Rayman 2

[Shrooblord]

I'm real glad I decided to install R2 on this laptop. Now I can play it pretty much on the go whenever I want.

[Sabertooth]

Revolution is amazing. It's not perfect, yes, and I do miss the Hall of Doors at times, but the Front was a fantastic way of giving the player much more freedom and immersion. I feel like I'm actually in this world. The only flaws I could really find are some rather large framerate drops at certain times, a few minor glitches, and the fact that the Baby Globox race minigame sucks balls. Other than that, this might be my favorite version of Rayman 2 (of course, I haven't played Dreamcast).

Can you imagine how fantastic a successor to Rayman 2 could be on modern consoles, with today's technology and standards applied? Similarly large, diverse and atmospheric worlds, but with current-gen graphics, minimal glitches, and better controls than before. I'm salivating just thinking about it.

[Shrooblord]

The only flaws I could really find are some rather large framerate drops at certain times, a few minor glitches, and the fact that the Baby Globox race minigame sucks balls.

Yeah the amount of counseling that poor baby Globox had to go through after these...

[Hoozang]

I remember the lift minigame from the Demo of R2 in iOS...good times.

[Fifo]

I remember the lift minigame from the Demo of R2 in iOS...good times.

That minigame is in the Sega Dreamcast version of the game too.

[Haruka]

Revolution is amazing. It's not perfect, yes, and I do miss the Hall of Doors at times, but the Front was a fantastic way of giving the player much more freedom and immersion. I feel like I'm actually in this world. The only flaws I could really find are some rather large framerate drops at certain times, a few minor glitches, and the fact that the Baby Globox race minigame sucks balls. Other than that, this might be my favorite version of Rayman 2 (of course, I haven't played Dreamcast).

Can you imagine how fantastic a successor to Rayman 2 could be on modern consoles, with today's technology and standards applied? Similarly large, diverse and atmospheric worlds, but with current-gen graphics, minimal glitches, and better controls than before. I'm salivating just thinking about it.

I totally agree. Everytime I imagine what a 3D Rayman could be with the technology offered nowadays... ah it must be a marvel!

[Harpic fraîcheur]

I remember the lift minigame from the Demo of R2 in iOS...good times.

That minigame is in the Sega Dreamcast version of the game too.

I heard that the iOs version has been deleted, is it really?

[Fifo]

I remember the lift minigame from the Demo of R2 in iOS...good times.

That minigame is in the Sega Dreamcast version of the game too.

I heard that the iOs version has been deleted, is it really?

Sadly, it’s true

[Harpic fraîcheur]

Is it possible to get it in any warez websites? (Cracking, etc..)

[Fifo]

Is it possible to get it in any warez websites? (Cracking, etc..)

Yep, but you’ll have to jailbreak your iOS device to get it.

[Harpic fraîcheur]

I will buy an Ipad and jailbreak it!

[Fifo]

I will buy an Ipad and jailbreak it!

Warning, recent iOS versions don’t like jailbreaking! Your device will be an expensive brick if you jailbreak it wrong!

[Harpic fraîcheur]

I doesn't want to buy a recent device ; so expensive..

[Fifo]

I doesn't want to buy a recent device ; so expensive..

Try searching auction sites like Amazon or eBay.

[PluMGMK]

Wait, why was the iOS version deleted? Because they realised it was a bad port?

[Harpic fraîcheur]

Because it was shit, I think..

[Master]

Hmm, I've just completed a 100% run of Revolution, obviously there were a few emulator hiccups, though I think the majority of the FPS issue stemmed from RR itself than the emulation, pity too, seeing as although RR does contain more detail than the other versions, games like Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank etc. worked wonders with far more detail. That being said, those did come out slightly later, and used proprietary engines, as opposed to the widespread Renderware engine in RR. (I think Sonic Heroes also used it, and it too had FPS issues if memory serves, so perhaps Renderware is partially to blame?)

That aside, the game does look very pretty, more so when upscaled to the same resolution the PC version runs at. Though the textures do look worse, I think the Dreamcast and PC versions trump RR in that respect. The models in RR are probably the best iterations of the R2 models, with the tinier details, and the eyes of the Globoxes and Murfy are actually part of the model, rather than 2D textures that followed the camera's position.

That being said, these more detailed models can be a little cumbersome at times though, platforms can sometimes be a little more difficult to hang onto due to the uneven (but detailed) shape it's been given. It also has made some Walking Shell segments a little more tricky to navigate through due to the more intricate inclines here and there, I count myself lucky that the Red Lums respawn in the Walking Shell segment in the Wrong Temple. I also really loathe the excess Nettles in the Lava Sanctuary (originally Beneath), they make traversing through certain pathways a little too intricate, as you can see below:


There's a nettle on the other side which isn't very easy to make out and thus effectively avoid, making contact with it causes Rayman to vaporise, rather than just recoil.

Another problem I have with Revolution is the music handling, for some bizarre reason, most levels play music as you'd expect during your first visit. But when you return for backtracking or just for a bit of fun, in most cases the music is replaced with atmospheric noises, while they're not terrible, I find that the lack of music just makes the level lose some part of its personality, so to speak.

Speaking of level losses, there's some of the mish-mashing, especially between the Top of the World, Precipice and Echoing Caves. These changes really don't make sense, all the cave portions of the Echoing Caves are moved to the Precipice, leaving the Echoing Caves without the cave, rather contradictory, no? I don't really mind too much what they did with the Top of the World, but it really bugs me how they've botched up the flow and point of the other two levels. Also, due to the level mish-mashing, lums have been redistributed to other worlds, and while the majority are reasonable to discover, I did find myself feeling a little exasperated in how some were placed so that the camera wouldn't show them during normal play. I know Rayman 2 does encourage some exploration, but this felt a little cheap to me.

I've kinda meandered between the Front and Hall of Doors over the years, I do enjoy being able to explore, and RR does show that Rayman could work in a more open-worlded kind of design, and the Front does involve some rather nice looking environments. However, at the same time, sometimes I find going through the Front to be a little cumbersome at times, though the Teensie Circles are a functional, if less interesting-looking, replacement for the Hall's more direct navigational role.

Negatives aside, I do think Revolution did add some wonderful additions, I did enjoy its newer bosses, and I really did like how it extended the plot and gave characters larger roles overall. The game is also a little more encouraging towards backtracking, which I don't mind at all, though it's not quite like Metroid in its execution. Some of the purchasable power-ups are quite fun to unleash, like the rebounding of shots off Robot-Pirates, that's pretty cool yet funny at the same time. Not quite as fond of the Ly's Challenges, but they do provide a more interesting way to upgrade your health, as opposed to simply breaking 10 cages, though your mileage will vary on that. The extra music in Revolution is also pretty nice, I'm particularly fond of Grolem's theme.

And on the topic of the Robot-Pirates, I do like how combat can involve greater numbers of Pirates. The variety of them is also nice, you don't just dodge bullets, but flame-throwers, flame-bombs and homing missiles. It's not quite as fun as Rayman 3's combat, but it does mean more skill is needed to beat them (well, initially, once you upgrade to max power, you can wipe the floor with them pretty easily) as opposed to the more simplistic flair of vanilla R2.

So yeah, Revolution's good, enjoyed it as much as I did when I had my PS2. But, I do think there's some issues, some in itself, others in how it compares with other R2 versions.

[Rayfist]

Hmm, I've just completed a 100% run of Revolution, obviously there were a few emulator hiccups, though I think the majority of the FPS issue stemmed from RR itself than the emulation, pity too, seeing as although RR does contain more detail than the other versions, games like Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank etc. worked wonders with far more detail.

RR looks like it was capable of doing 60 fps, so I'm not sure what happened there. Revolution should have also released on Gamecube and Xbox. Why it was exclusive to PS2 is beyond me.

[Jewish Candy]

Yes, the respawning red lums were totally necessary, and those excess nettle obstacles were a bloody pain. I'm glad to see that the parts I struggled with weren't just down to lack of skill on my part, since other people found them bothersome too.

Those two botched levels... do we know why they were messed around with? I don't recall there being an urgent narrative reason for the switch.

[Rayfist]

Hey Master, can you post your records? You know when you beat the game it posts amount of deaths and such? Let's see em.