A 2013 review.

User Rating: 5 | Rayman Forever PC

My only experience with the Rayman franchise is Rayman 2: The Great Escape. I played it a little bit when I was 10 or so. Unfortunately my ADD prevented me from playing more than the first couple of hours repeatedly and never progressing that far into the game.

Now over 10 years later, without any real nostalgia for it I try the original Rayman, which served to remind me just how far platformers have come. The first thing to notice about Rayman is its incredibly claustrophobic viewport. Rayman is maybe the largest 2D platformer character I have ever played. Aside from a cramped feel, this small viewpoint does lead to unnecessarily cramped gameplay. E.g. on a level where the camera is continuously being panned upwards and you have to jump across the screen platform to platform, you have to wait until the camera catches up with you. This is tiresome, inefficient and generally a waste of my life. Of course in 199x this would have been justified.

This game, given the child-like, fanciful facade is brutally difficult. I only played for a few hours yet I lost most of my Continues. Mostly losing them on levels that require patience, of which I had little. I'm glad the home gaming world is free of the concept of limiting continues. I also found the limitations on your main weapon - your detached fist that you project from your body before it comes back as if it were attached with elastic - irritating, to say the least. you could not crouch and fire, nor could you charge your punch while jumping around. This was irritating and unnecessary.

I feel like a lot of the game was a struggle against the limitations of the games, accustomed to massively improved contemporary platforming conventions.

The main redeeming feature of Rayman was its art style. I didn't really care about it, but it was nice and had a painted, meticulously crafted feel to it. I do not recommend this game to new players. Move straight to a later Rayman game. I hear the latest 2D platforming Raymans are spectacular.