With personality, challenge, and retro-style gameplay, Ubisoft’s vibrant tribute revives one of the funniest platforming icons. It honors lost prototypes and handheld nostalgia.
Before there were a lot of icons on open-world maps and movies took over the business, there was a hero whose hands and arms floated in the air. It was a great time for 2D platformers when Ubisoft made Rayman in the middle of the 1990s. Mario and Sonic, two mascots, got all the attention, but Rayman stood out with its strange art direction, expressive animation, and tight, sometimes painful gameplay.
Now, thirty years later, Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition has different versions of the first journey, as well as test versions, extra levels, and old content. It came out in both digital and physical forms to honor both a character and an age.
It was shown off at a big digital event. I like this package because it makes me remember things and keeps them safe. It’s both a playable archive and a reminder of how famous platform games used to be, full of unique ideas.
So, what happens when you play an adventure game from 30 years ago in a world where scale and reality are very important?
Does Rayman still have any use, or is this just a piece of art in a bright box? The plot of Rayman’s story is still nice and easy to follow. Before, everything in your world was calm. But now, the bad guy Mr. Dark has messed up the Great Protoon and spread the Electoons, which are magical beings that keep things straight. It’s simple: make the world fair again, beat the bad guys, and take it back.
However, weakness does not equate to intelligence. When you hear the humorous tone, you may focus on more significant aspects, such as rhythm and balance. It doesn’t reveal too much, so you can deduce what it signifies. Since you won’t be informed of everything, you must conduct your own research.
The anniversary edition includes concept drawings, developer interviews, and other behind-the-scenes content that demonstrates the game’s previous development process. These sections allow you to play a test SNES game and display early concepts for the game. They explain the creation of Rayman. Prior to this new storyline, the game’s focus was solely on protecting magical creatures. The most significant tale now is about being innovative in the 1990s.
There are no depths in Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition. You can only move from side to side. You can move from left to right, jump over gaps, and kick enemies harder.
Moving around will get easier the more you do it. The movement feels like it’s floating compared to other precise platformers out there. Every time you jump, you have to change the soft arc. You learn how to hit at the start. You will be able to improve your moves in the future so they are stronger and hit farther. You’ll be able to learn skills that let you hang from ledges, swing, and go to new places that you couldn’t before.
The way the levels are set up makes the game feel like a light Metroidvania. The game mostly goes in a straight line, but you can find secret items and take different routes by going back to earlier rounds with new skills. It encourages discovery without giving you too many map choices.
With modern tools, the anniversary series makes it easier to get to things. With the “rewind” button, you can fix mistakes right away. You can always save your state. You have choices when you remap controls. You can choose from original aspect ratios, full-screen modes, widescreen stretching, and CRT filters that look more like the originals.
There are different looks for each version of the game. The PS2 version is thought to be the best by many, as it has better graphics and sound. But there are also versions for the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Atari Jaguar, and MS-DOS. You can tell that the same story was changed to work on very different computers when you play these two games right after each other.
The next thing is the prototype. Getting to load an early build that can be used is like going behind the scenes.
Such bare pieces of history aren’t often found in collections. The anniversary version is more than just a memory now that this has been added. It’s important to be on time. Enemies watch over platforms and either fly around randomly or attack from afar. It is important to learn how they move after that. The first few fights aren’t too hard, but they get harder over time.
There are problems with platforms built right into the levels. You have to jump off moving platforms, avoid falling on slippery surfaces, and quickly avoid traps that appear out of nowhere. You can do more as your skills improve. You might be able to climb over that ledge if you can get to it now.
You don’t need puzzle rooms for this game. They are instead built into the trip. It tests how quickly you can respond and spot patterns more than how well you can think straight.
When you think you’re good at something, it works well. Once you get used to how Rayman floats and how enemies move, the stages go by quickly. But anger can show up sometimes. As the game goes on, the challenge level can suddenly rise without warning. A missed jump could send you back a long way if you don’t use repeat.
There’s an interesting question here: should you use the restart button or not to stay true to the original? You have a choice, but making it changes how you feel. Every win feels like it was won when there is no rewind. It lowers stress and makes anger less strong.
Many new action games, which are full of skill trees and experience bars, rely on grinding. Rayman doesn’t do that.
There is no XP in the house. The only way to move forward is to use the skills that you get at certain points in the game. This setup keeps the pace fast. To get better stats, you never have to play a game over again. Instead, what you find and how good you are at it determine your success. There are collectibles and secret areas that make you want to explore, but they’re not really necessary in a way that feels like a lot of grinding.
It’s nice that you don’t have to grind XP. It makes me remember when getting better at the game was more important than getting more people to play. Rayman has a lot of metrics for progress, so his slow growth feels almost defiant.
The animations in Rayman are still beautiful in their own way. The hand-drawn backgrounds and sprites in the PlayStation version are the most beautiful. There are special people in every world. The color scheme is nice and simple.
Animations are smooth and show feeling. Rayman is cute because he can move more naturally, since he doesn’t have any limbs. The main and background animations give the surroundings depth and make them look and feel alive.
You can see how technology has changed over time by comparing different models. The Game Boy Advance version makes the experience smaller so that it can fit on a smaller screen.
This means that the character models are bigger and the area where you watch them is smaller. The Game Boy Color version does great things with the hardware, but the graphics aren’t as good as they could be.
These changes don’t take away from the experience; they show how well the people have been able to adapt. Sources say that because the people who made it worked hard to make sure that each version was true to the original, you are looking at history and not a copy.
That silly picture goes well with the music. There is a lot of music, from happy songs to sad songs that make you feel tense. When the sounds are clear and quick, hits and jumps feel stronger.
On the PlayStation version, the music is better. The handheld versions bring back a lot of memories, even though they can only do so much because of the hardware. The limited sound in the Game Boy Advance version has its own special charm that may hit you hard if you grew up with it.
It’s a carefully picked time capsule to honor someone who was once on the cutting edge of new ideas in platform games. It’s clear that the developers care about keeping things alive by adding different versions, lost levels, and old material.
It’s still fun to play, but there are some issues. Movement that floats and challenge spikes might be too much for some people right now. Still, the bright art direction, cute sound design, and pleasing control make you remember why Rayman is so well-known.
This collection is a good place to start for people who have never played any old 2D platform games before.
Fans who have been together for a long time will remember it fondly. The most important question is not whether Rayman still works. You need to decide if you are ready to accept a design style that values skill and imagination over flashiness.
Most games these days have huge open spaces and a lot of ways to move forward, so Rayman’s bright and simple style seems almost new. That might be the best reason ever to celebrate.
If you open up Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition like an old treasure chest, you’ll find everything just the way you remember it: bright, weird, and full of charm. There are many copies of the original game in this package, for platforms and handhelds alike. It’s not just a re-release; it’s a party. Plus, the extra lost levels, early prototype build, and behind-the-scenes material make it feel unique, like you’re entering the history of video games.
