Rayman 2 reviewRayman 2 is, of course, the sequel to the first game. However, I never thought that this game would be so different to the first one. Also, I
thought this game would never work in 3D. I thought that they would have made some more games in 2D, then move on to 3D. Just seems like a big step in a short amount of time. In fact, this game was originally going to be a 2D platformer, but they scraped the idea and made it 3D. I would like to see what it was like is 2D. Despite all that though, this game was pretty awesome.
So it starts off with flying pirate ships for about a minute or so. This takes some time. Well, the graphics are nice, just a little misty for my liking. It then shows the inside of the ship, where they keep the prisoners. You see those cages that were from the first game. The return of Mr. Dark? Oh please make it be the return of Mr. Dark. But the pirate thing just isn't his style. And Rayman seems to have been captured already. Is there something I'm missing? Well, time to turn to the instruction booklet. Ah, here we go: Storyline. Apparently a long time ago, some vortex opened up and strange creatures came out of it, including Rayman. That's not what happened in the first game. Some fishermen found Rayman and were puzzled as to think how he could ever live. He's got no limbs or neck, so I can see why. So Rayman wins their trust by defeating the evil Mr. Dark (Defeated? Ha, that's funny....defeated....Oh, what am I talking about, you ask? Oh, just something about the ending of the first Rayman game that really got my goat, can't say here, spoilers =P). Now evil space pirates are attacking Raymans planet. Apparently these space pirates, under command of Admiral Razerbeard who is a short but well feared pirate, have conquered several planets, and plan to take over the entire universe (of course!).
They fight with apparently some characters that we have never heard of before. Such as Globox, sole weird blue rain creature, Ly, the Fariy Glade, and....that's it. There are the Teensies as well, some short big nosed blue creatures that wear a crown, but they didn't take part in the fight. I'll explain why they are wearing a crown in a moment. You also see them in packs of four. Rayman gets captured and is about to turn into Razerbeards slave. Oh no! And it turns out the cages, although they look exactly like the protoon cages of the first game, appear in some levels, and they contain Yellow Lums. There's something about that make makes the idea....copied, even though it's the sequel. So, back to the game. Globox gets put into the same cell as Rayman. They are pleased to see each other. Apparently they are best friends. That wasn't in the first game either. Must have been something that happened in between the end of the first game and the start of the second.
Apparently Globox stores things in his mouth. He got a Silver Lum out game gave it to Rayman. What's a Lum, you ask? I have no idea. That wasn't in the first game either. Apparently these Silver Lums grant Rayman with new abilities. This one gives you the ability to throw your fists. Oh good, some consistent I bet it looks good in 3D.....Wait a moment. That's not throwing your fists. That's slapping the air and a silver ball comes out. How is that throwing your fists? It's nice that they ricochet and you can fire three at the same time. But there's throwing your fists, and there's throwing a silver ball. I'm surprised that they called this Rayman 2, when there's hardly any consistency from the first game.
Well, you and Globox make your way out of the ship, swearing vengeance on Razerbeard. You then appear in some wood area. And Sparks from Spyro appears. I call him Sparks because I forget his name. And he's not really a Dragonfly. In fact, he has a fixed grin and has random sparks flying from him. He's here to give you advice on things. He tells you to collect these Lums that will help you gain access to some history and future levels. Ok, I see what the game did here. It just got everything from the first game, took away everything beside the fact that you are Rayman and you defeated Mr. Dark and started making a new game. There is not Blue Mountain anymore, no Pink Forests, no Candy Chateau. This is the main thing that really annoys me about this game. They didn't even try to.....did I just see that mosquito boss from the first game? It is! Not as a boos, just as background graphics. And there are those piranhas from the first game as
well. They even do that comical thing with the teeth when you hit them with your.....*sighs heavily and rolls eyes* "fists" *using the Dr Evil
quote unquote marks*. And there's a plum! You can hit them, move across lava with them, and even put them on enemies and stand on their head like the first game! Ok, this game shows some signs that it's the sequel to the first game. It has redeemed itself. Although they could have made a bigger difference.
Now this game offers some comic value, which is nice. My favorite being Razerbeard being your typical "gets angry fast and shoots the message boy" kind of villain. The cut senses are pretty nice. Although the Teensies part gets very repetitive, they did the same cut-sense four times, as if they didn't know what to do with it. Ah yes, the Teensies. After the first level, these Teensies appear and offer to help you. There are four of them, and they argue about who is the king of the Teensies and who isn't. They take the crown off each other and fight other it. Classic comic stuff. They get more organized later on. In a level, there are normally 50 yellow Lums to collect. Every 50 yellow Lums you collect gets you more information about the world. There are four types of Lums: Red Lums, which restore health, purple Lums, which you can swing along (like the first game), Blue Lums, which restore your breathe underwater, and of course, Yellow Lums. Yellow Lums are apparently the source of all life split up into a thousand pieces. There are Sliver Lums, but those, for some reason, aren't counted.
If you manage to collect all the Lums from a level, you'll have access to the bonus stage. This is basiclly you as a baby Blobox racing against a space pirate. You just need to press two button in rapid succession. The prize for winning? At first, it looks like there is no prize, despite what Ly said about what Rayman has won. Over time, I realized that my health bar had increased quite a bit. So the prize is more health. I'm not sure why you didn't just say that, butI suppose the health bar appearing after you win the was a bit of a give-a-way. The battles are pretty easy to do, but it does involve some tactics to beat them. In fact, they got the battles with the space pirates and platforming perfectly. There wasn't a moment where I though "Oh no, not another battle" Or "these battles are so rare, they should add more", but the battles were enjoyable. I like the bosses. Oh, I almost forgot. Legend had it that the god Polokus made four masks, hidden away in temples. To those who can get the four masks, Polokus will grant a wish to that person. Rayman must get these four masks, and get Polokus on his side to defeat the space pirates. Then of course freeall the prisoners of the ship and defeat RazerBeard.
If there is one thing that the Rayman game snot only do right, but do it well, is the final level being uber epic. The first game has a killer last level (apart from the ending....), and this one is no different. It's fast paced, it's hard, and most importantly, it's epic. The music isn't that bad, it just seemed to me that they didn't try as hard with the music. In fact, I hardly noticed the music. At times, there is a good beat, but most of the time, the music is not noticed. The game play is a lot better than I expected. I was glad I was wring about the game play of this game. You start out with the helicopter hair power-up thing, which was kind of them. The controls are pretty sleek as well. Just the camera could have been made better.
Overall, I give this game a 8.5/10 Sure, this game was different to the first one in such a degree that it didn't seem like the sequel, which really annoyed me, but this game is a master piece of it's own kind. It's is just as good as the first game, only in a 3D kind of way, if that makes sense. If you like the first Rayman game, you'll defiantly like this one. If you hated the first game because it was too hard, you'll like this one because it's quiet a bit easier, but at the same time, offers some challenge. It's got a lot of creativity in it, but I'mstill waiting for the return of Mr. Dark....
Graphics
7 Sound
6 Addictive
8 Depth
8 Story
9 Difficulty
7
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