Well, I didn't think I would just find 2 new pieces of information in a few hours, but here we are.
I just found some more cool early Rayman 2 details that are completely new to me - and I think no one noticed them before.
On the press kit disc I linked in my previous post, you can find the press release about the magic soup leading to Great Power in different languages. I thought about checking the other languages, and interestingly, the Italian version is a lot more detailed. It seems to describe many ideas for the game that were never developed.
I've included it as an attachment so you can check it out.
I'll quote some of the more interesting parts that I ran through Google Translate.
Rayman's magic fist is practically a fully-fledged character: he grabs objects, pulls levers, acts as a grappling hook and a torch, pushes characters, taps them on the shoulder before delivering a punch that will send them spinning!
Rayman evolves: as he frees his friends, he can use their powers, but he also acquires new ones of his own. Thus, at the end of the game, Rayman becomes super-skilled and can see through walls and discover unexplored parts of the temples. His mana increases as the player progresses through the game, providing additional possibilities!
The seeing through walls thing is completely new to me, and seems like it would be a cool idea adding to the mystical atmosphere of the game. I know for certain that mana was a thing in early versions, and they wanted to make it a thing
again in Rayman 4 (Rabbids) before that was cancelled. The grappling hook and pushing mechanics had been implemented in early versions as well. So it's very believable that all of these things came from an early design of the game.
The characters come to life around Rayman, lead their own lives, and are crucial to the story.
Rayman's friends have been imprisoned by pirates... Once freed, they lead Rayman to different levels. This way, he can ask them to use their powers to overcome difficulties caused by certain obstacles.
Globox causes rain (which is harmful to robots) if Rayman feeds it.
Lums are hooks for the grappling hook. They show the right path and allow Rayman to access previously inaccessible areas. With the help of Lums, Rayman can gain health points or mana.
Polochus, the magician, can levitate stones (to create a path). He can also draw water from a pond, transform it into a rectangle, lift it, and create a path.
Clark can grab Rayman and throw him.
Ly can immobilize characters and objects.
Rayman's enemies are terrifying: piranhas, pirate robots, zombie chickens, and two-legged missiles don't give him a moment's rest! They do everything in their power to sabotage the player's efforts, hindering Rayman in any way they can. And of course, the player will have to face the ten end-of-level bosses, introduced by an animated sequence using the game's engine, each more surprising than the last.
This is incredible. Using Rayman's friends to get past obstacles is in the final game, but it seems they had bigger plans for it!
Rayman having to feed Globox to use his rain powerup in return sounds very in character somehow.
(I have a new theory: Globox is designed the way he is to be able to fit a a big plum into that huge mouth. If that was the idea, it would explain where they got the idea for Globox's plum juice addiction in R3!)
Polokus and Ly would actually play a more active role in gameplay, with some very interesting powers!
Suspense... and unexpected developments!
Who is the leader of the mysterious association?
What unknown power will Rayman discover during his search?
Are some of Rayman's friends traitors?!!
Some teases about where they were going with the story for the game. (I bet the traitor was going to be Clark.
)
I wonder why the leader behind the mysterious association that created the intergalactic zoo would be such a big surprise?
• 3 gigantic worlds ensure surprising replayability!
Leading Rayman through the 10 maps (+1 hidden map) takes about 40 hours of gameplay across 3 gigantic worlds.
Each world has its own atmosphere, thanks to the considerable work done on lighting and textures.
- Rayman's paradise world is made up of swamps, forests, a coastal area, shelters, and caves.
- The four great temples: Archaic, Sea, Wind, and Fire.
- The pirate world with prisons, bastions, machinery, and of course, pirate ships!
The program includes numerous twists and turns and numerous surprises...
Furthermore, the game's multi-depth features and secret levels give Rayman 2 real replay value.
A wind sanctuary. That's all.
PS: A lot of that disc's Italian press releases are super detailed like this. This includes D-Jump, the cancelled CPA game taking place in Egypt. Its Italian press release has a lot of plot info for it that I've never seen before. It even "spoiled" a powerup you get at the end of the game for some reason (yeah, it really goes that far into detail). Maybe it would be a good idea to check other Italian press releases for Rayman games?
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This is the first time Tonic Trouble has ever been re-released!