RAYMAN 1: version comparison

PS1
- Fog effect in the third area of Pink Plant Woods
- Utilizes MIDI Tracks
- "Yeah" is a MIDI track and contains fewer samples than the Saturn version
- The first area of Bongo Hills is a more traditional Band Land level
- The viewport renders at a 4:3 resolution of 320 x 240
- Sprites and artwork are in 16-bit color
- Shoulder buttons to crawl
- Sound effects are mostly pitched normally, with some pitched higher than intended
- tings play notes when collected
- voiced intro

Sega Saturn
- Based off of the PS1 version
- No fog effect in the third area of Pink Plant Woods
- Does not utilize MIDI tracks
- "Yeah" is a produced audio track and contains more samples than the PS1 version
- New animations for crawling up-hill and down-hill
- Sound effects all play at their original sample rates instead of being played back at a different speeds. This results in the pitches sounding high and squeaky.
- Many backgrounds are different than in the PS1 version, and some extra effects are present (e.g. the glowing sun in Gong Heights)
- The windows shatter after defeating Mister Dark
- voiced intro


DOS
- Viewport renders at a smaller 16:10 resolution of 320 x 200
- Sprites and artwork are in 8-bit (256) color
- "Yeah" is reduced to a sound effect with no tune accompanying it.
- The first area of Bongo Hills is a transition between the Dream Forest and Band Land
- Magician says perfect when you complete test.. instead it shows a picture of rayman too
- All characters are given voice acting
- All sounds play at their intended pitches but are very slightly, equally pitched down.
- There are only two music tracks per-world: level music (a medley of the different PS1 level tracks of that world), and boss music
- Pop ting sound effect
- Cages are in different locations than the PS1 version
- Contains a breakout minigame, only access by cheat code
- Unlike the PS1 version, you can replay Mr Dark's Dare
- To crawl, the jump button is held while crouching
- voiced intro in some versions, some versions have no intro. many different builds of the game.

Atari Jaguar
- songs are similar but play chiptune
- different levels im not going to list all the changes but its because there is less mechanics
- Game mechanics are programmed differently and provide a very different feel
- There are no slippery physics, but the levels that originally had them are still structured similarly
- when you play a level it says action in rainbow letters
- breakout game instead of magicians challenge
- moskito can shoot, like rayman origins. normally you punch
- slideshow intro

GBA
- Based off of the DOS version
- Rayman has four life points instead of 3
- Bongo hills missing first level
- The viewport renders at a 3:2 resolution of 240 x 160
- Because of the lower resolution, some modifications were made such as reducing the horizontal speed cap on slippery surfaces
- move diagonal on dpad to crawl
- brighter contrast on screen pixels
- Some sprites are downscaled
- Music is remade in GBA MIDI, and contains some new, original tracks
- No pixel effect when tings are collected.
- slideshow intro

DSiware
- Based off of the DOS version
- screen cramped like gameboy version
- first level of bongo hills removed
- all sounds have a lower pitch, some are lower than other. raymans voice is very low pitch
- DPad diagonally to crouch. shoulder button to taunt and run
- Rayman has five life points
- Uses the PS1 soundtrack, but with many tracks cut
- The music loops, unlike in any of the previous versions
- bottom screen has map. shows outline of level and
- tings have popping sound.
- sliding/ice platforms in allegro presto are black instead of blue. this is probably to be like a music scale.
- slideshow intro

Rayman Forever
- incorrectly placed music. music also goes through soundtrack instead of playing repeated tracks for each level (rayman optimum fixes this)
- ting makes popping sound. some pitches slowed down
- runs on 5:4 but does not fill screen. rayman optimum lets you fill the screen.
- no intro

IOS/android (Rayman Classic)
- Viewport renders at the DOS version's 16:10 resolution of 320 x 200
- combination of dsi and DOS. has a lot of songs. pretty high quality but unless you phone has a good speaker it doesnt matter.
- fog effect in pink plant woods missing.
- autosaves level after completing it
i havent actually gotten that far. playing on android
- voiced intro
credit to user anaphasiia helped a lot with this. thank you

I assume by Genesis that you mean Sega Saturn? Because Rayman 1 was never released on the Genesis. Also, you missed a bunch of things like the new MIDI soundtrack on the GBA version, the Moskito's ability to shoot in the Jaguar version, the exclusive first part of Bongo Hills in the PC version, the fact that Mr. Dark's Dare can be replayed in the GBA version and the Breakout minigame.

You forgot the iOS/Android version...

ok fixed that. bongo hills first level is on PS1 and saturn i think as well.

I'll make some modifications, with text in red that should be removed, text in green that should be added, text in orange that should be edited, with blue text representing edit notes. Also, PS1 and Saturn versions have many differences and should not be in the same section:

sora_irino said:

PS1
- Fog effect in the third area of Pink Plant Woods
- Utilizes MIDI Tracks
- "Yeah" is a MIDI track and contains fewer samples than the Saturn version
- The first area of Bongo Hills is a more traditional Band Land level // It's not "extra"
- The viewport renders at a 4:3 resolution of 320 x 240
- Sprites and artwork are in 16-bit color
- shoulder buttons to crawl
- sound effects are mostly pitched normally, with some pitched higher than intended // Try standing on the very edge of a platform
- lightning on bongo hills storm area plays in sky. // This is in all versions except GBA/DSi, so doesn't need to be mentioned
- tings play notes when collected
- pixel effect when collecting tings // This is in all versions except GBA/DSi, so doesn't need to be mentioned
- ps1 version available on PSN. no features removed // This isn't a feature of the PS1 version

Sega Saturn
- Based off of the PS1 version
- No fog effect in the third area of Pink Plant Woods
- Does not utilize MIDI tracks
- "Yeah" is a produced audio track and contains more samples than the PS1 version
- New animations for crawling up-hill and down-hill
- Sound effects all play at their original sample rates instead of being played back at a different speeds. This results in the pitches sounding high and squeaky.
- Many backgrounds are different than in the PS1 version, and some extra effects are present (e.g. the glowing sun in Gong Heights)
- The windows shatter after defeating Mister Dark


DOS
- Viewport renders at a smaller 16:10 resolution of 320 x 200 // Advance runs at a lower resolution than DOS
- Sprites and artwork are in 8-bit (256) color
- "Yeah" is reduced to a sound effect with no tune accompanying it.
- The first area of Bongo Hills is a transition between the Dream Forest and Band Land // It's not "missing", it's only different
-more widescreen like advanced also more zoomed in // Redundant
- magician says perfect when you complete test.. instead it shows a picture of rayman too
- All characters are given voice acting
- All sounds play at their intended pitches but are very slightly, equally pitched down.
- There are only two music tracks per-world: level music (a medley of the different PS1 level tracks of that world), and boss music
- Pop ting sound effect
- Cages are in different locations than the PS1 version
- Contains a breakout minigame, only acces
- Unlike the PS1 version, you can replay Mr Dark's Dare
- To crawl, the jump button is held while crouching

Atari Jaguar
- songs are similar but play chiptune
- different levels im not going to list all the changes but its because there is less mechanics
- Game mechanics are programmed differently and provide a very different feel
- There are no slippery physics, but the levels that originally had them are still structured similarly
- when you play a level it says action in rainbow letters
- it might just be me but it runs a lot slower framesrate // It doesn't
- when many sounds are played causes garbage in speakers // This doesn't happen on a real console, it's an emulation glitch
- breakout game. works on PC but needs a cheat code
- moskito can shoot, like rayman origins. normally you punch

GBA
- Based off of the DOS version
- Rayman has four life points instead of 3 // Clarity
- bongo hills missing first level
- The viewport renders at a 3:2 resolution of 240 x 160
- Because of the lower resolution, some modifications were made such as reducing the horizontal speed cap on slippery surfaces
-move diagonal on dpad to crawl
-sound effects slowed down // Redundant
-brighter contrast on screen pixels
- Some sprites are downscaled
- Music is remade in GBA MIDI, and contains some new, original tracks
- No pixel effect when tings are collected.

DSiware
- Based off of the DOS version
-screen cramped like gameboy version
-first level of bongo hills removed
-sounds significantly reduced pitch. All sounds but some have a slightly more normal one // What does this mean?
-DPad diagonally to crouch. shoulder button to taunt and run
Rayman has five life points
- Uses the PS1 soundtrack, but with many tracks cut
- The music loops, unlike in any of the previous versions
-bottom screen has map. shows outline of level and
-tings have popping sound.
-you can replay mr darks dare // Redundant
-DSIware shutdown so must be bought on 3DS // Not a feature of the DSi version
-band land slide platforms are black instead of blue. probably to be note scale? // What does this mean?

Rayman Forever (Good Old Games rerelase) // the GOG version is the same as the 1999 version of Rayman Forever
-incorrectly placed music. music also goes through soundtrack instead of playing repeated tracks for each level (rayman optimum fixes this)
-ting makes popping sound. some pitches slowed down // Redundant
-no level complete fanfare // Redundant
-no 5:4 support (rayman optimum fixes this) // Forever runs at the same resolution as the original, and Optimum doesn't fix this
-comes with extras like rayman designers and rayman by his fans which add more levels and let you create ones // Those are separate games
-available digitally on GOG.com // Not a feature of Rayman Forever

GBC
- very different game!
-lower quality graphics
-plays rayman great escape music instead of normal music. only one song for each world
-rayman starts with hang jump and punch
-has cgi intro of rayman dancing at ubisoft logo
-you get a password when completing levels to save.
-levels complete by getting to sign held up by electoon
-not going into every difference. levels are much different
// Like you said, it's a completely different game, so it isn't comparable

IOS/android (Rayman Classic)
- Viewport renders at the DOS version's 16:10 resolution of 320 x 200
- combination of dsi and DOS. has a lot of songs. pretty high quality but unless you phone has a good speaker it doesnt matter.
-particle effects missing // Such as?
-dsi sound effects but NORMAL PITCH
-autosaves level after completing it
i havent actually gotten that far. playing on android

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WOW!!! i will change that. youre good at this! thanks.

by the note scale i mean in this video you can see that the lines are black instead of blue. since its kind of clear that the lines you surf on are meant to be lines on a music sheet because of the treble clef.

my monitor is 5:4. rayman forever and any other version of rayman do not fill the screen. they play but do not fill the screen. when i use rayman optimum it fills the screen properly

/**

sora_irino said:

my monitor is 5:4. rayman forever and any other version of rayman do not fill the screen. they play but do not fill the screen. when i use rayman optimum it fills the screen properly

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Argh! My monitor is 5:4 (1280×1024) too but I’d never stretch games to fill the display.
*/

nice work on the post! It may help some people.

sora_irino said:

my monitor is 5:4. rayman forever and any other version of rayman do not fill the screen. they play but do not fill the screen. when i use rayman optimum it fills the screen properly

Click to expand...

Just to make things clear here, Rayman Optimum in HD and fullscreen stretches the game and applies pixel shaders and scalers to scale up the resolution. So, it doesn't add more detail to the textures or show more of the screen.

Btw, you might want to add the differences with the Intro, like some versions (like GBA and Atari, not sure about DSi) has a slideshow instead of a movie. Maybe also the voice difference between NTSC and PAL PS1 versions. The GBA version also changed some level layouts and increased the time in the Magician bonus levels. The Atari version in also the only one to have Eat at Joe's without the darkness and this version changed some levels a lot such as the final one.

i know it is not changing the native resolution. but if you have played rayman on 1280x1024. it is very very frustrating to play because the screen is less than half. so it is nice to be able to play the game properly.

im adding what you said. thanks

sora_irino said:

PS1
- Utilizes MIDI Tracks
- "Yeah" is a MIDI track and contains fewer samples than the Saturn version

Click to expand...

It's not MIDI. It's digital audio.

sora_irino said:

DOS
- Unlike the PS1 version, you can replay Mr Dark's Dare

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IIRC, you cannot (unless you load a previous save). Entering Mr. Dark's Dare after you already beat him just shows the ending picture.

You can also mention that on the PC, the music is in CD audio track format.

Also, from the thread on Nitro Rad's reviews:

dr_st said:

The PC version also rearranges some of the existing tunes. "Suspense" which in the PSX plays during the flood sequences (Swamps of Forgetfulness, Mr. Stone's Peaks) is now combined with "Space Mama's Play" and plays during her boss battles. However, the "Washing Machine from Space", which in the PS1 is the tune for the end battle in Space Mama's Crater now plays during normal Picture City levels.

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Why is Rayman Forever listed separately from DOS? They are the same versions... There are several different DOS versions though, and the one that comes in the Rayman Forever pack is one of the different ones. Some of the differences between the DOS versions are:
- Intro
- Music
- Differential Scrolling option
- Cheat codes
- Breakout-minigame code

So both run in same aspect ratio etc.

And what dr_st said is correct, the PS1 version does not have MIDI soundtrack and the only versions you can replay Mr. Dark's Dare in are GBA and possibly DSi (though I've never played the DSi version so I can't confirm that). All other versions just show the intro then.

sora_irino said:

Atari Jaguar
- songs are similar but play chiptune
- different levels im not going to list all the changes but its because there is less mechanics
- Game mechanics are programmed differently and provide a very different feel
- There are no slippery physics, but the levels that originally had them are still structured similarly
- when you play a level it says action in rainbow letters
- breakout game instead of magicians challenge
- moskito can shoot, like rayman origins. normally you punch
- slideshow intro

Click to expand...

There's actually another difference I just discovered yesterday that to the best of my knowledge hasn't been brought up before, Betilla doesn't seem to get kidnapped in the Jaguar version, the reason I say this is because I was watching EvelynCh^^'s Jaguar longplay yesterday and I noticed that after defeating Space Mama and Skops in the Jaguar version you get sent straight back to the map screen, whereas in the other versions there are messages with still images telling the player that Mr. Dark has kidnapped Betilla (which is displayed after beating Space Mama) and Betilla asking you to help her (which is displayed after beating Skops) before sending you back to the map screen.

Carrot-master said:

and the only versions you can replay Mr. Dark's Dare in are GBA and possibly DSi (though I've never played the DSi version so I can't confirm that).

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I have the DSI version and can confirm that you can indeed replay Mr. Dark's Dare in that version (you can only play the first 3 levels though and not the final boss), after beating the levels again it just boot you back to the map screen.

superrayman3 said:

Carrot-master said:

and the only versions you can replay Mr. Dark's Dare in are GBA and possibly DSi (though I've never played the DSi version so I can't confirm that).

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I have the DSI version and can confirm that you can indeed replay Mr. Dark's Dare in that version (you can only play the first 3 levels though and not the final boss), after beating the levels again it just boot you back to the map screen.

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Right, I only got the DSi version quite recently. It can also be noted that the DSi version has extra dialogue when you meet up with Joe, the camera stops a few seconds in the Bzzit flight level so you can get the cage and the camera never auto-scrolls in other areas such as when the water is rising etc. making those parts easier.

superrayman3 said:

There's actually another difference I just discovered yesterday that to the best of my knowledge hasn't been brought up before, Betilla doesn't seem to get kidnapped in the Jaguar version, the reason I say this is because I was watching EvelynCh^^'s Jaguar longplay yesterday and I noticed that after defeating Space Mama and Skops in the Jaguar version you get sent straight back to the map screen, whereas in the other versions there are messages with still images telling the player that Mr. Dark has kidnapped Betilla (which is displayed after beating Space Mama) and Betilla asking you to help her (which is displayed after beating Skops) before sending you back to the map screen.

Click to expand...

I guess that explains why that whole kidnapping thing feels so tacked on then. You know, since she is never seen again once you set foot in Mister Dark's Dare…

PluMGMK said:

superrayman3 said:

There's actually another difference I just discovered yesterday that to the best of my knowledge hasn't been brought up before, Betilla doesn't seem to get kidnapped in the Jaguar version, the reason I say this is because I was watching EvelynCh^^'s Jaguar longplay yesterday and I noticed that after defeating Space Mama and Skops in the Jaguar version you get sent straight back to the map screen, whereas in the other versions there are messages with still images telling the player that Mr. Dark has kidnapped Betilla (which is displayed after beating Space Mama) and Betilla asking you to help her (which is displayed after beating Skops) before sending you back to the map screen.

Click to expand...

I guess that explains why that whole kidnapping thing feels so tacked on then. You know, since she is never seen again once you set foot in Mister Dark's Dare…

Click to expand...

Interesting find superray, I always did feel that Betilla getting kidnapped felt thrown in.

@anaphasiia That's some really amazing editing

PluMGMK said:

superrayman3 said:

There's actually another difference I just discovered yesterday that to the best of my knowledge hasn't been brought up before, Betilla doesn't seem to get kidnapped in the Jaguar version, the reason I say this is because I was watching EvelynCh^^'s Jaguar longplay yesterday and I noticed that after defeating Space Mama and Skops in the Jaguar version you get sent straight back to the map screen, whereas in the other versions there are messages with still images telling the player that Mr. Dark has kidnapped Betilla (which is displayed after beating Space Mama) and Betilla asking you to help her (which is displayed after beating Skops) before sending you back to the map screen.

Click to expand...

I guess that explains why that whole kidnapping thing feels so tacked on then. You know, since she is never seen again once you set foot in Mister Dark's Dare…

Click to expand...

To be fair she does appear in 2 still shots that are displayed during the credits so it's possible that it could've happened, but yeah after watching EvelynCh^^'s longplay, the whole kidnapping part which I agree already felt like it was tacked on to begin with feels even more out of place.

Ok, now the question of a layman, which version do you recommend to play in the highest possible graphical level? Or by which emu if any.

deton24 said:

Ok, now the question of a layman, which version do you recommend to play in the highest possible graphical level? Or by which emu if any.

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Best graphics is the Saturn version, with PS1 closely following. For both systems I would recommend using Mednafen (or the libretro port of it, if you want).

dr_st said:

It's not MIDI. It's digital audio.

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Carrot-master said:

And what dr_st said is correct, the PS1 version does not have MIDI soundtrack

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The PS1 version absolutely utilises MIDI tracks. At no point was it ever said that the entire soundtrack is MIDI.

RibShark said:

deton24 said:

Ok, now the question of a layman, which version do you recommend to play in the highest possible graphical level? Or by which emu if any.

Click to expand...

Best graphics is the Saturn version, with PS1 closely following. For both systems I would recommend using Mednafen (or the libretro port of it, if you want).

Click to expand...

That's very subjective, because the Saturn version, while containing effects that the PS1 version doesn't, is missing some effects that are in the PS1 version, such as the fog effects. Also, some of the graphical modifications could be considered down-right ugly, such as the sunny background being used during the Bongo Hills storm screen, or the Gong Heights background, while including a twinkling Sun, being retardedly dark. Also, that crawling-on-hills animation looks disgusting.

Literally the only graphical effects I like from the Saturn version are from the Mister Dark fight. The rest just look really bad, and more =/= better. The sound effects are also terrible on the Saturn version, and the music plays in mono.

Adsolution said:

That's very subjective, because the Saturn version, while containing effects that the PS1 version doesn't, is missing some effects that are in the PS1 version, such as the fog effects. Also, some of the graphical modifications could be considered down-right ugly, such as the sunny background being used during the Bongo Hills storm screen, or the Gong Heights background, while including a twinkling Sun, being retardedly dark. Also, that crawling-on-hills animation looka disgusting.

Literally the only graphical effects I like from the Saturn version are from the Mister Dark fight. The rest just look really bad, and more =/= better. The sound effects are also terrible on the Saturn version, and the music plays in mono.

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Yeah that's true. I happen to love the backgrounds and crawling, so for me I prefer Saturn. I guess it's all down to personal tastes. PS1 is probably best for most people.