Rayman (1995)

Preliminary: Interesting that this was primarily developed for the Atari Jaguar, but was first released on the PS1 (by mere days) and decidedly is most associated with the PS1 as an NA launch title. Interesting also that I thought Robotron X and some others were the NA PS1 launch titles since those were what I recall us first having when it was bought, maybe there was a unique bundle on sale when my mom got it (she's a big fan of sales).

Anyway, part of me feels I should play it on Jaguar, but it was first released on PS1 and luckily that seems to be the most beloved version of it so here goes nothing. I have a feeling it will be one that, without nostalgia (I always had nostalgia for the concept and I believe I played a port or a sequel for PC that I loved, but I think that was Rayman 2), and with an expectation that this will be limited by how early the PS1 was, we shall see if it holds up for an outsider like me!

I didn't love that intro video but I do like the music and colors of the starting screens

It's absolutely beautiful, decent music/soudn, and good controls which is a nice surprise. Not a fan of not being able to attakc for the first two levels, but whatevs. There are nice touches like the photo op in the second level and what seems to be borderline autosave? you can tell this was the programmer's dream (as it was) and he put his all in.

Yessss great music in this fairy screen of getting punch etc. groovy and vibe-y. These intro levels are very shrot lol but this is a nice intro to the game. There's no way I'm collecting every one of the collectibles, but this seems definitely worth a full playthrough!

** Day 1**

I like how the punch is essentially a boomerang style. I always love boomerangs in platformers. Well all games. I wish you could move while winding up your punch. I also wish that enemies always took just one punch and stayed dead from that.

Ohhhh there will be a run later. Interesting. Oh gosh so begins the method of swarming a bunch of enemies on screen as a difficulty design, rather than just clever or well difficult designs :-p I hope that doesn't keep up. Because otherwise I am really liking this so far.

Saving those guys from the cages reminds me of Jak and Daxter :-p

I'm assuming it has the metroidvania aspect where these new abilities I get make it worth returning to prior levels to get all the collectibles/new areas.

My husband said he played it as a kid and was excited and tried a level lol. The flying the mosquito level has great music. Tho I didn't love the gameplay of that level. And as my husband opiinted out the scrolling gets a bit nausea-inducing, and the difficulty is getting real high. And the way you lose so much when you die. And I never likke an unclear direction to head in a platforming level just let me enjoy. But the music continues to be great and tho the aesthetic has stayed largely the same, I am liking the nice touchces and the music world etc.

I wish you could punch upwards (maybe you can later)

Day 2

Well I returned to it again and unfortunately the difficulty is getting un-fun. I'm on the level with the rotating uh gingerbread heads or whatever and got confused where to go after becoming tiny then got in a loop of dying and then calling it quits. This is better than I expected (I expected a rough display of the PS1 capabilities), but the design is a bit much for me.

Look: 8.5/10 The start of my most coveted and crucial era

Sound: 8.5/10 Some real highlight tunes here. And the great "YEA!" at the end of levels :-p

Play: 7.5/10 I can't entirely discredit for the difficulty, plus it eased me into it, but I didn't even get to enjoy more power-ups (and the ability to hang... was a bit lame, tho it was neat how that could allow for new areas to be access etc). In all ways, I see this as a great game, I just don't know how far I'll ever get in it

Feel: 8/10 It was cute having my husband play it a bit and having his nostalgia. He did get a bit nauseous from the scrolling though lol

Attachment: 7.5/10

Overall: 8/10

The first Rayman entry is a landmark 2D platformer that introduced players to Ubisoft’s now-iconic limbless hero. Set in a lush, imaginative world, the game blends stunning hand-drawn visuals with fluid animation and a distinctive charm that still holds up decades later. Every level bursts with color and personality, from serene forests to bizarre dreamscapes, all complemented by a playful yet atmospheric OST that enhances its fairy-tale mood.

While Rayman may look inviting, it quickly reveals a steep difficulty curve, and I'm not even exaggerating when I say that this was one of the most difficult games I've played in my life. It is so hard that, in order to finish the game, I admit that I had to use cheat codes, otherwise it would be a nightmarish experience during the late-game stages. Its precise platforming, tricky enemy placement, and limited continues demand both patience and skill.

However, that challenge adds to its lasting appeal, making each completed level feel genuinely rewarding. The game’s simple mechanics, jumping, punching, and later gliding, are used cleverly throughout, ensuring the gameplay stays fresh and inventive. As one of the most visually impressive and artistically ambitious titles of its time, this game remains a defining entry in the platformer genre. It established a beloved franchise and proved that even in the era of 3D gaming’s rise, 2D artistry and tight design could still deliver a magical and memorable experience.

If you bought a ps1 back in 1995 and not follow the trend of 3D, you would probably focus on quality. this game has it and a little bit more, no matter what your age or preference for games was. Everybody loved platformers back then, so you're making a guaranteed safe bet!

You're essentially testing the new technology and what it can do to yesteryear's ideas. you have colorful, and artistic graphics with with cinematic cutscenes akin of the TV cartoons you watched, and not just that, but also the game is pleasing and is inviting you to explore its world and hidden secrets.

Going from platformers and what they used to be on the 16-bit to the PlayStation 1 is not a huge leap in gameplay, but in the artistic sense, nothing matched the quality of Rayman in 1995 on the PlayStation.

This title was perfect on launch for the PlayStation. it felt very welcoming to a new platform, and welcomed people with something familiar while boosting quality of the yesteryear. It is not a masterpiece and has a lot of annoying difficulty spikes, but the experience is absolutely worth it. back then or right now.

Ah yes, Rayman. My journey in the world of gaming, all started with this gem of a game. My uncle had a nice Windows 95 pc and bought this game so I could play it in his home.

Right from the start, I was addicted to its colourful graphics, the nice music, and the jolly animations in the background from different objects and fauna.

Story wise, Rayman is a classic fairy tale. A villain called Mr. Generi… I mean Mr. Dark tries to take over the world and is imprisoning every magical creature in Rayman’s homeland and our hero Rayman must stop him and save all his little buddies. You know, classic stuff.

The graphics are sweet and colourful, and the animations are smooth. The same goes for the controls, they are spot on and feel very natural. This makes that, even today, the game looks like a modern Indie game and is perfectly playable and controls just as well.

I want to personally pay my respects to the music composers in this game. In terms of soundtracks, Rayman is in my top 10 of all time. Every track fits the environment and different worlds perfectly. My personal favourite is the music that plays when fighting Mr. Stone.

Speaking of stones, this game is harder than bricks enclosed in concrete. It has no mercy and I think the developers hated kids. Although doable most of the levels, some examples are the Space Mama boss fight, the water level in Mr. Scorp’s caves with the yellow floating balls and the annoying piranha and of course, Mr. Dark himself. This i a game that says: "Hey bro, git gut".

The game is very large for its time to. You got many different worlds to explore with different themes which gives the game great variety.

Back then, and even today, I have some minor complaints about the game, like the invisible triggers that spawn a cage or death-trap out of nowhere. This game is all about exploring the levels and trying to reach hidden places, but sometimes you need to take a jump into limbo and bling a cage appears or a secret cloud takes you there. As a kid, I never completed all single world 100%, because my little child brain could not anticipate on this factor.

Secondly, I wished their where more extra life powerups. As mentioned, this game is relentlessly hard, and you spent your extra lives quicker than you can blink.

I have played a fair deal of games in my youth, but when talking nostalgia, Rayman takes the cake.

Even today I can play this game anytime and it will be just as entertaining (and hard) as it was back then. Rayman is an example of a game that ages really well and does not become “unplayable” with time.

It will always have a place in my heart, and I am glad that I have experienced its magic back in the day.

I finished this one in its PS1 version, and I pretty like it.

It's hard, SO hard... But fair. Walk cautiously and you won't die. That's what I like the most about the game, the feeling of beat a game that is hard but you can beat if you use both your ability and your strategy.

I can say the same for the electoons. They are pretty good hidden, but you will find them if you look well enough. Shouldn't be mandatory for the ending, though.

Note - this is mainly for the iOS version. Had this been a regular controller setup, it would have gotten two stars.

There is an inspiring amount of anger when a platformer seems so gorgeous, quirky, and playable but instead kicks the player all over with frustration. Platforms don't quite reach measurements that keep the player accidentally jumping over them, enemies are just out reach of anything but hacky movements of the player's punches, and the quest to get all the "optional" but forced cage collection is an infuriating exploration of levels that already lack intuition, with elements that almost seems haphazardly strewn about.

What's the icing on the cake from the iOS port? The controls are frustrating enough to manage (especially for getting cages and crouching at the right time, here's looking at you Allegro Presto) with the regular version, but somebody had a special amount of sadism in mind when they thought the touch pad would ever be a good idea for this game. It almost feels as if the Easy mode is mandatory because of the frustrating chore that is losing all of the player's lives upon testing out near perfect execution of imperfect levels and even then, death is much too persistent.

If this wasn't free on the App Store, I wouldn't forgive Ubisoft. They release this for free for a reason. Approach as a curiosity but don't put your heart into this.

*** This is regarding the GBA version: Rayman Advance. There just isn't a separate entry on here for it ***

I haven't played enough of this to give it a an actual score/review, but I wanted to mark that I did put a few minutes into it. In looking for a follow-up game after my Klonoa 1 and 2 GBA experiences, I thought I would try another platformer to be able to compare the two series. If I liked it, I knew there were a few other games I could check out, similarly, again, to Klonoa.

For now, I wasn't able to put more than 30 minutes into this. Coming right from Klonoa, where the screen feels relatively large compared to your character sprite, Rayman felt claustrophobic. I believe many handheld versions of platformers end up with this issue, where the view is just zoomed so far in on your character that you can't really see where you are going. Jumping even once scrolls the screen and it is very disorienting. You have to play extra careful because there could be enemies or pits just a few steps in front of you, off screen. It ends up feeling fairly generic and annoying.

I was under the impression that Rayman was fairly positively critiqued as a franchise, but I am aware that trying the GBA version first is probably not the best way to try him out. I may come back to this particular game after I haven't just indulged in something I found to be much better, but I also have some other platformers in mind that I would likely get to before I came back to this. Otherwise, I may just try it on a more appropriate platform and see if I can find the appreciation in the franchise.