Rayman 1

[RaypersonNikol]

I think ya'll should look at this. Might get a post launch update/patch in probably the upcoming weeks.

[PluMGMK]

So they're looking into adding the old soundtrack as an option? But if they can look into that, why not do it before launch? Are they really so literally and figuratively tone-deaf that they didn't anticipate that the fanbase would react this way?

[Master]

I'm inclined to wonder whether "looking into" will translate to anything substantial, or if it's an empty attempt at appeasement that won't go anywhere. The responses from what I've seen seem to have come from Community Managers than anyone involved in development.

[RaypersonNikol]

So they're looking into adding the old soundtrack as an option? But if they can look into that, why not do it before launch? Are they really so literally and figuratively tone-deaf that they didn't anticipate that the fanbase would react this way?

To be honest, I'm pretty sure they didn't expect the fanbase to react this way, but I dunno, I'm not part of their office. But even if I was, I wouldn't be able to say anything anyway cuz I'd probably have an NDA put on me lol

I'm inclined to wonder whether "looking into" will translate to anything substantial, or if it's an empty attempt at appeasement that won't go anywhere. The responses from what I've seen seem to have come from Community Managers than anyone involved in development.

Well, at least Ubisoft and Digital Eclipse decided to finally use Discord as a way to communicate lol

But again, I don't know. We'll have to see.

It wouldn't hurt to try and have a bit of hope (in a cautious way, of course).

[Rock_TBT]

Could anyone with access to the game files for "Rayman 30th Anniversary" copy-paste the text from the game into the wiki-page for the behind-the-scenes section?

Link:
https://raymanpc.com/wiki/en/The_Bible_of_Game_Design

[Hunchman801]

So they're looking into adding the old soundtrack as an option? But if they can look into that, why not do it before launch? Are they really so literally and figuratively tone-deaf that they didn't anticipate that the fanbase would react this way?

They were told no before, and in light of the soundtrack's poor reception, they escalated the issue again, but I very much doubt that anything will come out of this.

[RaypersonNikol]

They were told no before, and in light of the soundtrack's poor reception, they escalated the issue again, but I very much doubt that anything will come out of this.

Who told them no before? Also well, I wouldn't doubt things *just* yet, Hunch...

(Am I a bad person for having cautious levels of hope or what-)

[Hunchman801]

The legal department, I assume.

[Reese Riverson]

I'll always be partial to the original soundtrack of the game, myself, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was some licensing issue that kept them from re-using the original? I think something similar has happened when it came to re-releases of Sonic 3, for example.

[RaypersonNikol]

I'll always be partial to the original soundtrack of the game, myself, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was some licensing issue that kept them from re-using the original? I think something similar has happened when it came to re-releases of Sonic 3, for example.

A friend of mine said that the way the Rayman fandom reacted is just like how the Sonic fandom reacted to Sonic Origins. Maybe we're seeing an overlap...

[TeensieKing]

Hello everyone!

I’ve been looking forward to sharing my thoughts on this game, and to reading other people’s opinions without the unnecessary rage you see on Reddit.

Overall, I think R30AE is a fantastic way to experience classic Rayman 1, soundtrack issues aside.

It preserves the original experience, but gives you options. Infinite lives and continues are there if you want a more relaxed playthrough. Starting with all abilities unlocked is another great addition, since it removes the backtracking if that’s not your thing. And the rewind feature is a lifesaver when the game pulls what I can only describe as “bullshit” moments, like a gendoor spawning an enemy right in your face and hitting you before you can react.

Playing without the constant pressure of limited lives has really allowed me to appreciate how well this game has aged. The pixel art is still gorgeous, the level design is thoughtful, and the use of power-ups is clever and deliberate.

As a kid, I never got very far. My memory of the game was shaped by those early worlds where you can only walk, jump, and punch, so I always thought the platforming felt clunky. Unlocking the helicopter felt monumental to me back then, even though it’s just the beginning. Now, with rewind and full abilities available, I can see the bigger picture. Rayman’s movement is surprisingly fluid, for the most part, and it really puts into perspective how Rayman 1 walked so Origins and Legends could run.

Now, the soundtrack.

This is where things get frustrating.

What bothers me most isn’t even the quality of the new OST, it’s the messaging. The announcement trailer gave the impression that we were getting faithful recreations of the original themes. The tracks used there were exact recreations. Naturally, I went in expecting re-orchestrations, modernised perhaps, but still grand, atmospheric, and true to the original tone.

Instead, aside from a handful of tracks, we got mostly brand-new compositions that fail to capture the magic and overall mood of the original soundtrack.

Some of the new tunes feel vaguely reminiscent of Origins, but not as strong, and not nearly as fitting. Origins worked because its art style, tone, and soundtrack were all aligned. It was cheeky and chaotic, and the music supported that.

Rayman 1 isn’t that. It’s whimsical, magical, sometimes lonely and reflective. The new soundtrack clashes with the ambience created by the art direction and sound design. That’s the core issue.

Replacing the OST of a deeply beloved 30-year-old game was always going to be risky. That’s not on Héral, he was given a task. But Ubisoft should have known how attached people are to that music. Trying to substitute it with mostly new material was never going to land smoothly.

I’ve seen some people argue that voicing criticism might scare Ubisoft away from making more Rayman games. I disagree. Constructive feedback is healthy. If we want good Rayman games, Ubisoft needs to understand what the fanbase values and what we don’t. Even if we never get a patch restoring the original OST, and realistically I doubt we will, since we’re talking about multiple versions across different platforms, at least future decisions might be more careful.

On the technical side, I haven’t had major issues so far, except for severe frame drops during the Space Mama boss fight. I do find it slightly embarrassing that a PS1 game from 1995 drops frames on a PS5.

All in all, I’m genuinely happy to have Rayman 1 accessible on modern consoles without needing to set up emulation on PC. The quality-of-life features make it approachable whether you want a hardcore experience or a relaxed one, and that’s a huge win.

It’s just a shame that the soundtrack replacement, and the whole “ROMs being emulated” discourse, has overshadowed what is otherwise a very solid release.

[RaypersonNikol]

Hello everyone!

I’ve been looking forward to sharing my thoughts on this game, and to reading other people’s opinions without the unnecessary rage you see on Reddit.

Overall, I think R30AE is a fantastic way to experience classic Rayman 1, soundtrack issues aside.

It preserves the original experience, but gives you options. Infinite lives and continues are there if you want a more relaxed playthrough. Starting with all abilities unlocked is another great addition, since it removes the backtracking if that’s not your thing. And the rewind feature is a lifesaver when the game pulls what I can only describe as “bullshit” moments, like a gendoor spawning an enemy right in your face and hitting you before you can react.

Playing without the constant pressure of limited lives has really allowed me to appreciate how well this game has aged. The pixel art is still gorgeous, the level design is thoughtful, and the use of power-ups is clever and deliberate.

As a kid, I never got very far. My memory of the game was shaped by those early worlds where you can only walk, jump, and punch, so I always thought the platforming felt clunky. Unlocking the helicopter felt monumental to me back then, even though it’s just the beginning. Now, with rewind and full abilities available, I can see the bigger picture. Rayman’s movement is surprisingly fluid, for the most part, and it really puts into perspective how Rayman 1 walked so Origins and Legends could run.

Now, the soundtrack.

This is where things get frustrating.

What bothers me most isn’t even the quality of the new OST, it’s the messaging. The announcement trailer gave the impression that we were getting faithful recreations of the original themes. The tracks used there were exact recreations. Naturally, I went in expecting re-orchestrations, modernised perhaps, but still grand, atmospheric, and true to the original tone.

Instead, aside from a handful of tracks, we got mostly brand-new compositions that fail to capture the magic and overall mood of the original soundtrack.

Some of the new tunes feel vaguely reminiscent of Origins, but not as strong, and not nearly as fitting. Origins worked because its art style, tone, and soundtrack were all aligned. It was cheeky and chaotic, and the music supported that.

Rayman 1 isn’t that. It’s whimsical, magical, sometimes lonely and reflective. The new soundtrack clashes with the ambience created by the art direction and sound design. That’s the core issue.

Replacing the OST of a deeply beloved 30-year-old game was always going to be risky. That’s not on Héral, he was given a task. But Ubisoft should have known how attached people are to that music. Trying to substitute it with mostly new material was never going to land smoothly.

I’ve seen some people argue that voicing criticism might scare Ubisoft away from making more Rayman games. I disagree. Constructive feedback is healthy. If we want good Rayman games, Ubisoft needs to understand what the fanbase values and what we don’t. Even if we never get a patch restoring the original OST, and realistically I doubt we will, since we’re talking about multiple versions across different platforms, at least future decisions might be more careful.

On the technical side, I haven’t had major issues so far, except for severe frame drops during the Space Mama boss fight. I do find it slightly embarrassing that a PS1 game from 1995 drops frames on a PS5.

All in all, I’m genuinely happy to have Rayman 1 accessible on modern consoles without needing to set up emulation on PC. The quality-of-life features make it approachable whether you want a hardcore experience or a relaxed one, and that’s a huge win.

It’s just a shame that the soundtrack replacement, and the whole “ROMs being emulated” discourse, has overshadowed what is otherwise a very solid release.

See, this... THIS I can get behind. Thank you for your input. /gen (genuine tone tag)

[Mortamon Saturn]

As I promised, here's a full screenshot bundle of all the pictures from the History section of the 30th Anniversary Edition!
Both the original French Game Design Bible and the English translation are included! It also includes screenshots from the interviews (mostly for the pics/drawings/animations/gameplay footage that appear in them).
I hope it can be useful in any way for RayWiki, and if not, I didn't waste my time anyway as I took them all for myself too!

Everything is unedited, sorted by folders and subfolders (everything named after relevant sections of this bonus menu), and the total should amount to 525 pictures!
It took a while to take them all thanks to the popup that constantly appears to tell you the controls (btw pretty nice how they stretched the exit sign to make that UI! ), you have to wait for it to go away everytime you cycle through pictures or the videos in the History menu...



Back to issues with the collection, I have now seen the save bugs for myself... When I returned to my PS1 100% file, my progress was gone!
All the levels were unlocked oddly enough... but no Electoons, and no abilities for Rayman! But the life counter and Rayman's damage still lingered from my 100% playthrough! And when I later attempted to copy the file, same result, except the second one says 0%! What the heck is going on!?

(Yes I forgot to take two screenshots, might add them later. Ubi Connect makes the launch extra slow and annoying everytime )

Well, I will say this much: it's got by far the least janky Flying Rings! Rayman's fist passes through them instead of hitting them uselessly when you don't have the power yet, you can jump easily between them (extra jump height helps), and if you press up or down when letting go, you just jump instead of getting a crazy momentum boost!

On the flipside, it's got by far the jankiest ledge-grabs, which really feel like something out of an unfinished fangame The last jump in Gong Heights 1 is practically impossible, you have to jump off the bouncing ball just as the Monk is throwing it off the right-hand side of his head… (And when you fail you have to restart the map so by the time you get back there you won't have retained enough sensory feedback to recognize the pattern – I guess this is a problem people had with other tricky things in all the versions of Rayman 1…)

I'm trying the Jag version on Switch and just made it past Allegro Presto, and now I really see what you were talking about... Holy heck, I had no idea Band Land was altered this badly...
However, I do like how high Rayman can jump in this version even if it can rarely be an issue (it sure helps with some horrible parts from the original like that one nasty jump at the end of Bongo Hills 2 ), and I'm having a great time seeing of they actually used those "weird unused" bits of level design from the other versions (like that suspicious empty spot past the exit sign in the thunderstorm part of Bongo Hills, which has some bonus Tings placed there in Jaguar!).

Indeed, the way Rayman hangs to platforms feels so weird and almost pixel perfect!
I'm not fond of rewinding, but I sure don't mind using it for my first experience here... So many ways to lose a ton of your time and to get frustrated in this port...

Oh, and about the music playing over the original issue: it really does happen in the Switch version! Thankfully you can just mute the OG music using the in-game slider to stop that cacophony... but this also means being stuck with the new music instead, so it's like pick your poison. (Hey, at least the Jaguar renditions of the new tracks I disliked sound way better here, and I'm pleasantly surprised they actually went the "extra mile" by making multiple versions of the new soundtrack! )

They were told no before, and in light of the soundtrack's poor reception, they escalated the issue again, but I very much doubt that anything will come out of this.

I've also heard from Ryemanni's stream that they -allegedly- commented on Discord that the decision to replace the soundtrack was so to have "a cohesive one consistent across all five games" or something of the sort, in the typical corporate response... I really hope that explanation isn't genuine, because holy heck is it tone-deaf otherwise!
And yes, if they could do it before, we probably wouldn't be in this situation now, so that response is most likely pure damage control and like the typical "We'll look into it" reply you usually get from the likes of Ubi/EA support... Still hoping it will be officially resolved one day, one way or another.

I’ve seen some people argue that voicing criticism might scare Ubisoft away from making more Rayman games. I disagree. Constructive feedback is healthy. If we want good Rayman games, Ubisoft needs to understand what the fanbase values and what we don’t. Even if we never get a patch restoring the original OST, and realistically I doubt we will, since we’re talking about multiple versions across different platforms, at least future decisions might be more careful.

Now this... this is what I always like to read!

I'll never say it enough: healthy criticism is very important so the things you love can have the chance to be at their very best! You can both express your joy in seeing Rayman being brought back and support his return, and yet still point out the issues that should be adressed!
If we let a company like Ubi get away with the perspective that we have no standards and will mindlessly consume anything as long as it's branded "Rayman", then the future will most likely get only worse for the limbless hero, and the next generations won't remember his history as positively as we did!

...And on the opposite side, angrily jumping at developpers and fellow players with insults (and any other possible flavor of toxicity) won't do any favor to *ANYONE*, so that petty Redditor/Twitter-tier behavior better stop ASAP!

You mean this one?

btw I spotted a AVGN reference

We had clowns farting in the basement, and now we have Razorwife singing in the shower!

[RaypersonNikol]

...And on the opposite side, angrily jumping at developpers and fellow players with insults (and any other possible flavor of toxicity) won't do any favor to *ANYONE*, so that petty Redditor/Twitter-tier behavior better stop ASAP!

That's literally what I'm seeing and it hurts to see it. I do agree with the criticism, but that doesn't mean free reign to make people that genuinely enjoy it (like myself for example) feel like a shitty person for it, or free reign to attack (and possibly do worse shit) the devs.

I wish more people understood that.

[Fifo]

instead of getting a crazy momentum boost!

I tend to (abuse) that a lot in the PS1 version of the game, mainly to get that one cage in Bongo Hills

[TeensieKing]

Just yesterday I went back for that infamous cage in Twilight Gulch. You know the one, right near the start, where you have to sprint, jump, and punch the flying ring.

It took me a solid 15–20 minutes just to reach it. You have to hit jump at exactly the right moment and use the helicopter for just long enough. The margin for error is tiny.

It’s such a simple cage on paper, yet it requires two power-ups to pull off (three if we’re counting punching, but meh).

On the one hand, it’s clever design. It really makes you feel your progression. On the other hand, the difficulty feels unreasonable, to the point where it makes it clear that it was not properly playtested.

[Ols]

Just yesterday I went back for that infamous cage in Twilight Gulch. You know the one, right near the start, where you have to sprint, jump, and punch the flying ring.

It took me a solid 15–20 minutes just to reach it. You have to hit jump at exactly the right moment and use the helicopter for just long enough. The margin for error is tiny.

It’s such a simple cage on paper, yet it requires two power-ups to pull off (three if we’re counting punching, but meh).

On the one hand, it’s clever design. It really makes you feel your progression. On the other hand, the difficulty feels unreasonable, to the point where it makes it clear that it was not properly playtested.

Yeah, that one is a pain and seems like an oversight from when they lowered the jump height. I know enough about the rhythm of where to jump and when to throw a punch that I can mostly do it consistently, but it still gives me some trouble. I do also really like that you need to use multiple powers in sequence to get it, just wish they'd lowered the ring down even just a teeny bit.

[PluMGMK]

Just yesterday I went back for that infamous cage in Twilight Gulch. You know the one, right near the start, where you have to sprint, jump, and punch the flying ring.

It took me a solid 15–20 minutes just to reach it. You have to hit jump at exactly the right moment and use the helicopter for just long enough. The margin for error is tiny.

It’s such a simple cage on paper, yet it requires two power-ups to pull off (three if we’re counting punching, but meh).

On the one hand, it’s clever design. It really makes you feel your progression. On the other hand, the difficulty feels unreasonable, to the point where it makes it clear that it was not properly playtested.

Yeah, that one is a pain and seems like an oversight from when they lowered the jump height. I know enough about the rhythm of where to jump and when to throw a punch that I can mostly do it consistently, but it still gives me some trouble. I do also really like that you need to use multiple powers in sequence to get it, just wish they'd lowered the ring down even just a teeny bit.

You guys know there's a whole thing where they did move the ring down in certain versions, right? It's been talked about here and here…

–––

Anyhoo, now that I've finished the Jaguar version, I'll reply to some of the comments on it…

Really glad someone mentioned this, I feel like when people defend JagRay they never talk about how frankly awful Rayman feels to control. There's the aforementioned ledge-grab mechanics which are so bad they almost made me quit on my first playthrough, it seems like Rayman doesn't grab the platform half the time!

Indeed, the way Rayman hangs to platforms feels so weird and almost pixel perfect!

Pixel perfect would be one thing, but it's not really, it just feels random! Especially since he sometimes grabs the ledge in the wrong place! However, I realized today that it can be made more reliable by punching the ledge as you draw close to it. I wonder if the mechanic was originally supposed to be "punch a platform to hang onto it", then they changed it to "hang on a nearby ledge" and didn't spend enough time making sure the new version was implemented properly in the Jaguar engine.

BL as a whole is a boring slog that feels like it should've been in By His Fans instead of Rayman 1,

Excellent analogy. Allegro Presto in particular really feels like a bad set of fan levels.

and Rayman's punch feels much worse than the PS1 version, its much harder to kill smaller enemies, like Antitoons, in this version.

Not to mention that you lose all your fist power-ups when you take any damage, which is really punishing. It's hard to tell whether the maps were designed with that in mind, or the more generous approach of the non-Jaguar versions where you only lose them on death. Either way, it really suggests the maps weren't properly re-balanced as they were ported between two very different engines. They really weren't on top of things with this version – I guess some of the problems with this franchise go right back to the beginning!

Also, you can't punch while hanging on a ledge, which is… a choice… I guess that doesn't cause any problems (although punching while hanging became a staple in later non-Jaguar-engine games, like Designer).

I do think I prefer it graphically though, the colors look much nicer, particularly in the DF.

Yes, the Dream Forest's colours definitely seem most vivid in this version. I kind of feel that this world is far more polished than the others on Jaguar. Even though this version lacks parallax backgrounds, there are still foreground elements in certain Dream Forest levels, which is more than can be said for any of the other worlds. The contrast with the lazy backport of Band Land is stark!
Picture City is somewhere in-between, with relatively well-adapted level design, but they seem to have run out of time to set up the backgrounds properly (the rainbow background was even used in the boss levels! ).

I'm trying the Jag version on Switch and just made it past Allegro Presto, and now I really see what you were talking about... Holy heck, I had no idea Band Land was altered this badly...

Yep, it's quite an experience! I had seen videos of it, but actually playing it myself was a whole new level of feeling!

However, I do like how high Rayman can jump in this version even if it can rarely be an issue

Like in the bouncy eraser puzzle at the beginning of Pencil Pentathlon 3!

(like that suspicious empty spot past the exit sign in the thunderstorm part of Bongo Hills, which has some bonus Tings placed there in Jaguar!).

Except there's no thunderstorm in this version

I'm not fond of rewinding, but I sure don't mind using it for my first experience here... So many ways to lose a ton of your time and to get frustrated in this port...

I'll admit that I started using the rewind feature once I got to the flying saucer bits in Eat at Joe's Normally I have plenty of lives to burn when I get there, but this time I had run out of Continues!

Then when I saw I had all six cages at the end of that section, I dared to hope that the bit with the horrible fish might be missing… But no, there it was! But actually they're not that bad in this version. Their jump trajectory is a lot more vertical so it's easier to catch them with a punch!

Oh, and about the music playing over the original issue: it really does happen in the Switch version! Thankfully you can just mute the OG music using the in-game slider to stop that cacophony... but this also means being stuck with the new music instead, so it's like pick your poison.

Interesting! On PC, the in-game slider controls the "new" music, and the OG is nowhere to be heard. It's not that bad though!

(Hey, at least the Jaguar renditions of the new tracks I disliked sound way better here, and I'm pleasantly surprised they actually went the "extra mile" by making multiple versions of the new soundtrack! )

Yeah, that's great! I seem to have been spared Space Mama's bad singing then (which I still haven't listened to ) What's with the Moskito theme playing in all the Super Helicopter levels though?

Final note: in most versions, the credits end with "See You Soon – Rayman". But in the Jaguar version, Mister Dark flies across the screen, and then it just says "See You Soon", suggesting that he's the one saying it. That feels way more ominous and sinister, and setting things up for a sequel!

–––

(Am I a bad person for having cautious levels of hope or what-)

Spes non confundit…

[FloweyGaming577]

Welcome to RPC!

Well, in general, people would reply Rayman Redemption as it has by far the smoothest gameplay and overall experience. However, it's a fangame and it does diverge a bit from the original in quite a few ways, so for the true official Rayman, the PlayStation 1 version is considered to be the best by the most players (and it's still available to purchase on PS3/PS Vita).
Personally, I prefer the Saturn port because it has some extra visual effects mostly during the final boss, but it got some high-pitched sound effects on the other hand and it ain't easy to get or emulate it...

Here's my personal ranking of every version (except 30th Anniversary) if you want a more in-depth comparison about the differences of each release, and the opinion of a Rayman 1 zealot who played it for nearly ~25 years!

Thank you, this definitely will be useful to me!

[RaypersonNikol]

(Am I a bad person for having cautious levels of hope or what-)

Spes non confundit…

But what if my hope does disappoint? idk, I do feel hopeful, but on the other hand, I feel I am for the wrong reason.

I guess it's because Rayman has been part of my life for a good while, but idk yet. I'm still trying to figure that out.