Rayman 2: The Great Escape
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| Rayman 2: The Great Escape | |
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| Developer(s) | Ubisoft |
| Publisher(s) | Ubisoft |
| Designer(s) | Michel Ancel |
| Release date(s) | April 10, 1999 (N64 and PC) March 8, 2000 (DC) March 2005 (DS) |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, PC, Sega Dreamcast, Sony PlayStation, Nintendo DS |
| Media | Cartridge, CD-ROM, GD-ROM (Dreamcast) |
Rayman 2: The Great Escape is a platforming video game. It is considered a classic game, as it raised standards regarding 3D, level design, game play, and had a unique storyline, in which the player could go back to earlier levels of the game and finish certain tasks. It was firstly released for the Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, PC, Sega Dreamcast, Sony PlayStation, and was later remade on the Nintendo DS portable game system and named Rayman DS. It is Rayman's first outing in 3-D.
[edit] Plot
Not long after Polokus - god and spirit of a newly created planet where the game takes place - departs, an army of Robo-Pirates led by Admiral Razorbeard takes over and enslaves the planet, holding the captured inhabitants in the pirate prison ship, "The Buccaneer".
Eventually Rayman and his friends are captured, but with some help from his best friend Globox they escape, but get separated in the process. As he progresses along in search of help from Ly the Fairy, he learns that the pirates have broken the Heart of the World, the world's core, into 1000 lums that have then been scattered all over the planet, weakening the world as a result. It's up to him and whatever help he can get to collect these lums but more importantly, retrieve the 4 legendary Masks that are said to awaken the Great Pokolus, the planet's greatest hope to exterminate the Robo-Pirates and once again liberate the World.
After escaping and not being able to find Globox, he meets the teensies who have forgotten which one of them is the teensie king and squabble over it.
Rayman later meets Clark who has a bellyache from chewing a robo pirate in battle and must go to The Cave of Bad Dreams to get the elixer to heal him.
[edit] Gameplay and Level design
Rayman 2 is a breakthrough in the evolution of two-dimensional platform games into 3D games.
Gameplay and level design of Rayman 2 are considered outstanding and original. The player is constantly faced with new challenges. The worlds are huge, giving the impression of a fairytale, magic landscape. In Rayman 2, the player can duck, float, fly, jump, strafe, and shoot in order to defeat Razorbeard and his Henchmen.
[edit] Short description of Worlds
The following are the levels for the PC/N64:
[edit] The Buccaneer
The pirate prison ship. It held over 15,000 prisoners during the introduction and is where Rayman is first reunited with Globox. The player takes control after Rayman receives the Silver Lum (Giving the fist-throwing ability) to escape from the ship.
[edit] The Woods of Light
The Woods of Light is the first "true" level of the game where Rayman lands after escaping from the Buccaneer, the pirate prison ship.
Globox Village is hidden in this world.
In the PS version, The Woods of Light is renamed The Clearing.
[edit] The Fairy Glade
This is the level where Rayman meets Ly and learns to swing from purple lums. It is a huge level, beautiful, with huge open spaces.
[edit] The Marshes of Awakening
In this level, Rayman meets Sam and the Guardian of the Cave of Bad Dreams. Except for the beginning of the level, Rayman water-skis through the level avoiding obstacles. (He is pulled by Sssssssssssam) He has a chance to enter the Cave of Bad Dreams, if he knows the password.
[edit] The Cave of Bad Dreams
Rayman can compete against the Guardian of the Cave of Bad Dreams to win the Elixir of Life here.
[edit] The Bayou
Rayman makes his way through a swampy marsh here. You are shot at by the pirates' ships in this level.
[edit] The Walk of Life
Rayman can enter here from the Bayou and possibly earn an energy refill.
[edit] The Sanctuary of Water and Ice
The first mask can be found here. Rayman fights the Guardian of the Sanctuary of Water and Ice, Axel, to get the mask and meet Polokus for the first time.
The Sanctuary of Water and Ice does not appear in the PS Version.
[edit] The Menhir Hills
Rayman is introduced to the shell on this level. He needs it to cross thorns blocking the path to the military academy. He also meets Clark inside the elite troop training center, who has just smashed twenty pirates and needs the Elixir of Life (though he refers to it as "life potion") after having swallowed something bad. He tells Rayman the password to enter the Cave of Bad Dreams. In this level, you can also use a flying keg to reach one of the cages, although you learn how to control them only in the Echoing Caves.
In the PC version after giving Clark the Elexir, if you keep trying to ram one of the pirate parts, and jump over it afterward, the game will stop for a short time, rayman will fall into a white abyss, and you will start outside the doors leading to the room Clark is in without getting a green lum.
[edit] The Canopy
Rayman reunites with Globox. Globox can use his ability "raindance" to help Rayman proceed through this level.
[edit] Whale Bay
This is a very beautiful level, consisting of an aquarium, a beach with a pirate warship wreckage, a cosy lot covered entirely with trees and bay that succeeds very well in fooling the player into believing they're swimming in open sea. Here, Rayman frees Carmen, the whale, from the inside of a claustrophobic pirate structure in which a walking shell can provide access to a secret area. Carmen leads Rayman to the underside of a wrecked pirate ship, located in a hermetically closed off underwater cave. Through an entrance in the ship, Rayman can reach the vast and beautiful bay above.
In the PS Version, Rayman finds Axel and the first mask here.
[edit] The Sanctuary of Stone and Fire
Rayman gets the second mask here. He gets it by defeating Umber. In the PC/N64 version, you do not fight with Umber directly. Rather, you find and place spheres on the correct pedestals, which is a difficult task. Then, Rayman rides Umber through the lava to the second mask. Rayman does not travel to the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire in the PS Version.
[edit] The Sanctuary of Lava and Fire
The second half of the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire is known as the Sanctuary of Lava and Fire. It is here that you meet Umber. However, the sanctuary's name is not mentioned in any version other than the PS Version.
In the PS Version, this level replaces the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire. Instead of finding Umber, you find an Umber-lookalike named Colossus and then fight a Ninja Henchman sent down to kill Rayman and bring Razorbeard the second mask called Ninjaws. Unique to the PS version is a movie that takes place just before this level where Razorbeard sends down Ninjaws to kill Rayman and retrieve the second mask. Also note that Ninjaws is one of a series of robots called Ninja Henchmen which are unique to the PS version of the game.
In the PC Version, The Sanctuary of Stone and Fire and The Sanctuary of Lava and Fire are one level.
[edit] The Echoing Caves
Rayman learns how to control flying kegs here. This level also features a secret entrance to a part of The Fairy Glade that cannot be accessed elsewise.
[edit] The Precipice
Rayman is chased by a pirate warship and escapes through the mountains.
[edit] The Top of the World
A unique level. Rayman travels on a flying chair and lands inside a pirate stronghold, containing a teeny bit of stealthy gameplay.
This level isn't in the PS version of the game.
[edit] The Sanctuary of Rock and Lava
Rayman travels through the swamps and into a lost temple flooded with lava.
[edit] The Walk of Power
Rayman can enter here from the Sanctuary of Rock and Lava and possibly earn a golden fist. This is a race with Ly.
[edit] Beneath the Sanctuary of Rock and Lava
Rayman temporarily obtains the ability to fly and fights Foutch, Axel's yellow twin who controls fire, to get the third mask. Beyond this level, flying with the helicopter will no longer be possible (This power is disabled after Foutch strikes Rayman when he first enters the chamber where they will fight)
[edit] Tomb of the Ancients
Rayman fights Clark who is brainwashed by the pirates. Zombie Chickens and Giant Spiders haunt the area. In this level the player can enter a hidden area and obtain the 1000th Lum. However, it does nothing more than give the player 100% completion. In fact, it doesn't even change the Lum Counter in the Hall of Doors from 999/999 to 1000/1000.
[edit] The Iron Mountain
Arguably the strangest level of the game. Rayman has to free all of Globox's trapped children to get the 4th mask. This level is unusual because Rayman commandeers a pirate ship to rescue Globox's children. The level starts at a pipeline leading to a massive underground cave. With wooden walls and ceiling, strange sun-like lighting and grass decorating the floor, it gives the impression of a summer retreat for squirrels. In the end, a hot air balloon awaits behind a river littered with crates.
The Iron Mountains isn't available in the PS Version.
[edit] The Gloomy Island
Much like the Sanctuary of Lava and Fire, the Gloomy Island is the second half of the Iron Mountains, but replaces the mountains in the PS Version. The island begins at the Reformatory for Disturbing Children, in which a few of Globox's Children are being held captive. The reformatory is a prison camp in which the pirates mechanize their captives, guarded by a colossal robotic creature resembling a chicken. After fighting his way through the inrerior, Rayman finds a walking shell and gets the opportunity to play around with gravity. He will also be chased by the chunky bird.
[edit] The Prison Ship
Rayman makes his way throughout the Prison Ship, searching for both Globox and Razorbeard. The ship consist of two slides, a short puzzle and an obstacle course on a flying shell, none of which align to any expectation of a final stage.
[edit] The Crow's Nest
Rayman fights Razorbeard who is controlling a giant mech, the Grolgoth (which he receives in the prison ship). After defeating Razorbeard, Rayman once again saves the world.
In the PC version, during the second half of the crows nest, Rayman flies from gaps in the walls of a room filling up with lava getting powerups that shoot fireballs at the Grolgoth to make the claws slip. In the PS version he is dodging missles while trying to shoot certain missles back at Razorbeard.
[edit] Versions
[edit] PC
The PC version, entitled Rayman 2: The Great Escape, features the sharpest graphics due to semi-high resolution support, compared to the Nintendo 64 and the Dreamcast versions of the product. It is compatible with computers ranging from around the year of 1999 to the present day, although it can sometimes be hard to get the game to run on Windows XP. Some PC versions of the game have a bug. At specific levels, the game will freeze and request the user to insert the disc. Patch files are available to solve this. The PC version's voice overs were not in English but in a made up language, most likely the planet's native.
[edit] Dreamcast, Nintendo 64
Entitled Rayman 2: The Great Escape, these two versions are very similar. A few of the differences are: The Dreamcast version has several minigames and numerous changes have been made to the world map and final battle between these versions.
[edit] PlayStation
The PlayStation version was developed by Ubisoft Shanghai, and it was the first one to have the characters speaking English instead of blabber. Numerous level design changes were made, and some levels were just removed altogether. A good example of this is the entrance to The Cave of Bad Dreams, which is no longer in The Marshes of Awakening, but instead in The Menhir Hills, in front of Clark. There are only 800 Yellow Lums in this version and the number remains the same all through the game (the scene with Razorbeard eating one of the Yellow Lums was changed so that he would eat a Red one instead). Some exclusive characters are present in this version, such as Colossus and Ninjaws (which, in turn, make up for exclusive cutscenes as well). It is no longer possible to choose between the treasure and the elixir in The Cave of Bad Dreams, since the player is given no interaction in the respective cutscene, and Rayman automatically chooses the elixir. Additionally, this version features an exclusive mini-game for players who collect all of the Yellow Lums, which is thought to be a very old beta version of Rayman 2, showing a playable 2D level in the same style as Rayman 1.
[edit] Nintendo DS
The game was ported to the Nintendo DS under the title Rayman DS. Very few changes have been made to the game, though the touch screen is used for control. The DS version is very similar to the N64 one and is almost a direct port (with the addition of the touch screen capabilities, mainly a touchscreen analog stick). Unfortunately, the more conventional D-Pad control scheme (Instead of the touch-analog) was very laggy, making the game harder than anticipated.
[edit] PlayStation 2
Entitled Rayman 2: Revolution, this action-adventure version of Rayman 2 was released a year after The Great Escape. The PS2 release of the game featured some enhancements and some level revisions. The Hall of Doors is replaced by a central hub in which to walk freely and discover the game. Razorbeard spits out the last lum a while after he ate it. The major upgrade was that most 2-Dimensional objects featured in The Great Escape have been replaced with 3D models.
However, the frame rate is also far lower than the smooth 60 frames per second rate of the Sega Dreamcast version.
[edit] Trivia
- A special page gives insight into the deeper philosophies of the game. The more lums the player has gathered, the more information is revealed to the player.
- Rayman 2 on the PlayStation version was shorter than its Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast counterparts at the time.[citation needed]
- There is a bonus level available if you obtain 100% of the game's lum total. The stage is a somewhat Rayman like stage, in which the gameplay returns to the original Rayman for the Atari Jaguar. The Antitoons were also exclusive enemies for the original. This only appears in the PlayStation version.
- Due to the fact Antitoons made it to Rayman 2, it was once rumored that Mister Dark was still around, although it could be that they remained after his disappearance and most likely joined the Robo-Pirates.
- The PC version contains a minigame known as Menezies, which is a text shooter (you are a flying E that shoots periods to down enemy X's, O's and 8's). It can be unlocked by leaving the credits screen open for about fifteen seconds after the scrolling ends.
- The alien that sells Razorbeard the Grolgoth is from another game made by Ubisoft near the same time as Rayman 2, named Tonic Trouble, featuring another limbless hero named Ed (though the alien only appears in the pc version of this game).
- Very early into the development of Rayman 2, it was a 2-D game for the Playstation. This was later scrapped for the 3D game that Rayman 2 became. Pictures of the 2D version and concept art (a green villian with a chainsaw) and mentions of powers such as the platform fist were published in gaming magazines such as EGM.
[edit] Alternate Cutscenes
In the PC, N64, Dreamcast and DS versions of Rayman 2: The Great Escape (DS), there is a choice to obtain a large amount of money (which does nothing actually) and then it leads to a cutscene where Rayman is living in an island paradise. Then it returns back to the Yes/No screen. You cannot end in Yes. You must pick no.
[edit] External links
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Rayman • The Great Escape • Arena • Rush • Hoodlum Havoc (GBA) • Hoodlums' Revenge • Raving Rabbids (GBA/DS) |
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