Introduction
Rayman wants YOU to watch this LP!
Ubisoft is a pretty big name in video games these days, with such illustrious credits as the recent glut of Prince of Persia games, Assassin's Creed, and of course, dozens of ports, sequels, and spinoffs of the game that started it all: Rayman. This little guy captured our hearts during the Playstation era, largely because that was one of the few body parts he had. It was hard not to be drawn in by the stellar music, the beautiful and dynamic artwork, and the solid platforming gameplay of the original game.
The game's only drawback, if it has one at all? The difficulty curve is incredibly unforgiving. The game is divided into five worlds, plus the final boss level, which can only be accessed by opening all six cages in every other level. The first world poses little challenge to anyone who's ever played a video game before - some tricky spots, but nothing that would prevent anyone from completing each level. The second world shows no mercy. Be prepared to lose many, many lives while memorizing what each level throws at you, and even then, your twitch reflexes and general gaming skills will be put to the test. The third world steps up the difficulty quite a bit, throwing in new gimmicks every step of the way. All but the most advanced gamers will probably give up at this point. The fourth world is almost unfair, featuring long levels with traps everywhere, and if you don't explore thoroughly enough and miss a cage, you're going to have to replay the entire level to find it. The fifth world is a source of nightmares for many, bringing the game's most challenging elements together in levels that never seem to end. The final boss is actually a lot of fun, from what I remember. Shame it's almost impossible to get to him.
The last time I played this game was well over ten years ago, and that's about all I can remember of it. I also played the DOS version then, and this time, I'm playing the Playstation version. There are some differences, but most of them so far seem to be sound-related, aside from the placement of some 1-ups and several of the cages. Most of them are much easier to get to in this version. I'll try to point out anything else I spot as I go along.
Starting with the Allegro Presto video, I recorded two versions of commentary for each video - one with the same solo commentary focusing on the gameplay and what little strategy I have, and the other with a different special guest, focusing on whatever we can think of to say. It's all post-commentary, largely because I needed to do a lot of editing, but also because most of the levels took a number of takes, and my voice would have given out if I'd tried to talk over every take.
Videos
| The Dream Forest | |
| Pink Plant Woods | Viddler |
| Anguish Lagoon and Swamps of Forgetfulness | Viddler |
| Moskito's Nest | Viddler |
| Band Land | |
| Bongo Hills | Viddler |
| Allegro Presto - a capella | Viddler |
| Allegro Presto - con l'accompagnamento | Viddler |
| Gong Heights and Mr. Sax's Hullaballo - solo | Viddler |
| Gong Heights and Mr. Sax's Hullaballo - chorale | Viddler |
| Blue Mountains | |
| Twilight Gulch and The Hard Rocks - the solo climb | Viddler |
| Twilight Gulch and The Hard Rocks - by the buddy system | Viddler |
| Mr. Stone's Peaks - shouting into a dark void | Viddler |
| Mr. Stone's Peaks - a voice to echo back | Viddler |
| Picture City | |
| Eraser Plains - self-portrait | Viddler |
| Eraser Plains - group photo | Viddler |
| Pencil Pentathlon - one man's journey into madness | Viddler |
| Pencil Pentathlon - mass hysteria | Viddler |
| Space Mama's Crater - one small step for a man | Viddler |
| Space Mama's Crater - one giant leap for mankind | Viddler |
| The Cave of Skops | |
| Crystal Palace - spelunking alone | Viddler |
| Crystal Palace - group exploration | Viddler |
| Eat At Joe's - entrée portion | Viddler |
| Eat At Joe's - family-sized combo platter | Viddler |
| Mr. Skops' Stalactites - the giant one that sticks all the way down to the floor | Viddler |
| Mr. Skops' Stalactites - a bunch of little ones that hurt when you touch them | Viddler |
| Candy Chateau | |
| Mr. Dark's Dare - single scoop | Viddler |
| Mr. Dark's Dare - banana split | Viddler |
| Bonus video - continues, cheats, and assorted visual effects | Viddler |