While I have my qualms with the original "Rayman" game, it's hard to deny that it was a wildly popular title for Ubi Soft (back when their name sounded like an insult because they didn't combine the words together). It was a multi-million seller for the company, and it began to establish Rayman as a mascot for the publisher (though, given how much Ubisoft fails to acknowledge Rayman today, you wouldn't be wrong to forget he was ever a mascot). With "Rayman 2: The Great Escape," the developers went bigger by making a proper 3D platformer. It would go on to get ported to every console known to humanity, and even achieve "sacred cow" status in a way, with some going as far as to consider it to be one of the greatest video games of all time. While I personally wouldn't consider it that myself, I can't pretend I didn't have a good time with it.
"Rayman 2: The Great Escape" still has some very good things going for it today. The story is loaded with humor, and it's anchored by a fun cast of characters. The visual design is great, the soundtrack is vibrant, and the gameplay mechanics feel fleshed out and varied. The controls still feel incredibly smooth to this day, and the gameplay is aided by the wonderful level design. Also, I have to say it's very nice that the difficulty got toned down a bit with this game. The first game often proved too overwhelming with its difficulty, so it's nice that the developers reigned it in, but still managed to add a fair bit of challenge.
There are a few issues I have with it that do stop it from being as legendary to me as it is to others. In some ways, I found the combat to be kind of repetitive. I could absolutely believe that's just age, but it just feels like it drags a bit, and that exacerbates itself with the boss fights, which I often found to be pretty weak. Also, I personally could really do without the racing minigames in the bonus levels. They often felt like carpal tunnel waiting to happen.
Overall, I can't tell you with a straight face that I look at "Rayman 2: The Great Escape" in the same glowing light that many others do. There's enough within the game that's aged to the point where I can't call it one of the best games I've ever played. However, I'd be remiss to forget that I definitely had plenty of fun with it and that it's still a very good, very enjoyable game in its own right. If you haven't played it yet, I still recommend you give it a try. Maybe you might not find it to be the absolute legend that some others do, but what you will find is a very strong 3D platformer that's still fun today.
Final rating: 8 out of 10 "Great"