Rayman DS

Rayman DS
Rayman DS
Published by	Ubisoft
Developed by	DC Studios (UK/Canada)
Directed by	{{{directed by}}}
Produced by	{{{produced by}}}
Designed by	{{{designed by}}}
Programmed by	{{{programmed by}}}
Art by	{{{art by}}}
Written by	{{{written by}}}
Soundtrack by	{{{soundtrack by}}}
Release date	March 11th, 2005 March 28th, 2005
Genre	3D Platformer
Gameplay mode	Single player
Languages	{{{languages}}}
Platforms	Nintendo DS
Ratings	3+ (PEGI), E (ESRB)
Distribution media	Cartridge
Game engine	{{{game engine}}}

Rayman DS is a port of Rayman 2 that was released on the Nintendo DS in March 2005. It is almost identical to the Nintendo 64 version of the game, only that it now includes a new, optional method of control which makes use of the touch-screen and stylus. Most of the heads up display has now been reassigned to the bottom screen as well.

Differences from Rayman 2

• Rayman DS shares many similarities to the Nintendo 64 version of Rayman 2 such as the lower-quality sequenced music being used.
• The textures in Rayman DS are generally more jagged than the Nintendo 64 version of Rayman 2. This is partially due to the DS's lack of texture filtering. However, the textures themselves also received an overall downgrade in quality compared to the Nintendo 64 version. This is most noticeable on transparent textures such as Lums, lasers, energy balls, waterfalls, etc. These types of textures contain a heavy amount of color banding and appear extremely jagged.
• Due to the Nintendo DS not having analog controls, the player has the option to use a virtual analog stick on the touch screen. This is also the only way to change the speed Rayman moves in.

Technical issues

Unlike any other version of Rayman 2, Rayman DS included many technical problems in its gameplay. The swirls that radiate from the Four Masks of Polokus or Jano's staff, for example, are not located exactly where they should be. Another particularly troubling problem is experienced during the encounter with Umber and in the flower ride in the Sanctuary of Rock and Lava: in both cases, Rayman should be locked to the respective surfaces, but can slip off, even during Umber's cinematic. The only way to lock Rayman back to the surface's center is to press the R button, which is used for strafing. Also, when replaying the Marshes of Awakening, Ssssam can completely disappear during his cinematic. Sometimes the spider at the beginning of the Tomb of the Ancients will disappear a few seconds after the cutscene in which he appeared.

The background of the pause and saving screens is missing the swirling cloud texture and now only displays a static colored 3D model.

Rayman DS also has a very unstable framerate. The max framerate cap is 60 FPS, but situations where the framerate is this high are rare (only by entering first person view against a wall in certain small and sparsely detailed rooms). During general exploration, Rayman DS frequently dips under 30 FPS. Large detailed environments with lots of transparent textures can even cause dips into the low 20s or mid-high teens. Action heavy sequences where lots of transparent effects and particles are being rendered are some of the worst case scenarios and can cause the framerate to drop to single digits.

Collision detection in Rayman DS is prone to issues. It is easier to clip through walls and floors or get stuck on geometry than in other versions of the game. The collision engine is also prone to causing further drops in performance. Simply running into or against a wall for example will cause major dips in the framerate.

Character lighting is now static and no longer changes based on the lighting of the surrounding environment. In dark areas, characters will still render as brightly as they do in regular daylight, and lava-filled areas will no longer illuminate them.

The surfaces of water, lava, etc. no longer shift and move.

The DS version contains input lag. This is especially noticeable on diagonal movement, which affects both the D-pad as well as the touch screen analog stick.

Manuals

Click on the thumbnail to read the manual.

• 
  Rayman DS manual (US)
• 
  Rayman DS manual (English, Italian, Spanish)

Gallery

• 
  The back cover of the European version of Rayman DS.
• 
  The cover of the North American version of Rayman DS.
• 
  The game's logo.
• 
  French advertising poster.

Trivia

• This was the first Rayman game to use the then new Ubisoft logo.
• The North American cover for Rayman DS is in the same style as the cover for Rayman: Hoodlums' Revenge and the European cover for Rayman Advance. Likewise, the European cover for Rayman DS is in the same style as the North American cover for Rayman Advance.
• Rayman DS was one of the Nintendo DS titles shown on the back of the original Nintendo DS box.

See also

• Rayman 2
• Rayman 3D
• Rayman Revolution
• Rayman 2 (PlayStation)
• Rayman 2 (iOS)