Rayman 2

Rayman 2: The Great Escape is Rayman's second game, and is the sequel to Rayman. It was first released in 1999 for the Nintendo 64 and was followed by ports for the Sega Dreamcast, PC, and Sony Playstation, with each port being different in its own little way. It was also the first 3D game. Rayman 2: The Great Escape is often abbreviated as Rayman 2 or (to avoid confusion with the similarly named Rayman 2: Revolution) R2.

Gameplay

The gameplay in Rayman 2 is somewhat similar to that of Rayman, though this time Rayman starts with a few powers to defend himself, one of which is given to him by Globox who is introduced at the very beginning.

Main Characters

The Good Guys

• Rayman (character) - The Hero of the Game
• Globox - Rayman's best friend and Uglette's wife
• Ly the Fairy - Rayman's friend and powerful ally
• Murphy - Serves as an "instructor"-type character
• The Teensies - Keepers of the Hall of Doors
• Clark - A friend of Rayman's

The Bad Guys

• Admiral Razorbeard - The Villain of the Game
• Robo-Pirate Army - Razorbeard's Army

Environment

Unlike Rayman, Rayman 2 is not divided into certain themed worlds, but rather a trail of 20 different locations, none of which are as surreal as its predecessor's, but are still unsimilar to the real world. The levels are played in a linear fashion in a World Map known as the Hall of Doors, with most levels following a single path (though the Cave of Bad Dreams, Walk of Life, and Walk of Power are on side-paths). The player is able to backtrack to past levels if he or she wishes.

System Requirements

Pentium 133 MHz, 32 MB RAM, Windows 95/98, DirectX 7.0, 4 MB DirectX-compliant video card, DirectX-compliant sound card and 4x CD-ROM drive

Hack

It is possible to run the game under higher resolutions than 1024x768 by a simple hack. By editing the file C:\WINDOWS\UbiSoft\ubi.in with a basic text editor, you'll have something like this

[SYSTEM]
Test Sound=1
3DFX=0
Memory=511
MMX=1
Windows colors=34
CPU=9

[INSTALLED PRODUCTS]
rayman2

[rayman2]
GLI_DllFile=GliDX6
GLI_Dll=DirectX6
GLI_Driver=display
GLI_Device=Direct3D HAL
GLI_Mode=1 - 1024 x 768 x 16
ShortCutDesktopName=C:\Documents and Settings\Administrateur\Bureau\Jouer à Rayman 2
ShortCutDirectory=C:\Documents and Settings\Administrateur\Menu Démarrer\Programmes\Ubi Soft Games\Rayman 2
Language=French
Configuration=2
VolumeName=RAYMAN2
SrcDataPath=\
Directory=C:\UbiSoft\Rayman2\

[OSD]
Valid=TRUE

The GLI_Mode line define the resolution of the game. You'll just have to replace "1024 x 768" by "1440 x 900" to run the game in 1440x900 instead of the default 1024x768.

Caution : Modifying the other values may crash the game.

Promotion

UbiSoft promoted Rayman 2 with many toys and even a cartoon. There were YoYos, Cellphone covers, a Playstation 2 remote, a version of the game with a figure, and Happy Meal toys.

Cartoon

Main Article: Rayman: The Animated Series

Mcdonald's

UbiSoft joined with Mcdonald's to make a happy meal with Rayman toys. These toys were a Rayman rolling on a walking shell, Rayman on a plum with spinning helicopter hair, a light making cage, a sound making Henchmen 800, a wobbling Globox, and Ly.

Re-Makes

• Rayman 2: Revolution - Playstation2 remake that essentially was a harder version of the original, with added levels, enemies, and a new free-roaming feature.
• Rayman DS - DS remake identical to the original N64 version, though many glitches and bugs were included that were not present in the original.