Buccaneer

The Buccaneer is the colossal flying prison-ship which acts as the base of operations for the Robo-Pirate army as they fly from planet to planet, searching for innocent prey to enslave. Its commander is the Admiral Razorbeard.

The hull of the ship appears to be mainly metal, but the outside contains the same lopsided wooden construction work found throughout all the Robo-Pirates' territory. The ship is large enough to carry tens of thousands of caged slaves, and can survive travel through the depths of interstellar space. It contains many pits of lava. Presumably it is the same ship which accompanied Razorbeard on his conquest of over 100 peaceful planets.

History

Rayman 2: The Great Escape begins and ends aboard the Buccaneer. At the start of the game, a despairing Rayman, already imprisoned on the ship, wakes up to find his friend Globox thrown into his cell with him. When Globox gives the hero a Silver Lum from Ly the Fairy, Rayman recovers his shot and uses it to break down one of the shoddy walls of the cell, allowing both characters to slide down a ventilation shaft and escape.

Near the end of the game, after Rayman returns the fourth and final Mask to the god Polokus, Polokus transports Rayman to the Buccaneer. This level is called ‘The Prison Ship’. Meanwhile the general (a malevolent character who also appeared in Tonic Trouble) sells the Buccaneer's Admiral Razorbeard a pilotable war-machine called the Grolgoth. Rayman had to make his way past treacherous slides and fly through labyrinthine passageways on a flying shell before he finally found his way to the part of the ship where the prisoners (including many birds, Teensies and baby Globoxes) were being held. A Teensie opens a Spiral Door through which the prisoners can escape, and Rayman runs off, saying he still needs to find Globox.

The next (and final) level, called ‘The Crow's Nest’, takes place on the crow's nest of the Buccaneer and follows directly from the prevoius level. Admiral Razorbeard lures Rayman to the nest by using Globox as bait. After managing to get Globox out of harm's way, Rayman confronts Razorbeard, who is now wielding the Grolgoth he purchased from the general. Rayman manages to damage the Grolgoth a little in a brief struggle which ends when the Grolgoth's weight causes the floor of the crow's nest to collapse. Rayman and the Grolgoth are both sent plunging directly through the Buccaneer's hollow mast into the lava pool below. Rayman is saved by Ly, who sends a Silver Lum which catches Rayman and gives him a flying shell with an energy-weapon attached. He then turns to see the Grolgoth clinging to the walls of the lava-filled chamber. After a long battle in this furnace, Rayman defeats Razorbeard, who activates the Grolgoth's self-destruct mechanism before entering his escape pod and flying up through the mast (and eventually into outer space). The Grolgoth's explosion is large enough to destroy the Buccaneer completely. Rayman's friends can find only his shoe and presume him dead; however, he survived the explosion and is reunited with them at the end of the game.

Trivia

• When Rayman fights Razorbeard in the Crow's Nest, if the player flies straight up at the ceiling while holding the jump and shoot buttons, Rayman will go through it and end up in a tunnel. If Rayman flies through to the end of the tunnel, he will be transported back to Razorbeard but with infinite shots.

External links

• The Buccaneer playthrough at YouTube (PC version)

• The Buccaneer playthrough at YouTube (Game Boy Color version)

• The Buccaneer playthrough at YouTube (Sony PlayStation version)

• The Buccaneer playthrough at YouTube (Sony PlayStation 2 version)