Rayman 2 is the Perfect Janky Adventure

#rayman2 #rayman2thegreatescape #3dplatformer
Rayman 2 is considered by many to be the crown jewel of the Rayman series, but given that it was released over 20 years ago, how does it hold up? Does it perfectly capture the feeling of going on an adventure, or do its technical setbacks bog it down too much?
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[@Insanityltself]

You're gonna love Rayman 1, its so much easier difficulty wise compared to Rayman 2. Trust me lol.

[@MarkyMarkGames]

HA I'm not falling for that

[@QueenAleenaFan]

Rayman is a weird IP in general.

[@Kayas]

idk if the algorithm gods blessed you or me. It got on my front page, but I got some good ass content. Great vid, will look into your stuff

[@MarkyMarkGames]

Thank you!!

[@Upsedriss]

rayman 2 and 3 were my childhood man, heck yeah.

[@caligon5921]

It is not really a fair comparison to take the level design of two games that are vastly different in gameplay and world-design and compare them in terms of map size. Rayman is not a semi open world like OOT is. The developers have to make things work with that approach. Level based worlds are much more flexible on that front, since its just a matter of "get from point A to B". Its linear levels, where as a wide overworld like Hyrule has to accommodate for being traversed, mainly as a means to get to the level if you wanna put it that way.

[@tylerkessler4021]

Got yourself a subscriber after this. One of the first games I can remember playing growing up, and your script was perfect . 10/10

[@Lemuel928]

Rayman 2 was the ultimate multi console experience.😎

[@Lemuel928]

Rivaled to Super Mario 64.

[@scottstockman4465]

Eat your heart out Todd Howard.

[@aortaplatinum]

Rayman 2 isn’t really JANKY, for the most part everything works as intended [though my experience with the Dreamcast version leads me to believe the running shells and their weird gravity are more polished on DC than N64], it's more that the game design itself is flawed. The Sanctuaries are the worst of it, they're so long and filled with so much bullshit, I had to stop playing for the day after each one. But overall it's REALLY good, it just has some shitty segments, like Sonic Adventure 2 or Super Mario Sunshine

[@obscurevideogameruns6250]

Man, this hero was heroic!

[@SarahWestTheAmericanTailQueen]

Rayman 2 is the Perfect one indeed, the PlayStation version of Rayman 2 is great as well, despite the fact that entire levels are missing altogether like the Sanctuary of Water and Ice got taken away from the PS1 version and Top of the World and the beginning of the Sanctuary of Rock and Lava were also gone in that version, and some parts of existing levels were completely removed because of sound files bloating up space on the disc.

[@timhaas6021]

The fourth face on the Mt. Rushmore of platformers should be Klonoa.

[@FinalAffliction]

I loved this game when I was about 12. The other games let me down big time tho with the side scrolling stuff.

[@WigWoo1]

This was my favorite 3D platformer. still is. Grew up with the dreamcast version and loved every bit. Even though I never got further than Meiner hills as a kid lol. But I've beaten it on every system at this point lol. We need a remaster so bad. Editing tip: I think next time double check your Gamma/brightness settings. Video seemed kinda dark

[@MarkyMarkGames]

Fun fact: I used to record gameplay straight from my N64 using a $20 hdmi converter. Hence why the footage looks...the way it looks...

[@WigWoo1]

@@MarkyMarkGames lol nice. I remember finding the N64 version for sale at blockbuster. At the time I lost my dreamcast copy years back and was so excited to play again and I was like "what happened to the music" lol. Not being old enough to understand the n64 uses MIDI. Still beat it in like 2 days

[@CeriX___]

My only complaint with Rayman 2 is the combat that would later be improved in Rayman 3.

[@maydaymemer4660]

Not sure if i agree with your assessment of Rayman 2 as a story. I think a show dont tell approach wouldnt really work for what you are describing as the point of the intro is to leave the brutality of the enslavement by the pirates to your imagination and to show a simple number crawling up. All the people in this world are treated as a statistic by the pirates. You still see the slaves themselves, and you see the pirates do bad things but the intro opening in medias res was a smart decision. It also makes sense to not show Polokus as much in order to keep the mysticism of his presence. It feels special when Rayman meets his “grandfather” I also dont agree with the idea that Rayman never “needed” a story. This was only the second game in the series, there was no identity yet to subvert and I would say Rayman 2 set the impression for how Rayman’s world and iconography would be seen until arguably Legends? I would also say that this game specifically was intended by Michel Ansel to be a cinematic 3D platformer, ala Oddworld. Most levels are set ups for cinematic moments, like riding a rocket upside down to free some Globox babies or running away from a brigadier bombardment. If youre not playing Rayman 2 for the story youre not going to get much out of it, as the level design and puzzles are made to be believable as part of this world rather than particularly difficult. I’d say the most famous part of the game, The Cave of Bad Dreams, is memorable because it’s a story beat. You return to a previous level to enter an area that will have a care for a character’s illness, the stakes are more personal and the character of Jano is Polokus’ Hades. I also think that when you say we dont need to learn the backstory of Polokus in order to stop the pirates,I feel like we clearly do as the plan is to use his powers to destroy the pirates. Which also sells the pirates as a threat beyond what Rayman or this world is capable of, the creator of it needs to intervene. Which I find interesting because the pirates are said in the manual to have come from space. I feel like what youre saying is like if you were to say the original Star Wars doesnt need any of the force stuff or Anakin backstory in order to work as a movie. Both are technically right, you could rewrite both plots and just have them about a gang of rebels, but that’s not the story the creator wanted to tell. They clearly both enjoyed the mysticism aspect I also think that Rayman is fundamentally different from Sonic and Maria in that he was created with the intent of being more of a platform than a character. As in Michel intended him to be a flexible character that could be put in more situations and gameplay styles than other mascots. He’s always championed that, hence why the series went from 2D platformer to cinematic 3D platformer to mini game collection back to 2D platformer As for your gameplay criticisms, I wont argue with them as I am currently doing a replay on both PC and PS2 and am not at those sections yet so I dont remember if those are just flaws you experienced I havent, or ones I have but I’ve forgotten. I will just guess that choosing the PS1 version they were probably worse, but I do remember Rayman 2 having problems akin to that with some of its tutorialization and finicky sections. It’s not my favorite, I personally prefer 2D Rayman to 3D (even Rayman 1) but all of the mainline Rayman games are genre-defining. I would in fact argue tho that Rayman 2 is actually MORE accessible than any other 3D game of its era, not just platformers, but compared to Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie to make an example R2 instead has no lives system, a ton of checkpoints and a way simpler moveset. I would recommend for a good version to ever replay the game the N64 and PC ports are the “original” experience untainted, the Dreamcast is a definitive edition of those ports but is ultimately the same game and the PS2 “Recolution” version is an outright remake which actually puts MORE story focus and sort of evolves the game structurally into more of a traditional 3D platformer. The introduction of hub worlds, upgrades and abilities that force backtracking to levels to get all the lums makes Revolution more like a linear collectathon than a 3D platformer action adventure hybrid Overall tho, i liked the video

[@sorio_gaming7726]

Ok but can we argue about that Sonic story thing please

[@lordrealashemtov5818]

rayman 1 as so hard & it what i think

[@drifter402]

It's not Janky at all. Everything you complainied about wasn't "jank."

[@sonerkamer2678]

It’s literally skill issue. All the sliding & riding sections are trial and error. And it’s LITERALLY the whole point of a Platformer/Adventure game.