Master4lyf1 wrote:I wonder what would happen if Rayman 2 did have a proper HD facelift, complete with improved models.
This would happen.
TeensieKing wrote:BTW what's your favorite level? I'd say Whale Bay or Menhir Hills
Hard to say. Each level's got its unique little charm that contributes to a great game. I could go into each one in detail and eat up all your time, but hey, why not talk about the one game I've been most passionate about all my life since the day I met it?
Okay, in the Woods Of Light the ambient is really good. It sets the scenery as a magical and whimsical world, perhaps it's a small piece of untouched land the Pirates did not meddle with. This is what the Glade of Dreams originally was.
The Fairy Glade is mystical and somewhat darker. The night-time, half-moon and first Pirate encounter topped with toxic-river-overrun-oil-infused natural bodies of piranha-infested liquid contribute to this especially. This level gives you a little bit more of a sense of what's going on: the Pirates, really horrible machines, destroy the environment and exploit it for whatever reason they could wish. They lock up its magical protectors and use their energy to fuel their machines. This level is also interesting because you can only complete it fully if you find a secret passage later on in the level. Nice touch.
The Marshes of Awakening is great because of the waterski level. I have yet to play a game in which you can do so much with such limited movements. I've tried tripping Rayman up countless times, resulting in him getting stuck in the boat with the Pirate near the end (not fun I can assure you) or getting him overrun by some kind of slippery rock that drives you straight into a Hovering Bomb. The passage towards the Cave of Bad Dreams is cool too - you never know what you'll find in a level until you do.
The Bayou sets the position of the Pirates more clearly. They know where you are, what you're up to and how to stop you - and they'll try anything to achieve that. They're not really desperate yet, like in the Precipice, but, knowing their enemy, they're foolish not to be. If I'd been Razorbeard, I'd have sent a full armada into the place to lay it
all to waste, just to be on the safe side. Obviously he's too cool for that.
The Sanctuary of Water and Ice is a great level indeed. It explores the different regions of Rayman's world, from forest to swamp and then to beach and magical floating slide. The very first sliding level in the game gets bonus points, of course.
The Menhir Hills are great because of 1) Shells; 2) Clark; 3) Killer Menhirs. Need I say more? Perhaps a nice touch that you need to use knowledge gained from the Echoing Caves to reach all of the cages, plus this is the first level where there's some sneakily hidden Cages up along the spawnpoints of a Shell or inside a small Pirate building you can only get to via a few passages you might not notice at first. Also, the cage nearest to the level's beginning, underneath the grate, had me vexed for quite a while as I could hear the 'help' and the swinging of the cage, but had no idea how to open the grate (I had already assumed that's where I needed to go).
The Cave of Bad Dreams is spooky, action-packed and well-decorated. Bones as climable surfaces and jumps onto skeletal hands (the bretherin of which would earlier on try to kill you) are fun creative sparks and also the indigenous monsters that lurk in the shadows are cool creations. A true test of hero's courage or coward's greed by a wise yet seemingly evil guardian finishes this level off. It's only too bad the Spiral Door forces you into it as opposed to letting you explore the treasure chamber more.
The Canopy is fun because Globox. Just 'cause. Also, the "It's okay, it's just a big-nosed bush." remark is utter brilliance... call it humour, call it a child's remembrance of something slightly funny which has stayed with him until this day. Whatever.
Whale Bay is nice again, because the atmosphere of an underwater level is something that's hard to mess up. Still, they did a good job with placing in another character that's being abused by the Pirates and is grateful to help Rayman get passed the area.
The Sanctuary of Stone and Fire is a great level. Not only does it contain the first lava you ever see in Rayman, it's immediately packed with it. The vastness and trickiness of this level gives it a really nice feel overall. It's riddled with hidden passages and Cages, plus, the actual level plays through differently the second time you go in (if you do it right and place the Magic Sphere where it should go). Also, the Umber character is a definate win for me.
The Echoing Caves are cool because you get to play an 'Open the Door with the Hidden Switches' puzzle, as well as you get to fly on kegs full of gunpowder.
The Precipice is where the Pirates really make a stand. Rayman has already gathered two of the four Masks of Polokus, and he's well on his way towards the third one. He's freed five of his friends already and laid Pirates a plenty to waste. If he is to be stopped, he will be stopped here and now. Rayman escapes from a barage of cannonballs that rip the entire level apart, quite literally. No platform remains on which to stand. The level also features a round and upwards 'escape from the rising fluid' sequence, a favourite of mine in games.
In The Top of the World the game explores yet again one of its unique transportation methods: laser-guided flying chairs! You have to be dextrous not to smash your face into any iron bars as well as to capture all Yellow Lums. It's concluded by a part where you have to actually follow a Teensie to the Spiral Door, as opposed to just opening its Cage right above it.
The Sanctuary of Rock and Lava is the second swamp level. It's a cool transition towards an ancient structure that's been forgotten by time, but not by Pirates... or bouncy eyeballs. It features one of the most amazing music in the game in my opinion. The already deadly walls that want to push you into the ever slightly more deadly lava are nice too.
Beneath the Sanctuary of Rock and Lava is a really great one. How the Pirates managed to get two cages all the way into the secret room near Foutch's door is beyond me, but hey, Pirates are gonna be who Pirates gonna be. Placing Cages in impossible places and making your life a little bit more of a hell is their job. And of course, who could forget him - Foutch. Should I say mor-- I mean, Foutch. Just, Foutch.
The Tomb of the Ancients is scary, features a secret that will help you complete the game fully and has three ways to get to the end of the level - you could take the long way around, or you could take a shortcut and skip half of the level. Or at least, such is my experience. Maybe I've got it wrong. There's spirits and massive spiders and dead Pirates (the one from the coffin) chasing you around all over the place topped off by a possessed Clark, controlled by the devious Lunette. What more could you wish from a graveyard level? Ok, zombies. It could do with more zombies.
The Iron Mountains is really cool because it makes you meet up with Globox's wife, allows you to do really weird ship with a Walking Shell and lets you fly a Pirate's Warship. I mean, you pilot a flipping Warship. It doesn't get cooler! Or... does it?
YES! Because in the Prison Ship, you slide all your way down through levels of death traps and nightmare-inducers to get to a massive chamber of lava, which you can no longer cross since Foutch wacked that neat flying ability out of you. So instead, you'll just have to fight a deadly ninjatic pyromaniac and ride some kind of eratic flying horse thing. It could be worse. You could be like, flying towards massive collapsed beams of wood, or like, be shot at by several lasers...
And then it's concluded with the final boss in The Crow's Nest. The excellent fighting music (love the electric guitar) and the overall size of the Grolgoth really help me enjoy this a lot. Also, the chamber below with the lava and the bath and the flying and the boom... real nice.
The ending is great too... sad about how the hero doesn't make it though. Also, that Razor escapes was a great feature. Such a worthy opponent couldn't possibly simply be beaten by a mere Raymanian. Phah!
Overall, I like Rayman 2 a lot because it doesn't tend to repeat itself. Each level brings something new, a new challenge or a new fun way to get around. Each level has secrets, though some more signifficant than others. All are magical and brilliant.
(Fun) Fact: I did not need to look up any levels or find out the sequence in which they follow each other - that game's been ingrained in my brain!
