Support NeoGAF

[StickSoldier]

Be like me and stop doing this to yourself . I think it would be best if you just ignored this thread until after you have your 3DS and have opened Rayman ;p.

Haha yeah I had my mind all made up that I didn't care what people said as long as it was a decent port, and now i'm like " well shit is rayman 2 that good now anyways?" I'm just reading an thinking too much about it haha.

 

[rollingstart]

alright, played it for an hour. let's get one thing out of the way: this game does NOT hover between 30 and 60 fps. i don't know who originally said that. it never even comes CLOSE to hitting 60. i was convinced it was locked at <30 until i went into first person in a narrow cave with no other models around, when suddenly it seemed to briefly jump to 60 fps. this was the ONLY instance of this happening and it went back to 30 fps as soon as i changed the camera back to normal. whenever rayman is on screen (which is 99% of the time) the game will be at 30 fps and below. the framerate drops quite frequently and not just in certain areas. so be prepared for that. it's not what i would call a stable framerate.

i bought the game because i'd never played the original, so i figured it'd be worth it even if it turned out to be just a subpar port... which it is in a lot of ways. it plays fine, the controls work great and i'm definitely having fun with it and it's pretty for the most part as well. but from the moment the title screen loads it's clear that this is just another ubisoft rush job. the hud, the loading screens, the cutscenes, the barebones use of the lower screen are just the first signs. then there's the strange audio glitches and the music that was obviously mixed too loud and sounds noticably distorted at times (turn down the music - not the sound fx - in the options menu right away!). some effects are still much quieter than others and unless you turn down the music almost all the way you can barely hear them, but rayman's steps and voice for example are always fairly loud. just a poorly balanced audio mix i guess. the music also tends to suddenly cut out from time to time. of course i have no way of knowing whether some of these audio glitches were present in the original, so take this whole thing with a grain of salt.

one more thing about the visuals: they are definitely darker overall than in the original. i just looked at a youtube video of the ps2 version which seems quite a big brighter. it has nothing to do with any sort of dimming effect from the 3d screen though, since a) the screen is just as bright with the 3d turned off and b) other 3ds games can be extremely bright, with colors that really pop (pilotwings resort etc.)

i'm probably making it sound worse than it is, as i'm really enjoying my time with the game. the problems i described are probably not that noticable to most people. it's NOT a broken game, far from it. but it does have a handful of flaws. just be aware of that if you intend to buy it. (it's definitely about a 1000 times better than the horrific ds port, which i bought too and couldn't stand to play for more than 20 minutes.)

That thing where it gets smooth using first person view was on the DS version too.

I didn't have the option to stop after 20 minutes. I bought it in Italy and it was supposed to be what kept me busy for the flight back. I eventually gave up and watched Around the World in 80 days. Still don't know if that was an improvement.

 

[CamHostage]

one more thing about the visuals: they are definitely darker overall than in the original. i just looked at a youtube video of the ps2 version which seems quite a big brighter. it has nothing to do with any sort of dimming effect from the 3d screen though, since a) the screen is just as bright with the 3d turned off and b) other 3ds games can be extremely bright, with colors that really pop (pilotwings resort etc.)

Weird, the DS port of Rayman 2 had a problem with being pointlessly dark as well. I remember playing it and thinking that it was converted wrong or something. I'd say maybe there was something about how the Rayman engine worked that affected the ports, but that's silly. (I wouldn't expect the DS version even used the same engine?) All of the other versions were wonderfully vibrant, how could this happen to both DS/3DS games?

 

[Lijik]

Weird, the DS port of Rayman 2 had a problem with being pointlessly dark as well. I remember playing it and thinking that it was converted wrong or something. I'd say maybe there was something about how the Rayman engine worked that affected the ports, but that's silly. (I wouldn't expect the DS version even used the same engine?) All of the other versions were wonderfully vibrant, how could this happen to both DS/3DS games?

Im not sure how it happened to the DS game but one of the reviews speculated the 3DS version is just built on top of that, which doesn't surprise me.

Haha yeah I had my mind all made up that I didn't care what people said as long as it was a decent port, and now i'm like " well shit is rayman 2 that good now anyways?" I'm just reading an thinking too much about it haha.

I don't think the quality of Rayman 2 was ever in question, its great and still is. Its always been a matter of this being a lackluster port or not. If you want to save money and still play Rayman 2 just find the PC version on the cheap. It wont be 3D, but judging from reviews it'll look and perform much better.

 

[jarosh]

Im not sure how it happened to the DS game but one of the reviews speculated the 3DS version is just built on top of that, which doesn't surprise me.

absolutely positively NOT the case.

 

[Father_Brain]

absolutely positively NOT the case.

Among several reasons why that speculation makes so little sense: the developer of Rayman DS, DC Studios, is apparently defunct (this used to be their website).

 

[StickSoldier]

Im not sure how it happened to the DS game but one of the reviews speculated the 3DS version is just built on top of that, which doesn't surprise me.



I don't think the quality of Rayman 2 was ever in question, its great and still is. Its always been a matter of this being a lackluster port or not. If you want to save money and still play Rayman 2 just find the PC version on the cheap. It wont be 3D, but judging from reviews it'll look and perform much better.

Eh yeah, I went ahead and forced myself to cut the plastic with my keys. Rayman has been gettin decent reviews, so I'm stickin with it. I figured I'd keep it on the 3DS because I want more games to play on it, instead of my laptop. I play most of my games while I'm layin on my couch an shit anyways.

 

[Sanic]

GI review

Spoiler

7.5

edit: found a playthrough video of the 3DS version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7373zvZFxw

 

[Moz La Punk]

They should bring the original Rayman to 3DS, the system can handle it perfectly. 2D is also very nice in 3D on the system, ironically (see Street Fighter).

They should make the game a bit easier in the later stages though. Maybe a few more 1ups, I dunno.

 

[Aru]

They should bring the original Rayman to 3DS, the system can handle it perfectly. 2D is also very nice in 3D on the system, ironically (see Street Fighter).

They should make the game a bit easier in the later stages though. Maybe a few more 1ups, I dunno.

Isn't the game available on DSiWare ?
Yeah, Rayman 1 is a very hard game. I bought it on PSN and still haven't managed to finish it.

 

[Moz La Punk]

yeah but I mean a port that has ALL the good graphics from the original in tact. And the 3D effect added.

Yeah it was hard, I played it all summer when the PSOne came out, and used the passwords because I didnt have a memory card back then. I started again from scratch every day to get the perfect run, to be ready with plenty of extra lives for the later stages. At the end of the summer I managed, but damn what a hard game.

best one in the series though.

 

[izakq]

Do you guys think the game will be $20 this year?

You can get it at that price tomorrow, if you buy it as your second game. Toys'R'Us is having a "Buy 1 3DS game, get 1 50% off" deal.

 

[heringer]

Cubed3 review:

http://www.cubed3.com/review/958

8/10.

 

[Dreamwriter]

one more thing about the visuals: they are definitely darker overall than in the original. i just looked at a youtube video of the ps2 version which seems quite a big brighter. it has nothing to do with any sort of dimming effect from the 3d screen though, since a) the screen is just as bright with the 3d turned off and b) other 3ds games can be extremely bright, with colors that really pop (pilotwings resort etc.)

You're comparing against the wrong version, this game was based on the Dreamcast game, not the PS2 game.

The colors used in the game have a much brighter and vibrant look to them, so much so that it seems like it might have been a clear-cut attempt by the developers to give an even more cartoonish look and feel.

So that's why it looks darker compared to the PS2, the PS2 version they pumped up the color brightness.

 

[Bernie]

The game is just great. I played though the underwater level (OMG, THE FISHES WHERE SWIMMING IN MY ROOM), and it just amazing to see it in 3D. It's just Rayman 2, in 3D. Sometimes with a bad framerate, but I can handle it. I played Rayman 2 on the PC, iPhone and DS, and now the 3DS. And the 3DS version is the best. Don't expect some new things or levels.

The only bad thing about the game is that the manual speaks of a Compact Disk with 180 DAYS OF WARANTY (scratches and waterdamage not included! ) So they copied de PDF file of the original manual, in a 3DS format :')

If you like platforming like Prince of Persia, Mario, and Crash, you will like this. Also if you played the original game 10 years ago.

 

[dark10x]

So that's why it looks darker compared to the PS2, the PS2 version they pumped up the color brightness.

PS2 version had a LOT of graphical enhancements, actually. More geometry, different lighting, and all sorts of other things. Unfortunately, the framerate wasn't as steady (still 60 fps, but with dips) and they changed the voices.

 

[Sanic]

Alright, got my 3ds and have played Rayman for about 20 minutes.

Outside of the ghosting in cutscenes (which is subtle, but noticeable. And it's really more like crosstalk than ghosting) there isn't anything major to report, except for the framerate which does reach 60 every so often, but usually hovers around the 25-30 mark. The port is good.

 

[Gillian Seed]

Should i get this or Okamiden? I heard Okamiden has regular d-pad controls, unlike the Zelda DS games, which makes me very happy.

 

[wwm0nkey]

Loving this game, easily an 8 which is great for a lunch game.

Seriously this Ghost Recon and SSFIV are awesome

 

[nincompoop]

Alright, got my 3ds and have played Rayman for about 20 minutes.

Outside of the ghosting in cutscenes (which is subtle, but noticeable. And it's really more like crosstalk than ghosting) there isn't anything major to report, except for the framerate which does reach 60 every so often, but usually hovers around the 25-30 mark. The port is good.

How can you say the port is good when it runs at half the framerate of the version it was ported from despite being on a significantly more powerful system and only having to draw 1/4th as many pixels? If Ubisoft ported Red Steel 2 to the Xbox 360 and it ran at 30fps at 400x240 resolution, would you call it a good port?

 

[The Mana Legend]

How much content does this game have? I never played Rayman 2, so I wouldn't know, and I want to try and decide between this or Ghost Recon.

 

[Sanic]

How can you say the port is good when it runs at half the framerate of the version it was ported from despite being on a significantly more powerful system and only having to draw 1/4th as many pixels? If Ubisoft ported Red Steel 2 to the Xbox 360 and it ran at 30fps at 400x240 resolution, would you call it a good port?

Good probably wasn't the right word. 'Good enough for me' is what I should have said. My only experience with the game is the PS2 version, which performs just as bad as the 3DS version, so I didn't really have any expectations as far as framerate.

 

[StickSoldier]

I got it too, and just finished playing it for like 2 hours. It's got its problems, but not nearly enough to make me not happy with my purchase. I absolutely LOVE the 3D on this game. A simple tree you climb on becomes rich with detail as soon as 3D is on. Plus, there's a lot of floating particles and such that just make it much more appealing. I can totally see how 3D will make platforming games easier. JUmping from crate to crate was so easy now that you can see where you are on the screen, no more shadow landing! My main complaint, is the sound. Sound effects aren't very loud, and music sometimes does weird things, but doesn't do it too often. Framerate is meh, doesn't really bother me, it runs smooth enough to enjoy. Having more fun with this than SSF4 atm.

 

[Shadowlink]

Been playing this for an hour so far, and 3D is amazing. It's a great purchase for those who loved Rayman 2.

 

[Aru]

Should i get this or Okamiden? I heard Okamiden has regular d-pad controls, unlike the Zelda DS games, which makes me very happy.

Okamiden.

 

[Dreamwriter]

How can you say the port is good when it runs at half the framerate of the version it was ported from despite being on a significantly more powerful system and only having to draw 1/4th as many pixels? If Ubisoft ported Red Steel 2 to the Xbox 360 and it ran at 30fps at 400x240 resolution, would you call it a good port?

I wouldn't call it "significantly more powerful" than a last-generation console (don't forget Dreamcast is the same generation as PS2/Gamecube/XBox). The GPU is capable of some of what the original XBox can do, the CPU is probably something like Gamecube speed, but significantly faster than a Dreamcast/PS2/Gamecube/XBox? Especially when it has to render two 400x240 screens and one 320x240 screen every frame. The system does have more memory than a Dreamcast, but who knows how much video RAM it has.

 

[Amalthea]

Should i get this or Okamiden? I heard Okamiden has regular d-pad controls, unlike the Zelda DS games, which makes me very happy.

Okamiden, you might never see it again, unlike Rayman 2 wich will be ported to everything else in the coming decades.

 

[NEO0MJ]

Okamiden, you might never see it again, unlike Rayman 2 wich will be ported to everything else in the coming decades.

Plus I command everyone to support it. We need more games like that, hopefully a 3DS sequel. It would be so pretty...
Anyways, going off topic. How long is this game? I'm rocking between this and Ridge Racer and the length of this game might help me decide.

 

[Sanic]

How long is this game? I'm rocking between this and Ridge Racer and the length of this game might help me decide.

Based on what I remember from my playthrough years ago, plus how quickly i'm advancing through the game now, i'm guessing somewhere around eight hours on your first playthrough?

 

[NEO0MJ]

Based on what I remember from my playthrough years ago, plus how quickly i'm advancing through the game now, i'm guessing somewhere around eight hours on your first playthrough?

Decent enough, I suppose. A free game anyway thanks to Amazon so I'll take the plunge.

 

[friskykillface]

I'm having a blast with this game, the slowdown is barely noticeable and it plays great.

the hype delivered , great use of 3D.

 

[Truth101]

I just got past the huge airdrop at the second area and I have to say it was quite amazing with 3D on. I'm really pleased.

 

[TurtleSnatcher]

Yep.. I have 3 games SSF4, Rayman and Samurai Warriors and Rayman is the best in 3D.

 

[Beer Monkey]

OK, this will be my second game ($35 discount).

 

[Darktails]

I just played the game for about two hours and I'm really liking it so far. The 'ghosting' in the cut-scenes did bother me to some extent but I was able to reduce it slightly by tilting the 3DS in various directions. Were it not for the disappointingly inconsistent framerate (approximately between 25-30 fps on average) this would be my favorite version of Rayman 2 - mostly because I find the 3D-effect to be quite impressive. It really adds to the experience and makes the game both easier- and - overall - more fun to play. Oh, and I *love* the slide pad. Sooo good.

 

[Gagaman]

My girlfriend got a 3DS and this game, some impressions:

- The Globox village from the Dreamcast version (which involved a few mini timed based levels and a 4 player mini-game) is completely gone, including the hidden crystals you needed to unlock those mini games with.

- Some graphics are a bit better than the Dreamcast version, like the barrels being smoother, better textures here and there and more polygons on some of the characters. Colour scheme seems a lot brighter than the DC one, like there's less shadows over everything or something (guess thats a good thing on a small handheld screen).

- Music and sound effects have some issues in places. Not things anyone would notice if they hadn't played the DC one but just stuff like event music not stopping when an event like riding the rocket with legs has ended. There is also a small tune from the N64 version thrown in when you obtain the masks.

- Framerate seems to dip most during battle with the robot pirates. Otherwise didn't seem all that bad, certainly playable enough and not as choppy as the PS2 one.

- At one pint she found a web that you climb along the bottom of that was invisible. Buh..

- Looks really nice in 3D, makes judging jumps a bit easier even though they were never really a problem in this game to start with thanks to the hover-hair.

One of the better Rayman 2 ports though it does have some minor flaws.

 

[AniHawk]

just put some time into it.

there is some slowdown, but for some reason, it looks like it only affects rayman's character model. kinda weird. other than that, i'm glad i got it. because i only had the n64 version, i don't think i was aware of just how awesome the music was in this game. good lord.

 

[plagiarize]

if anything i think they've pushed the 3d in this one too far out of the screen. maybe people will start offering convergence options in later games, but putting rayman at screen depth just seems to lead to lots of awkward moments. like it's not that hard to get the camera somewhere where you can only see Rayman in one eye, for instance, which is pretty hideous.

also, the dark levels with bright rayman make the cutscenes and overworld a crosstalk nightmare.

i'm guessing that they made rayman screen depth to allieviate that... but they should have done something with the camera to stop it ever ending up where Rayman can't be seen in one eye.

last night i had two black screen crashes, and then in the cutscene where you free Ly, the dialogue didn't start and i just had Rayman staring at her with the music playing and neither of them talking.

it's been fine since then though. i'm a couple of levels in. when it isn't stabbing me in the eyes or crashing it's pretty good.

framerate definately hovers around 25 to 30 but i've seen it jump above that a number of times. i'd prefer if it was locked to 30, but it's no big problem.

slide pad is wonderful in this. so much nicer than any platformer i played on PSP control wise.

 

[Lijik]

and then in the cutscene where you free Ly, the dialogue didn't start and i just had Rayman staring at her with the music playing and neither of them talking..

No thats normal. Sometimes you gotta let Rayman get his breathless boner on.

 

[plagiarize]

No thats normal. Sometimes you gotta let Rayman get his breathless boner on.

it's not normal. i had to quit the game and play the level again. he was just stood there waving side to side for more than a minute as i hoped it'd unglitch and hit start more times than a smart person should hoping that something would magically happen on the nth time.

 

[Bisnic]

I keep thinking i should buy this game. I want some game where i can play longer than 30 mins before getting bored (like Street Fighter 4). I never played Rayman 2, but i heard its a pretty good game.

Judging from the impressions in here, the only flaws are slowdown, "ghosting" in cutscenes, whatever that means, and maybe some rare sound issues.

Is it still worth it though?

 

[dark10x]

I'm shocked and appalled that Ubisoft were unable to deliver a polished version of a 12 year old game. It just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Lijik]

it's not normal. i had to quit the game and play the level again. he was just stood there waving side to side for more than a minute as i hoped it'd unglitch and hit start more times than a smart person should hoping that something would magically happen on the nth time.

Relax, I was making a bad joke.

 

[AniHawk]

i beat it last night. main game holds up so well. it's still my favorite 3d platformer from that era. fps stuff has never been a big deal to me- i can't tell the difference between 30 and 60, but this would go from smooth to not-smooth somewhat occasionally. it wasn't a big deal to me. the ghosting during the cutscenes was annoying too, but again, not a big deal.

the load and saving times are way too fucking long though. those bugged me a great deal. especially if i jumped into the wrong level and had to back out again.

aside from that, the game was a lot easier. in the original, rayman kept damage when he blew up or 'died' and this time, health replenished every time. the controls felt like they'd been tweaked too. while swimming was a pain (again, only played the n64 version over 11 years ago, so i don't have too much to go off here), a lot of segments like the bullet/bomb riding/flying things were easier to go through. i'm not sure if that was the slide pad being superior to the n64 analog stick, or the 3d helping me along, ubisoft tweaking the controls for those segments, or just me having better reflexes than i did when i was 14, but i managed to pretty much breeze through them when they gave me tons of trouble the first time around.

i said it earlier, but the music is incredible. and i didn't know the music was that incredible because i only played the n64 version.

anyway, there were a couple of reasons i got rayman: i hadn't played it in 11 years and i wanted to see how it held up; i figured a 3d platformer would be the best demonstration of the 3d effect (s'alright, but the sprites make it very obvious this is a game from 1999); i was kind of on a michel ancel kick after beyond good & evil hd; and i figured a 3d platformer would have the best use of the slide pad (i played sm64 ds on sunday and it's still barely playable as ever, but rayman 3d works really well).

so yeah. it's pretty fucking bad that it's not a polished version of a game that's over a decade old, but ubisoft doesn't really care about its michel ancel games so that's about par for the course. there's still a good game there if you're willing to put up with the load times and don't have an issue with framerate hiccups.

 

[Sanic]

I haven't had crashes or black screens yet, we'll see how it holds up. I'm about 1/3 through the game so far. I'm finding it enjoyable enough that i'll probably go back through a second time and get all of the lums, etc. Not sure if that gets me anything or not. Like Anihawk, i'm finding that the game has held up pretty well. I know I had been singing the game's praises earlier in the thread, but I actually hadn't played it since 2001 (not counting the hour I spent with the DS version in 2005 before shelving it), so I really wasn't sure how it would be now, but i'm glad my fears were put to rest.

 

[TheOGB]

- The Globox village from the Dreamcast version (which involved a few mini timed based levels and a 4 player mini-game) is completely gone, including the hidden crystals you needed to unlock those mini games with.

THEN WHAT WAS THE FUCKING POINT

 

[Kill The Bat]

Just played for a few minutes to gauge the 3D effect. 3D looks nice, but ghosting in cutscenes is ridiculous. I also got the power down error pretty early, but this is pretty underwhelming after playing Street Fighter in 3D.

I only paid $25 for two launch titles, so when I do get around to playing, I hope it's worth at least half of that. I'll give it a shot sometime down the road, but I have a few other games I'd rather focus on.

 

[friskykillface]

Just beat it earlier, about 7 hours , haha fuck the lava level, almost quit because of how boring it was. But other then that shitty level, game was great, if you've never played Rayman 2, get it.

 

[kaizoku]

jumping on this bandwagon thanks to tesco £25 discount knocking off 2 thirds of the price. Never played any Rayman games before so should be ok.

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

Meh, I love Rayman 2 and I got this for free, but I just got back from trading it in for money at EB. Didn’t even bother opening it....feels good man.