Rayman DS First Look

Rayman, Ubisoft's platform franchise, has appeared on practically every major platform since the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation. Now the popular little character with no arms and legs will help debut the Nintendo DS with the aptly titled Rayman DS.

In Rayman DS, players will take the role of Rayman as he travels through a series of magical worlds, battling the evil forces that have enslaved his land. Rayman DS promises to carry lots of content, including 45 areas that you can race and battle in. As always, Rayman is quite the mobile little guy; even though he lacks appendages, he can still run, jump, ski, swim, and fly around with his helicopter hair. And in Rayman DS, he can jump on rockets, ride whirlwinds, and surf lava.

In addition to varied environments, featuring waterfalls, deep sea caves, and pirate holdouts, among others, Rayman DS plans to us the system's bottom screen by allowing you to monitor Rayman's health, as well as keep track of his lums, which are the little items that you collect in the game.

Ubisoft says that Rayman Advance was one of the top 10 selling Game Boy Advance launch titles back in 2001. The company hopes to repeat that success with Rayman DS on the Nintendo DS. Rayman DS is scheduled as a launch game, and we'll have more on the game shortly.