How did you become a Rayman fan?

[Electoon]

Yes, the new cast of R2 always confused me when I was little too. To be honest, it was one of the things that initially turned me off the game (Rayman 2 that is, not Rayman 1). I still don't get why they did it to this day...

[Haruka]

I think it helped to bring more fauna to the Glade of Dreams, I don't find it a mistake.

[Shrooblord]

It's funny though; one of the game's most iconic character besides Rayman himself was introduced as the first new character in the game: Globox! Though I'm not quite happy how he has evolved from a caring, sensitive, clumsy but witted big ol' sack of friendship into a dumb sack of beans with no mind at all, but eh, c'est la vie.

I'm now actually not so sure when I played my first Rayman game. I assume it was R2, but I got Rayman GBC when I got my GameBoy, which was god knows how long ago. I can remember exactly how I got it, up to the detail where I remember what my mum said when she gave it me, but for the life of me I couldn't say how many years ago that was.

It's funny though, because I had Rayman 2 already, since I got it from my cousin. Then I got it again for my birthday, and again... and again. People just kept buying it for me, even though I hadn't asked for it. They all thought it was a game that would suit me - and how right they were! I guess I'm more of a Rayman 2 fan than I am a fan of the whole series, really, but I do love the series very much as well. However, R2 has a special place that none of the other games will ever have.

[Haruka]

However, R2 has a special place that none of the other games will ever have.

High five!

[GNineify]

I was playing hide & seek with my brother and then I found him in the toilet. Then he says; "Wanna play Rayman?". Yeah.

Well, actually I didn't give a butt about the games as a kiddo and last year Rayman Origins got me back. Why didn't I understand how awesome the games actually were? But at that time I enjoyed more wide-open games that let you do whatever you want.

[Master]

I was playing hide & seek with my brother and then I found him in the toilet. Then he says; "Wanna play Rayman?". Yeah.

Well, actually I didn't give a butt about the games as a kiddo and last year Rayman Origins got me back. Why didn't I understand how awesome the games actually were? But at that time I enjoyed more wide-open games that let you do whatever you want.

Have you played Rayman Revolution for the PS2? It's Rayman 2 with a Sonic Adventure twist of having hub worlds instead of The Hall Of Doors.

[GNineify]

I was playing hide & seek with my brother and then I found him in the toilet. Then he says; "Wanna play Rayman?". Yeah.

Well, actually I didn't give a butt about the games as a kiddo and last year Rayman Origins got me back. Why didn't I understand how awesome the games actually were? But at that time I enjoyed more wide-open games that let you do whatever you want.

Have you played Rayman Revolution for the PS2? It's Rayman 2 with a Sonic Adventure twist of having hub worlds instead of The Hall Of Doors.

Unfortunately I haven't. And that is a horrible fate. But I'm definitely going to play it some day!

[Master]

I was playing hide & seek with my brother and then I found him in the toilet. Then he says; "Wanna play Rayman?". Yeah.

Well, actually I didn't give a butt about the games as a kiddo and last year Rayman Origins got me back. Why didn't I understand how awesome the games actually were? But at that time I enjoyed more wide-open games that let you do whatever you want.

Have you played Rayman Revolution for the PS2? It's Rayman 2 with a Sonic Adventure twist of having hub worlds instead of The Hall Of Doors.

Unfortunately I haven't. And that is a horrible fate. But I'm definitely going to play it some day!

Give it a go, seeing how you like open-world games you might like it.

[Shrooblord]

It's got some massive edits that make some of the levels more open-worldy too, though they're still enclosed environments with level boundraries, of course. If you don't have a PSII (that's the OS it runs on, right?), you can always try to emulate it on your PC.

[straightuprayman]

Not long ago I saw raving Rabbids in stores. I was so curious about the rabbids and so like usual looked it up. Then i discovered that there were 3 before it so I wnet on youtube to find footage, and then my obssesion blew to infinity

[Shrooblord]

So have you played any of the other games yet? The others are quite different to the Rabbids' series indeed.

[straightuprayman]

of course i made a thread about me lets playing the first 3

[Haruka]

I find bad people that start with the Rabbids: they'll see Rayman in a different way when they start playing the real games. In worst cases they'll think that the original Rayman games are all party games and mediocre, which is quite far from being true; or even not knowing the previous games at all. The ports, if they weren't so rushed, I think it would capture more attention of the players to the Rayman games in a positive way.

[straightuprayman]

rayman 1 was the first i played actually

[LKPettin2]

Hm....Good question....When I was 6-7(I don't know exactly) my dad gave me Rayman 2:TGE. First I wasn't so good at games and I haven't finished it before moving to new house.....But after moving I couldn't find my Rayman CD....
This year, my friend was talking with me about games and we started talking about Ray....Then I realised I must play again this games. I started with Rayman 3...Next Rayman 2, Rayman Arena, Origins....etc.
I'm back, Ray! ^^

[Shrooblord]

Have you ever played Rayman 1 then? It's worth checking out if you haven't. You could get it for a number of consoles, each with their own distinct differences; PS1, PC, DSi, a lot of 'rare' consoles such as the Saturn and Jaguar, etc..

[LKPettin2]

I have got Ray 1 already ^^ Very good game, especially music in some levels.

[Robotic Teensie]

I think the first Rayman game I ever played was R2 for the PC... though I really can't remember how old I was when I first played it; all I can say is that I was probably younger than 10. I remember getting stuck at Ly's machine in the Fairy Glade for a long time (I stopped playing and much later, when I played the game again, I had to start over; the same happened every time I got stuck).
Then one day a friend came over on my birthday and we played R2 again... we played it all day and when my friend had to leave at the end of the day we were in the Sanctuary of Water and Ice. Later on I made it to the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire and I got stuck there.
A while later I managed to beat that level and got stuck in the Sanctuary of Rock and Lava.
Later I got stuck in the Prison Ship.
Finally I managed to finish the game... I was 12 then. Though I didn't get the 1000th lum then, so technically my game progress was only 99.9%. I learned of the 1000th lum's existence years later, and replayed the whole game to get my progress to 100%.
It's definitely my favourite Rayman game.

Sometime after I'd gotten to know R2 (but I think before I finished it) I got my hands on a R3 demo. It took place in Clearleaf Forest and it was a bit different from the final game.
Later I got the full R3 game (for PC). Again I didn't complete the game in one go - I remember getting stuck on the third Teensie Highway, the Desert of the Knaaren, the Longest Shortcut and Reflux in the Tower of the Leptys. I also played the PS2 version of R3 with a friend during... after-school activity? (not 100% sure if that's the correct term in English)
That was the only time I ever played a Rayman game with a friend, and I have to say, it was much better than playing it solo.

No wait, I also remember playing R1 once at another friend's house... he was in Picture City (which I haven't managed to reach to this day, so he must really have been a pro gamer to reach it at such a young age (or he just cheated - he does like to use cheats in video games)).

I once saw some early gameplay vids on Rayman Raving Rabbids, before it was turned into a party game. When I saw it lying in a shop, I bought it, still believing it to be a platformer game. I played it for 30 mins, and haven't touched it since.

A year ago (or something like that) I managed to obtain Rayman 1 (PC), but it's so hard I still haven't finished it. I got to the Blue Mountains, then I died like 50 times in one level, and all my lives were gone... that's when I cheated. But immediately after using the cheats I regretted that and, seeing that the cheats couldn't be undone, I stopped playing. I recently started again, but yeah... I'm still in Dream Forest. It's so hard...

Anyway, I downloaded a Rayman Origins demo for the Xbox 360 last year, and got the full Rayman Origins (PC) when it was released - it's the only Rayman game I've completed in one go. Though I don't have all the speed trophies and lum medals yet.

I've also watched many Youtube videos about Rayman games. A lot of them were Haruka's playthroughs of non-PC versions of games - Haruka, you are so pro.
The most entertaining Rayman vids I've seen were made by a guy called Scottishduck (or something like that) - it was a Let's Play R2 for the DC (I think). His commentary was very funny.

Finally very recently I downloaded a PS2 emulator, only to find out my laptop just isn't powerful enough to run Rayman Revolution at a decent speed.

*clicks the preview button*
Jesus. Looking back at my post I see it's turned into a biography. Oh well.

[Shrooblord]

When I was very young, I used to get stuck on very similar parts of Rayman 2. I remember having a lot of trouble running towards the forcefield-generating machine with a keg on my shoulders, chased by Hover Bombs. I didn't quit though, but I remember reaching the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire in the Hall of Doors and not seeing a path forwards, thinking it was the end of the game; that part of the Hall is also a bit closed-off (by the tree log) so you can imagine a young me thinking that was the last level in the game. I guess that means I got stuck in that level at some point. Since I passed that level, I remember reaching the end of the game without getting stuck in any other level after it. That doesn't mean I didn't have any trouble in any of the other levels though.

Also, maybe you're looking for 'extra-curricular activity'? This implies it's for school, though, while I think you mean something that you do outside of school.

[Robotic Teensie]

Yeah, the Hover Bombs part was quite difficult for me back then
I also for a while thought the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire was the last level, because it's so incredibly long. It is really a bit out of place, difficulty-wise.

The thingy I meant was indeed outside of school. I don't know whether it's 'extra-curricular activity' or not, but the Wikipedia article on 'after-school activity' says:

Some programs are run by a primary or secondary school and some by externally funded non-profit or commercial organizations.

So the article says after-school activities aren't always for school, and in this case, it was a commercial organisation. The rest of the article also seems to accurately describe the concept. The Dutch term, if that helps, is 'buitenschoolse opvang'.