Rayman 2

[Jewish Candy]

Wuv wuv... It totally suited a short game like Rayman 2.
That said, some of the Revolution Hub environments were awesome.

[ParadoxJuice]

What are these 'missed opportunities' that you refer to, spiraldoor? I've never played RR so I don't really know what's wrong with the Front.

[Jewish Candy]

I think he's referring to the play design of the hub worlds, which I agree aren't up to much, save the Globox's House area.

[spiraldoor]

What are these 'missed opportunities' that you refer to, spiraldoor? I've never played RR so I don't really know what's wrong with the Front.

The problem isn't really with the Front. The problem is with the Revolution team, who were rather inferior to Ubisoft Montpellier when it comes to game design. Their comparative incompetence manifests itself most egregiously in the Front, firstly because the Revolution team created it from scratch, and secondly because they were arrogant enough to replace the magnificent Hall of Doors with it.

The Front was too open and bland. Like bunnieblaster said, it should have been more like the Hall/Isle of Doors. The Front should have been structured as a converging tangle of linear paths, not a clump of big open field-type things. It should have been structured more like the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire. It should have been dark there, and there should have been stars. It should have used the Hall of Doors music. It should have had rivers and trees and whatnot.

Just imagine being able to walk freely around an enormous Hall of Doors. That's exactly what the Front should have been, and that's exactly what it's not.

It should have had some lava too. Imagine lava in a Hall of Doors-like environment. Like a mixture of one of the Sanctuaries with the Hall. It would have been amazing. Come to think of it, the Sanctuary of Water and Ice was essentially Hall + Water. That was fairly amazing, too.

I like my signature. I think it conveys the atmosphere I'm talking about quite well. Not that I'm complimenting myself; pretty much all I did was run a screenshot of Polokus's place (pocket-dimension?) through a Gimp filter. But it is good.

[ParadoxJuice]

Ah, okay, I understand now. Thank you.

[Xenon]

That's why I prefer the Front. The Hall of Doors only allowed Rayman to travel in a linear direction across some random teleporting stadium in the middle of nowhere. And in terms of aesthetics it holds little scenic value also. Sorry, but that's just my opinion.

[El Dango]

My only problem with the Front is that it has three main areas, while it definitely should have had four, as there are four masks. Though I can't deny that an open Hall of Doors style environment would be pretty awesome as well.

[EvanEDavies]

HEY!
I just realised something weird. In Rayman 2... Why do the robo pirates wear clothing?

[Nannerb3]

To add a more piratey look, since they're ragged and ripping. Plus, I'd rather have them wearing clothes.

[Xenon]

Also to distinguish their powers. I think it's a nice touch anyway.

[Jewish Candy]

They just want... to live... Clothes help make them feel wanted.

[spiraldoor]

That's why I prefer the Front. The Hall of Doors only allowed Rayman to travel in a linear direction across some random teleporting stadium in the middle of nowhere. And in terms of aesthetics it holds little scenic value also. Sorry, but that's just my opinion.

The Hall of Doors is meant to be a level-select screen, like the world map in Rayman 1 (not that you'd know about that). The Front completely loses sight of its main purpose; it tries too hard to be a level and the developers weren't skilled enough to pull it off. I much prefer to see Rayman run across to the next Spiral Door and dive into the river of stars than to run across the wide dull Minisaurus Plain to find the entrance to the Fairy Glade, run across the wide dull Minisaurus Plain to find the entrance to the Marshes of Awakening, run across the wide dull Minisaurus Plain to find the entrance to the East Plain. The Front's attempts to string together Rayman 2's disconnected levels into some kind of convoluted run-here-run-there busywork story come across as tacked-on and unnecessary.

I am opposed to the Front in execution, not concept. I think I would have liked it much better had the Montpellier team or even the R2 PS1 team developed Revolution. I would love to hear what Ancel thinks of the finished product.

How does the Hall of Doors hold little scenic value? Its unique middle-of-nowhere look and feel (don't forget the stars and holograms) make it perhaps the most memorable location in the series (and the music is excellent). It's much more pleasant than the bland green expanses of the Front, which look like they could have been copy-pasted from any number of platform games.

And there's one more thing that's bothering me: How is the Hall of Doors a ‘stadium’?

[Xenon]

Your attitude suggests I'm opposed to the Hall of Doors... I'm not. I'm explaining why I prefer the alternative means of level selection Revolution offers. But for starters, the Front is certainly not 'dull' or 'bland'. Globox's House and Rainbow Creek are in my opinion some of the most beautiful environments in the entire Rayman series, whereas the Hall of Doors is simply a construction of spiraldoors and a path located deep in space. There's just no playability factor... what makes Rayman great is the free-roaming element to the gameplay, but in the HOD Rayman is restricted to one path (and even then doesn't have control except for one singular movement).

My view is simply that the Front improved the idea of the HOD. Perhaps if the Front concept was developed by the Montpellier team and appeared in the original game you'd hold similar views.

[Jewish Candy]

Globox's House and Rainbow Creek are in my opinion some of the most beautiful environments in the entire Rayman series.

+1. I sat for 30 minutes staring at the gorgeousness of Rainbow Creek.

[Henchman1028]

One thing I hate about the DS version is that the music sometimes stops when you die.

[Haruka]

One thing I hate about the DS version is that the music sometimes stops when you die.

The DS version is full of glitches.

[Tulio]

I just completed Rayman 3 and I think I have to complete R2 too... Argh, i dunno where's my cd with it. >.<

Also 1 question - who's voice is in the introduction? I always thought it's Ly, but in DC version it's male-ish... Polokus?

[Jewish Candy]

Yup, Polukus on the Dreamcast. Which felt kinda nasty the first time I heard it - some pervy old man, telling me I was his 'only hope'... Ly voiceovers FTW.

[Tulio]

And another question about intro. Almost every version has it quite different, isn't it? PC one is kinda simple, PS2 improved, DC probably the coolest of all... :3

[Jewish Candy]

GOD the DC one was great. They should've put that in Revolution. In my opinion, a massive merging of the DC, PS and PS2 versions would've been the R2 to P0WN all R2s.
But don't the PC and N64 share an intro? And Revolution is basically the same...