Posted on: March 29, 2011

Gerolsteiner
Verified ownerGames: Reviews: 1
A Non-Platform Gamer's Dream
Yes, yes, yes! Ever since I joined GOG, I was wondering why they didn't have Rayman in the catalog. When Rayman was first released, I was a dedicated adventure (Monkey Island etc.), flight sim (Falcon 2), and role-playing (old SSI D&D) games player, but never really cared about platform games (unlike my little brother). When I saw my brother playing Rayman, I wanted to try it and a week later bought a Gravis GamePad. By the time I had beaten the game, the GamePad decided to stop working... I just couldn't play anything else for months, and to this day, Rayman and Earthworm Jim are the only platform games I really played. Rayman appears to have just the right amount of difficulty. What fascinated me most was that there seemed to be absolutely no randomness in the level design--no enemies that unexpectedly appear or holes that open up at different times. Every level is completely replayable and everything behaves in a predictable way (which is good because I had to replay levels again and again to collect enough gems for extra lives...). Rayman was certainly frustrating at times, but never unfair. Some maneuvers had to be timed to within a pixel, but the awesome smoothness (which was a first for a multi-panoramic scrolling PC platform game at the time) and reaction of the player figure made those possible--with lots of practice. The world of Rayman consists of about five distinct environments, each comprised of multiple levels and each with its own boss at the very end. The bosses are tough at first, but once you figure out their individual weaknesses, relatively easy to beat. The original game came with digital audio tracks on the CD which could be played in a standard audio CD player. I don't know how the digital version integrates the soundtrack, but I kept listening to it long after I had finished the game (and my GamePad had given up). So, take it from a non-platform gamer: if you ever want to play a pure platform game, play Rayman, but please get a gamepad before you do so (the Gravis GamePad is no longer being manufactured, but there should be other viable alternatives out there--maybe one of the other gamers can suggest which one to get nowadays).
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