Rayman® Forever

I will start with a reminder: Rayman Forever has had some music and cutscenes cut from the first Rayman release. The music can very easily be restored to its full glory (search GOG's forum, thread is pinned), and the intro is available as a bonus download (outro is still missing :/). As for the actual game, although it is not a pinnacle of originality, it is an extremely well made platformer with brilliant level design, which tries many things along the way and do them well. The difficulty could use some lowering or fine tuning here and there, and accessibility is a bit low in some areas for today standards (save system for instance), but other than that it is close to a perfect game, and still one of the best. If I had to compare this game to Rayman Origins and Legends, I would say that this Rayman is a much, much more intense and rewardful game ! Intense because the levels are much more packed, the camera is much closer and the controls more tight, accurate, deep. Rewardful because secrets (extra lives and cages) actually take some dedication to find.

The game is very interesting because it feel me as child when I play the game because it similar too classic games. I look the graphics and it has a very interesting story

Don't be fooled by Rayman's gorgeous, bright and colourful graphics. It looks kid-friendly, but even seasoned gamers will find plenty of challenge. This game doesn't cut you any slack. There's always some unexpected hazard around the corner. Think you've finally made it through a stage? Think again! Some deadly, spiky object might appear out of nowhere, killing you at the last moment. Lives aren't too easy to come by either. You'll have some continues, but extra lives are essential. Though the learning curve is steep, you'll sometimes have access to diverging pathways. Can't quite beat one level yet? Just try another. There are six worlds. First you need to find all the cages in the first five worlds to unlock the final world where the last boss lurks. You start in a jungle world with swamps and vines, then there's a musical world in the sky, a mountain full of deadly spikes, a painting world and a cave. The final world is a castle made of cake. Beating certain levels grants you new powers. These allow you not only to proceed to new levels, but also open up sections of previously beaten ones. Especially in the first few levels, you're gonna have to do some backtracking to collect all the hidden cages in them. Rayman can run like the wind, hover by using his hair as a helicopter and punch with his fists. He's quite a versatile little fella for a character with no arms, legs or neck. Each level has gorgeous visuals and music. Even after twenty years, Rayman's presentation holds up tremendously well. An issue with this particular version is that it doesn't have all of the tracks playing in-game due to size constraints on the original CD-ROM. A shame as the soundtrack is really great. It does boast an easy to use level editor and a set of fan-made levels though. If the rgular game isn't challenging enough for you, this will keep you playing for a while longer. Highly recommended if you like tough old-skool platformers.

Rayman Forever is a great game marred somewhat by a weak release on GoG. Parts of the soundtracking gone missing are the highest offense, but the fact remains that this game is still worth playing even if this is the only version you can play. Rayman has a unique artstyle and level design that's charmingly different than its competitors, but don't let its cute aesthetic fool you. This game has an insane level of difficulty, and I would only recommend it to experienced 2D platforming fans. If you want to hop into the Rayman series for the first time, you may be better served by jumping right into its 3D sequel. For my full thoughts, check out the video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnTCYVO5Yb8&t=17s

Rayman is maybe the most colourful platform of the 32-bit era, it's graphically amazing and it has one of the best soundtrack you can find in a platform game, unfortunately it is VERY HARD, I can easily say it's like the Dark Souls of its genre. I needed one month to complete the game, the ending sequence is really poor compared to what the game asks you to do to complete it. Apart from that it's a great game that deserves your attention