The Crow's Nest

Destroy Razorbeard, and our victory will be complete.

—Ly the Fairy, Rayman 2

The Crow's Nest is the final level in Rayman 2, where Rayman finally takes on Admiral Razorbeard and attempts to save Globox.

Although it too is set on the Buccaneer, the Crow's Nest is handled as a different level to the Prison Ship, possibly because the designers felt that it would be too difficult for the player if the Prison Ship led directly into this fight; another reason is that players might want to be able to return instantly to the last battle, rather than having to play all the way through an entire level to reach it. This method of design is particularly useful in the PlayStation version, as players can now return to the final fight, complete it and access the post-credits 2D bonus level.

In the Game Boy Color version this level has been removed and the final fight, which is against a standard drilling pirate rather than Razorbeard, takes place in the Tomb of the Ancients instead.

Original version

The Crow's Nest
← The Prison Ship	Ending scene →
{{{connected to}}}

Phase 1

Situated at the pinnacle of the Buccaneer, the Grolgoth is prepared, and Admiral Razorbeard gets ready for Rayman to arrive while using Globox, who is being hung upside down, as live bait. Rayman eventually arrives, and is subsequently shot by one of the Grolgoth's helicopter bombs, though both Rayman and Globox survive the shot.

The first phase of the final fight begins, with the Grolgoth shooting bombs which trip it up if Rayman shoots and knocks them back at it, and attempts to squash Rayman, as well as shooting energy from its feet. After it is knocked down three times, Razorbeard attempts to take a giant jump and crush Rayman, but he misses and causes the floor to cave in. Rayman then falls with them.

• 
  The Spiral Door in the Hall of Doors which takes Rayman to the Crow's Nest.

Phase 2

Far away from Buccaneer, Ly the Fairy meditates in a small glade. She responds to Rayman's screams, and sends what looks like a Silver Lum to his location which saves him from falling into lava. The Lum catches him and gently guides him to safety, where he finds a flying shell. An image of Ly then appears to tell him that Polokus has destroyed all Robo-Pirates on the land and encourages him to defeat Razorbeard to complete their victory.

Rayman then turns around to see that Razorbeard and the Grolgoth have survived, and the second phase of the battle begins. In a room full of lava, his Grolgoth keeps itself away from the lava by holding itself up on two wooden posts and attacks by shooting heat seeking missiles as the battle goes on. Towards the end of the battle, Razorbeard will periodically raise the level of the lava in the chamber, making it more difficult for Rayman to stay above it.

Rayman attacks by finding an energy sphere in either of two tunnels, and shoots at each arm, causing the Grolgoth to fall in the lava. While the Grolgoth is in the lava, Rayman can shoot it directly for some additional damage. The energy sphere provides exactly 5 shots, after which it reappears (randomly) in one of the tunnels, and the process must be repeated. Eventually, Razorbeard abandons the Grolgoth and escapes, setting a five-second time bomb that explodes the entire Buccaneer with Rayman still in it.

In the area where Rayman encountered Polokus earlier in the game, everybody mourns over all they could find left of Rayman; his left shoe. But suddenly, the shoe starts glowing, and Rayman emerges from the trees nearby, holding a walking stick in his shoe's absence. The shoe bounces back to Rayman, and the baby Globoxes run up to Rayman and hug him, happy for him to be alive, while everyone else cheers.

Unlimited ammo Easter egg

The level features a hidden Easter egg in the form of a pickup which gives Rayman unlimited ammunition. It works on all versions, except the PlayStation one.

After obtaining ammo, hold the ‘jump’ and ‘shoot’ buttons, then fly to the highest part in the middle of the chamber. Instead of crashing, Rayman passes through it and finds himself in a secret tunnel. After avoiding some obstacles along the way, a glowing blue ball will be seen. Touch it, and Rayman is teleported back into the arena with unlimited ammo. This power-up is deactivated if Rayman dies, but can be obtained an unlimited number of times. It is also possible to change the order of operations, and fly to the hidden tunnel first, but the regular ammo sphere still has to be collected once (See the external links for a demonstration.)

• 
  Rayman's holding the blue ball, which represents unlimited ammo power.

Dreamcast version

The Crow's Nest
← The Prison Ship	Ending scene →
{{{connected to}}}

This level is identical to the original version, barring graphical differences.

• 
  The Spiral Door in the Isle of Doors which leads to the Crow's Nest.

PlayStation version

The Crow's Nest
← The Prison Ship		Ending scene →
{{{connected to}}}

The main difference in this version lies in phase 2, in this phase the Grolgoth is flying backwards trough a endless tunnel and Rayman has to shoot the Grolgoth while avoiding all obstacles. There are also little differences in the Grolgoth's attacks in phase 1. (See the external links for a demonstration.)

Another subtle difference is that part of the opening cutscene is removed, as the scene where Razorbeard hears that Rayman is on the ship and scolds the Spyglass Pirate for it occurs at the end of the Prison Ship instead.

• 
  The alternate showdown with the Grolgoth.

PlayStation 2 version

The Crow's Nest
← The Prison Ship	Ending scene →
Rainbow Creek

This level is identical to the original version, barring graphical differences. The flying shell in the cutscenes has been recolored to gray, like the one in the Prison Ship. However, during the battle it is still yellow in color, like walking shells.

Trivia

• Although the pipe section is generally seen as being the second part of the level, if the player dies during it they must start from the very beginning of the level. This makes the Crow's Nest the only level in any version of Rayman 2 to have no Green Lums.
• In the game credits screen, in the Nintendo 64, PC and Dreamcast versions, the player can access to a hidden minigame called Menezis.

External links

• The Crow's Nest playthrough at YouTube (PC version)
• Playthrough of unlimited Ammo in the Crow's Nest at YouTube (PC version)
• The Crow's Nest playthrough at YouTube (Sega Dreamcast version)
• Playthrough of unlimited Ammo in the Crow's Nest at YouTube (Sega Dreamcast version)
• The Crow's Nest playthrough at YouTube (Sony PlayStation version)
• The Crow's Nest playthrough at YouTube (Sony PlayStation 2 version)
• Playthrough of unlimited Ammo in the Crow's Nest at YouTube (Sony PlayStation 2 version)