles. There’s also plenty of concept art, production art, advertising art, and box art.

Before going on, I should note that of course this release doesn’t address the accusations of abusive workplace behavior made against Ancel, nor accusations of enabling sexual harassment of employees made against Guillemot. Some may be unbothered by this, but others may find it disturbing to see these two featured so heavily in this collection’s interviews, so I believe it does at least deserve some mention here.

As for extra features, the games themselves include screen settings, save states, a rewind feature, digital instruction manuals, optional “enhancements” (infinite lives, max HP, infinite continues, instantly unlock all levels, unlock all abilities). And as mentioned, the PC release also includes a huge collection of extra levels created for the game via a PC-only level creator.

In the end, I have mixed feelings about this release. On the one hand, this is a fairly solid collection of releases centered around the original Rayman game. But that’s just it – this is a $20 release, and it effectively only has two games in it, one of which is 31 years old, and the other being 26 years old. Even with all the extra features and making-of content, this feels really stingy and overpriced for such an old pair of games. Make no mistake, Rayman is a superb Platformer, and well worth getting, but I do feel like the $20 price is a bit steep, even with all the extra content.

tl;dr – Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition is a Compilation of four versions of the 1995 Platformer Rayman, along with the unique Game Boy Color Rayman game, and a short unreleased Super Nintendo Rayman prototype. This collection has developer Digital Eclipse’s usual wealth of historical making-of content, but even with all of these extras, $20 for a 31 year-old game and a 26 year-old game seems really steep. However, if you can get this on sale, Rayman is still a classic Platformer well worth playing… just not at full price.

Grade: B-

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