From classic to shovelware
User Rating: 5.6 | Rayman DS DS
The "fanboys" insist that gamespot and the like are biased against the DS -- but of the games I've played, the mediocre scores dealt were quite fitting. I picked it up a few weeks ago with a little hope that it would be something like SM64. An enjoyable trip back--resurrection of a classic title in convenient, portable form The game, however, is absolutely awful. When they say it's a bit dark, they don't mean a bit dark like Castlevania for the GBA was. I mean, it really looks/feels like they video taped the game play and put the recording in the cartridge. The opening screens have greys in place of whites. The only thing that stands out is the bright yellow "press start" text which is in a font you'll see for all the dialogue--painfully choppy. An attempt at softening the edges would have been a nice touch. Color aside, playing this game made me claustrophobic. You really feel like you can't see much and the camera angles are at best mediocre. The only time you can see what you're doing is if you go into first person camera for a look-see. That's no help when you're trying to swing across the roof though. All of this would have been forgivable if not for the controls. The controls are what I found to be the worst, most counterintuitive aspect of this game. What I loved about SM64 DS were the many control schemes available. After toying around and getting a feel for the system, I ended up settling on using the D-pad for actions and the stylus (with my right hand) for navigation. Worked really well. But with Rayman, you have one set in stone control scheme. If you're going to use the touch screen, you have to do so with your left hand (thumbstrap) -- since the action buttons are assigned exclusively to the A/B/X/Y buttons on your right side. Furthermore, the touch screen has a fixed movement compass -- you can, via the settings, move it around to try to find a place that works well for you--but you'd better be good at finding that "center" or you'll be sprinting unintentionally into bottomless pits. Using the D-Pad is at least every bit as bad. I found no way to manipulate the controls comfortably -- which made it virtually impossible for me to enjoy the game. There were a few other annoyances. Another big one for me, was that the instruction manual said you could save and quit at any time via the pause menu. But the "save" and "quit" options talked about in the manual don't exist in the game. The only way to save is to actually get to the finish point of the level you're in. When it comes to a "portable" system, I like to think that starting and stopping frequently is an option. Fortunately, it does take advantage of the DS's sleep mode -- so you can just close it and watch the batteries slowly drain until you have a chance to pick it up again. As a testament to the quality of the production of this game, they also documented the controls wrong--citing A as jump and B as attack when, in reality, it's quite the opposite. This game is barely playable, let alone enjoyable. I really think that the only case in which people will find enjoyment for it is if they're just -so- desperate for a new bit of software for their DS that they'll play anything. (That was the case for me, but I guess I wasn't desperate enough.)
