Memories #2: Rayman

1996 was a very memorable year for me in gaming. There was such a buzz in the air for the coming generation of consoles from Nintendo, Sony and Sega, each system loaded with it's unique brand of games with polygonal graphics. Back in those days, you could count all the polygons on one hand, but it was still an impressive sight, nonetheless. During these times, my father and I would rent a PlayStation from Blockbuster Video until he brought one later that year. I find it ironic that one of the first games I played on Sony's first home console, which was big on 3D graphics, was a 2D game.

The first time Rayman was ever brought to my attention was the pages of GamePro magazine. I was reading the review for the Jaguar version of the game. It scored high marks and sounded like a game that I would really enjoy. But since I didn't have a Jaguar and wasn't able to rent one, I'm grateful that Ubisoft ported it to the different platforms, including the Sony's PS1.

What caught my eyes from the very beginning was Rayman's visual style. Until that point, I had never seen such a beautiful 2D game. As impressive as the polygons in Tekken, and Virtua Fighter were, Rayman's  graphics were positively jaw-dropping. The animation was equally astounding. Despite the fact that none of the characters have limbs, they manage to pull off incredibly fluid movements. From Electoons to the enemies to Rayman himself, each sprite is teeming with life.

Even by today's standard's, Rayman looks amazing.

Being raised on Mario platformers, I was a bit taken aback to find that not only could Rayman not jump on enemies, he couldn't even do anything to defend himself. At least not at first. The first few levels in the first world see you avoiding enemies all together until your first encounter with Betilla the Fairy. Betilla grants Rayman the power to punch. It has to be winded up and it doesn't go very far at first, but hey, it's something.

Those mean-looking musical notes aren't
the only bad thing about this world.

If it's not a power up, it's out to kill you.

On the subject of Betilla, I must comment on the game's music. Rayman's audio is very pleasing to the ears. Whenever I encountered Betilla for a new power-up, I would wait before approaching her just so I could hear her soothing theme tune, which has a place on my portable MP3 player. There's also a rocking boss jam hat plays when you're fighting the second mosquito. That track was so awesome that I almost didn't mind that the battle could drag on for a bit. Some stages had musical themes that would change during the course of the level. You could be listening to a lighthearted them as you're jumping across platforms, punching out foes one minute, the next, the music takes a turn for the dark and sinister, the most evident example of this is in Band Land, which is fitting considering that was the game's difficulty spike.

Rayman has no idea of the horrors that await him here.
Ignorance truly is bliss. 

Some stages have Rayman doing his best Simon Belmont
impression.

Rayman was much more slow paced than other platformers, but it was just as hard as any game from the 8-bit NES era. By the time I got to the aforementioned Band Land, the game stopped pulling it's punches. Tricky platforming and evil enemy placement were standard fare. You wouldn't think a stage full of musical instruments could be so unforgiving. You'd be wrong. Band Land was so hard that I was never able to pass it, not when I rented the game in 1996 or when I bought it in 2000.  Even with passwords and being able to save, Rayman is still soul-crushingly hard. Once all five of your continues are used up, it's game over. If you are prone to breaking controllers, I don't think I can recommend Rayman to you.

While I do have some fond memories of Rayman, said memories are also mixed with some bad ones. I actually haven't gone back to play this game for some time since I got stuck on Band Land. Still, I would like to tackle this game again someday. As challenging as it is, Rayman still remains an audio and visual masterpeice. It may be cast in the shadow of the Marios and Sonics of the world, but it's still a solid platform game, albeit one with no remorse for the player.