Rayman 2

[Hugo]

Funny you should mention the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire, it's without a doubt the level that stimulated my imagination the most!

Yeah same! One moment in particular, when you ride on Umber's head through that narrow passage, felt so much like a dream to me. Of course it's easier when you're a child and your imagination can accept the fluidity of reality.

[The Jonster]

Rayman 2 is an optional section of the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire.

Oh so THAT’s what the purpose of the other temple was for! Well in that case I should look more carefully then!

[Mortamon Saturn]

Hey, I don't know if this was found before, but I looked at the GOG goodies of Rayman 2 and noticed something interesting on the wallpaper (which is based on a prototype cover from what I comprehend)...
I looked closely and noticed this on the bridge:

R2 - M+A.jpg (5.56 KiB) Viewed 1870 times

"M+A"... within a heart... At first, I assumed it could mean "Michel + Ancel", but then I took a closer look at the exploding ship in the background and noticed that too...

R2 - J+L.jpg (4.79 KiB) Viewed 1870 times

"J+L"! And the other wood pieces look like letters too!
I don't know if this was on any of the final N64/PC artworks due to very low-res online, but it seems exclusive to the prototype box I linked (which we use on the RayWiki article) and this high-quality GOG wallpaper.
It's probably just a love thing from some people who worked at Ubisoft, but I find it interesting to find regardless! I wonder if there are more "easter eggs" like that on Rayman artworks!

[Hunchman801]

Yeah same! One moment in particular, when you ride on Umber's head through that narrow passage, felt so much like a dream to me. Of course it's easier when you're a child and your imagination can accept the fluidity of reality.

The one I remember is in the optional temple, when after riding a platform on the lava, you reach a staircase with a path to the right, and nothing to the left. I always wondered what could be behind that wall.

"M+A"... within a heart... At first, I assumed it could mean "Michel + Ancel", but then I took a closer look at the exploding ship in the background and noticed that too...



"J+L"! And the other wood pieces look like letters too!

It's obviously Murfy + Admiral Razorbeard and Jano + Ly.

[RayCarrot]

"M+A"... within a heart... At first, I assumed it could mean "Michel + Ancel", but then I took a closer look at the exploding ship in the background and noticed that too...

It's Michel + Alexandra (his wife). Not sure what the other one is, but probably some other developer who worked on the game.

[Hugo]

The one I remember is in the optional temple, when after riding a platform on the lava, you reach a staircase with a path to the right, and nothing to the left. I always wondered what could be behind that wall.

Oh yeah! Part of me still wants to believe there's some secret method to go that way, even if all the game's files were analysed and nothing has been found.

It's Michel + Alexandra (his wife). Not sure what the other one is, but probably some other developer who worked on the game.

How sweet French are very romantic eh

[Mortamon Saturn]

"M+A"... within a heart... At first, I assumed it could mean "Michel + Ancel", but then I took a closer look at the exploding ship in the background and noticed that too...



"J+L"! And the other wood pieces look like letters too!

It's obviously Murfy + Admiral Razorbeard and Jano + Ly.

Finally, peak Rayman romance!
Take that, Rayman x Ly shippers!

It's Michel + Alexandra (his wife). Not sure what the other one is, but probably some other developer who worked on the game.

Ah yes, I had forgotten her name! It does sound very obvious now!
I guess we would really have to take a look at the game's credits to figure the other one out (even if it's clearly Jano X Ly ), I really can't think of any "J" or "L" in the team. Maybe this one is from the cover's artist?...

How sweet French are very romantic eh

Nothing quite as touching as expressing fiery love through the exploding planks of wood from a ship of space-robot enslavers, we truly are the most romantic!

[DaveRattlehead]

The French were surely more romantic in Rayman 3, right?

[PluMGMK]

I have that wallpaper in rotation, so I knew about those. I'd seen them talked about years ago, and assumed they were well-known. I knew the M was Michel, and what you said in the other topic about J being Jacques Exertier also rings a bell, but I'm not 100% sure…

[Mortamon Saturn]

Hi again!
Here's a little something I just realized regarding the 2D prototype for Rayman 2: some of its textures were recycled for both Donald Duck Quack Attack/Goin' Quackers on GBC and Donald Duck Advance on GBA, both being made by Ubisoft and using the same engine as Rayman GBC!

Notice anything familiar about this environment in Duckburg?

I had the GBC game for nearly 20 years, and it only took me until now to progress far enough just so I could notice this.
This GBC game also shares many similar visuals to both Rayman games on the Game Boy (like the way they textured the grass and trees in Duckie Mountain) and it feels similar in terms of game design too! Merlock's Temple also gives many vibes from the Fire/Lava sanctuaries in Rayman 2!

Now I wonder how well these would play as actual Rayman games...

[DaveRattlehead]

[...] some of its textures were recycled for both Donald Duck Quack Attack/Goin' Quackers on GBC and Donald Duck Advance on GBA, both being made by Ubisoft and using the same engine as Rayman GBC!

Well that shouldn't be surprising... Even the main version of Quack Attack has a lot of recycled content

[Hunchman801]

Maybe Quack Attack is the Rayman 4 we've all been waiting for.

[Mortamon Saturn]

Maybe the real Rayman 4 was the Ducks we Quacked along the way...

Well that shouldn't be surprising... Even the main version of Quack Attack has a lot of recycled content

I really do have to get my hands on the other versions someday! I always heard the console/PC versions are a Crash Bandicoot wannabe, they even ripped off the Warp Rooms format from what I've seen
From some screenshots I've found, it does seem they recycled some stuff and Merlock's Temple really appears to have taken some textures and design ideas from Rayman 2's fire sanctuaries!

[Droolie]

Best part is the PS1 version even features the infamous Rayman 2 bridge texture!

Anyway, quite a cool discovery about the reused sprites in Donald Duck GBC/GBA! I didn't expect that Rayman 2 2D sprites would have been reused in other games.
It's a bit sad that even if other sprites were reused, we'll most likely never be able to tell because this one level is all we ever got from the 2D version of Rayman 2.

[Hunchman801]

That's the one that ended up in Rayman 3 as well, right? This one sure has been amortized.

[Mortamon Saturn]

They sure got creative with the recycling!
It honestly really took me off guard when I replayed GBC Quack Attack and I saw the girders and fences for the first time, I was like: "Hey! Wait a minute, didn't I saw those textures in a Rayman game before!? "

I wish we lived in a timeline where both the 3D Rayman 2 and a finished playable 2D prototype existed... They probably even got the 3D Rayman 4 in that one.
Though I doubt they took more assets from the proto in Quack Attack, most of the world themes are either too far off from Rayman's classic themes (like Magica De Spell's Manor) or are either already recycled/inspired from Rayman 2 and the GBC games...
However, the bonus D Dimension unlocked for getting all the scrolls in the GBC game does have a style that could have fit the 2D prototype as some sort of alien world tied to the robot invaders, and that idea is oddly random for that game as I'm not aware of any Donald Duck media where that banishing dimension was featured before...
It also gave me some vibes from a few sections in the final Rayman 2, and from Rocky Peaks + Fiery Depths from Rayman GBC (for the icy parts, the climbable rock textures and spikes).

I also grew up with Jungle Book Mowgli's Wild Adventure on GBC, so I'll have to look into that one just in case there's a bit of Rayman recycling there too!


In other news, the early sequenced music from the Rayman 3D port (originally shared by MilesTheCreator) has been reuploaded through the Internet Archive!
https://archive.org/details/rayman-3d-e ... nced-music
The 3DS version of Rayman 2 was originally meant to have music more similar to the N64/DS soundtracks. The file containing them was absent in revision 1 and the eShop releases.

[Hunchman801]

Those are maps from Quack Attack? They certainly look very Rayman GBC-esque!

[Mortamon Saturn]

And when you look at the Duckie Mountain levels, you'll feel like you're really looking at Rayman GBC! It feels like a mix of the Spellbound/Ancient Forest and some levels from the Fairy Glade in Rayman 2 Forever!

The end of this first level is also suspiciously similar to its equivalent in Rayman GBC's Spellbound Forest in terms of level design concept, with a spot where you can crawl for a life while you see the character going through a bit of foreground!



On a side note, I really find it amazing how the GBA Quack Attack barely looks better at times than its GBC counterpart, it's truly a testament to the Game Boy Color version's absolute beauty!
I'm also amazed at how they managed to do tricks like the "inverted gravity", or the mirrors in the mansion which do have "reflections" for the enemies and environment (even if it's clearly just a visual trick as Donald doesn't even appear in them)! Very impressive for a GBC game!

Here are a few examples of more Rayman vibes I had from that game, like most levels from Merlock's Temple resembling the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire!

And notice how the GBA Merlock Temple (second picture) features elements similar to Rayman:
-Rayman GBC-esque ropes.
-Enemies suspiciously similar to some of the GBC Beta enemies we found...
-Lava balls resembling their Rayman 1 equivalents and behaving almost exactly like the Fiery Depths lava balls (the stone ones in the GBC Quack Attack also share that similar behavior).
-Parts where platforms will carry you across lava like the aforementioned sanctuary (more specifically for a few of the GBC Quack Attack's temple levels).
-Sparkles on spikes, like Rayman 1.
-Swinging obstacles like the spiky swings in Rayman 1/GBC and Rayman 2 Forever.
-And most importantly... is that me or are the window metallic fences' textures straight up taken from the 3D Rayman 2?

[Hunchman801]

Those temples feel a little bit more like something straight out of an Indiana Jones film to me, but I can see where you're coming from! As for the beta enemies, I wish we had more about them than just a couple blurry screenshots!

[Shrooblord]

I still continue to listen to this game's soundtrack basically every single day. What a genius score.