Developer: Publisher: Ubisoft Ubisoft Year of Release: Genre: 2003 Platform

Introduction:

Since the release of the original in 1995, the Rayman series has spanned across just about every major platform. From 2D platformers on the Playstation and Game Boy Color to full-blown 3D adventures on the Dreamcast and GameCube, he's even appeared in various educational 'Rayman Teaches Maths' type games for kids. With such a strong fan following it's a shame that the Rayman name was slightly tarnished with the less than perfect GBA launch title 'Rayman Advance', which suffered from some serious slowdown issues and was nothing more than a lazy port. Rayman 3 on the other hand, is a brand new adventure for the limbless French hero. Thankfully, Ubi Soft's efforts in developing this new title have paid off; Rayman 3 is certainly one of the best non-Nintendo platformers on the Game Boy Advance to date.

Story:

Rayman 3's storyline isn't strictly based on its console counterpart (Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc). Instead, the game also takes the player through various locations and involves numerous characters from Rayman 2: The Great Escape. Basically, Rayman's best friend, Globox, has swallowed a black Lum. These black Lums are hideous creatures that want to spread darkness and evil across the world. They also have a tendency to multiply like bacteria given half the chance. In order to stop the black Lums from spreading mayhem around the world Rayman must find someone to help Globox recover from this terrifying situation. Unfortunately, Rayman's long-time enemy Razorbeard and his henchmen rear their ugly faces once again to try and capture Globox and extract the dark Lum. This would ultimately grant Razorbeard a great power that would give him the means to defeat Rayman once and for all.

Gameplay:

Those who have played any Rayman platformer before will instantly feel at home. When the adventure begins Rayman has his standard set of trademark moves; jump, crawl, helicopter (allowing him to fly for a couple of seconds) and a chargeable fist punch. Unlike Rayman Advance, all of these abilities are given right at the beginning so the player isn't forced to play too many basic levels that revolve solely around jumping from platform to platform. There are a number of additional moves that Rayman will learn during frequent encounters with another familiar face, Ly the fairy. These extra moves include Super-Helico, which allows Rayman to use a more powerful helicopter move for a longer duration, double first and power fist attacks as well as the all-new body slam move that allows Rayman to destroy certain parts of the ground in some levels. Control wise the game is simple and easy to pick up with the A and B buttons controlling jump and punch moves respectively whilst the L and R buttons are used for two power upgrades gained later in the game. Finally, pushing down on the d-pad allows Rayman to duck down and crawl.

Initially, Rayman 3 plays very similarly to Rayman Advance. The first few levels are all fairly short and, despite the inclusion of most of Rayman's moves from the beginning, the action never gets any more completed than jumping from platform to platform or swinging from overhead vines. Fortunately, after venturing further into the game a wealth of level design variety and even some mode-7 type stages await discovery. The structure of the game stays relatively similar to the past Rayman platformers; an overworld map contains the entrances to all of the separate levels set over four different worlds. The majority of the stages are split up into two or three sub-levels, creating a total of over fifty levels.

Unlike many other platformers, in Rayman 3 the primary goal is simply to reach the end of the level. Whilst there are two main collectable elements in the game; yellow lums and caged tweensies, the player is never forced to collect them in order to finish each stage. Of course, these items are included for a reason. By fulfilling certain criteria in each of the game's four main worlds a bonus stage will be unlocked. In each of these stages an additional 20 yellow Lums have been hidden. In total there are 999 yellow Lums and 50 cages scattered throughout the fifty plus levels. Only once all of these have been collected will a final 'Lum Challenge' stage become available giving the chance to capture the final one thousandth lum which can then be used to download the final bonus stage through the GameCube link up (see Cube Link).

The much greater variation in level design featured in Rayman 3 really helps it to shine above both the previous Rayman Advance release and many other third party platform titles on the handheld. Those who have played the console classic Rayman 2: The Great Escape will notice that many of the stages are loosely based on those featured in that game. Some of the most memorable stages have been perfectly transformed and miniaturised from 3D into 2D. These include a great stage that requires Rayman to sit on an out of control rocket shell traveling at high speeds jumping over gaps and avoiding obstacles, and a few levels which have Rayman holding onto a lit gunpowder barrel flying through increasingly narrow gaps populated by floating bombs. Many of the platforming levels include simple puzzle solving elements such as switches, the use of barrels to blow open doors and some that require Rayman to position coloured spheres on bases to unlock other doors. It's all fairly basic, but nonetheless it adds a lot more into the mix that Rayman Advance didn't offer.

Further boosting the gameplay variety is the inclusion of four mode-7 style stages spread throughout the game. In the first of these Rayman enlists the help of his snake friend Sam to do a spot of water-skiing through the murky swamps that inhabit the game world. There are two of these water-ski stages and they are both difficult and superb fun to play as they have the player avoiding numerous obstacles and collecting those all-importing yellow lums. The second type of minigame stage is a Mario Kart inspired bumper car race. The goal here is to complete three laps of the circuit before the timer runs out. On either side of the track are lava pits that must be avoided to prevent the loss of time and energy. Both of these types of stages are well designed and a lot of fun to play through and are welcome diversions from the standard platform stages.

One of the weaker areas of Rayman 3 are the boss battles. Whilst there aren't any particular design issues they tend to lack the flair and originality demonstrated in other aspects of the game. Most of them are in the familiar mould of 'attack enemy, avoid enemy attack, attack enemy again, avoid stronger enemy attack, etc.' and aren't particular challenging due to their predictable and repetitive nature. An example of this is the first boss fight 'Garish Gears'. Whilst avoiding the odd bomb it sends hurtling towards Rayman, simply throwing three barrels at this bomb-firing machine is enough to fell it. That said, some of the later boss fights are less predictable and will take a good number of retries to master their attack patterns and beat them, so it's not all bad news.

Cube Link:

During the months leading up to the release of this title Ubi Soft were keen to promote the exclusive features offered to those that purchase both the GameCube and GBA versions of Rayman 3. Utilising the GameCube to Game Boy Advance link cable, players are able to unlock 10 additional stages and a final boss fight in the Game Boy Advance version along with a number of unlockable features in the GameCube version including a special retro 2D minigame. Whilst none of these features are particularly groundbreaking, they do provide a nice bonus that GameCube owners can sit and feel smug about. The inclusion of the 10 bonus stages was enough to finally convince me to purchase a GC-GBA link up cable. The stages are generally a lot more challenging than those featured in the main part of the game; some of them almost feel like endurance tests they are that challenging. All ten of the extra stages feature the same tilesets as those featured in the standard levels, but the general level design is more geared towards fast paced platforming whilst the collecting has been removed.

The inclusion of these exclusive link up features alone probably isn't enough to warrant a purchase of the GameCube version of the game, but as both Rayman 3 and Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc are particularly fine examples of platform gaming those who do buy both will find a pocketful of extras that will surely extend the overall lifespan of the two titles.

Lifespan:

The game's fifty levels may seem like a lot, but they are all fairly short and sweet and shouldn't take the hardened platform player more than around five hours to play through. I instantly returned to the game to collect any yellow lums and cages that I had missed the first time through, which must have added around two hours more gameplay time.

The inclusion of four multiplayer minigames, both single-pak and multi-pak, will also expand the lifespan of Rayman 3. These include Tag Mode where the tagged player must tag the others before the timer runs out and Burglar Mode, which is similar to Tag Mode but in reverse (players are rewarded for staying tagged for the longest period of time). The other two modes are Bumper Car Race in which players race around the lava filed tracks featured in the bumper car single player minigame and Bumper Car Arena, which is a deathmatch mode where the last player standing wins. Not all of the multiplayer modes and options are available at first, but they will be unlocked once a certain point in the main game has been reached.

Graphics & Sound:

The Rayman series has never disappointed players with average visuals, and Rayman 3 is no different. The game looks a lot like Rayman Advance albeit with more detailed graphics. The locations feature themes that resemble stages from all three of the main console Rayman releases and they all have that unique and quirky style that the series is renowned for. As with the many other aspects of the game most of the enemy sprites are recognisably based on the original 3D character models featured in Rayman 2: the Great Escape as are a good number of the bosses. The character animation is, as always, perfectly smooth and the sprites are sharp and easily identifiable from the colourful backgrounds.

Continuing the parallels between Rayman 3 and Rayman 2: The Great Escape, there are many remixes of familiar tunes to accompany the classic platforming stages and lush visuals. Whilst the music isn't anywhere near as accomplished as what was featured in the console version's of Rayman 2 and 3 it does a reasonably good job at creating atmosphere in each of the game's numerous environments. One very nice touch is how the music changes from the main game soundtrack to an enemy specific soundtrack depending on which enemy you are fighting. The change in music is integrated smoothly and helps add a little more character to what is already a highly stylish and characterised game. Finally, the sound effects are clear and sharp, and most of them have been ripped from Rayman 2: The Great Escape (once again). Everything from Rayman's grunts whilst he carries a heavy barrel to the cries of 'help' from the creatures captured in cages have been digitised and perfectly incorporated into the game.

Closing Thoughts:

Whilst Rayman 3 suffers from the same short lifespan issue that almost every other decent GBA platformer has suffered from, it offers a level of enjoyment and variety that is only ever really evident in a classic Nintendo game. Had a little more time been spent developing some truly inventive and original boss fights, Ubi Soft would have delivered an all-round great title that easily rivals any of the top platform titles on the Advance. As it stands, Rayman 3 is certainly one of the most entertaining games of this genre that you'll find on the system. The inclusion of so many quirkily designed and the occasional but well-placed minigame go to great efforts to make it a memorable game, and succeed. Whilst it's not as challenging as the past games in the series Rayman 3 still packs a decent amount of well designed stages that'll appeal to any Rayman fan or platform gamer.