This is one of the best 3D platformers ever made. There’s little competition for it on the computer side, and only a few PlayStation games really match its fun (
MediEvil and the
Spyro series, mainly). If you’ve ever played a platformer, you know what to expect -- jumping, shooting, running around, puzzles, etc.
You’re Rayman, a floating head, body, hands and feet that is on a quest to save the world from evil pirates. Along the way, you meet friends from Rayman’s past who help you get past various obstacles. You’ll also have to solve puzzles, which never really consist of more than finding globes to throw on little pointy pyramids to open doors. The game never gets bogged down in complexity, instead letting the gameplay shine through. And, once you get used to having to wrangle the camera every once in a while (especially in the Cave of Bad Dreams, and later in the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire), the game shines.
Controlling Rayman is effortless, and the Z-lock a la Zelda is terribly handy when fighting enemies. The world is pretty expansive, with more than 16 levels, and of course there’s the requisite “find-all-the-items” test for the anal retentive folk. Rayman 2 shows what happens when an excellent platformer successfully migrates to the 3D realm -- there may be a few hitches, but overall, Rayman 2 is a blast to play.
As you progress, you gain more abilities, from being able to latch onto purple rings and swing like Indiana Jones from a whip to being able to bounce around on “plums” (they sure don’t look like plums to me, but hey). Every level presents you with a new “toy” to figure out, and by the end of the level, you’ve gotten your butt kicked enough times trying to figure it out that you’ve got it down pat. No need for training. The game itself is the trainer. Overall, Rayman 2 is damned fun.
