Here are my top 10 Rayman games, along with a quick review of each of them (this is a really long one, so brace yourself):
10. Rayman Raving Rabbids
This game was a fun one, especially with the musical cover and shooter games, but some minigames can be a lot more annoying than others (the cow swinging one and the bat riding one comes to mind). Combine that with the Rabbids' temporary takeover of the franchise and knowing that the game could have been an awesome 3D platformer, and the game earns its number 10 spot.
9. Rayman 1
The game that started it all is armed to the teeth with sneaky traps and unfair mechanics. While the music and art style is worth praising, the sheer difficulty of it all makes it an infuriating experience; so infuriating, in fact, that I never actually finished playing the GBA version of it. There is a better, more modern version of the game, but we'll get to that later.
8. Rayman M/Arena
This multiplayer spin-off has a special place in my collection as one of my first console Rayman games, if not my very first one (can't remember if it was this or Rayman Raving Rabbids). With its fun animations, great music, and solid gameplay, I have some good memories of this game. So why is it at number 8, you may ask? Well, it's simply because there are better games further up the list, not necessarily because this one was bad.
7. Rayman Adventures
Putting a mobile game in front of a console one might be surprising to some, but I don't think there's much of a dispute in saying that this was the best of the mobile Rayman games. Great gameplay, intuitive controls, expansions of previous Legends worlds, and all of the new characters makes for a really enjoyable time. Too bad that most of those characters were locked behind limited-time events and never came back afterwards. Oh yeah, and the game shut down...
6. Rayman Raving Rabbids (Game Boy Advance)
I see Rayman Raving Rabbids' GBA adaptation as a small-scale 2D recreation of what the console RRR could have been if it was a 3D platformer. It might be on the short side and its car-racing levels may have been unnecessary, but I had a better time with this handheld adaptation than the console original.
5. Rayman 2: The Great Escape
I know some people are going to come at me for placing what some think to be the best Rayman game of all time in the number 5 spot, but this is my list, not theirs.
The many new characters introduced, from mainstays like Globox and the Teensies to fan favorites like Ly the Fairy and the Robo-Pirates, make this game an important one, and the gameplay, story, and soundtrack further enhance Rayman's jump to 3D. My main gripe is that most of the game's environments feel the same. If you held a plunger gun to my head, showed me two pictures of Rayman 2 levels, and told me to tell you the levels shown in the two pictures, most of the time I don't think I would be able to tell them apart.
4. Rayman Redemption
Here's that better, more modern version of Rayman 1 I mentioned earlier! Ryemanni's recreation of Rayman's first adventure improves upon everything the original did and added so much new content that it almost feels like an entirely different game! The new world Playtopia is a welcome addition, albeit a bit much at times, and the Bzzit-riding levels feel like they were ripped straight out of Origins/Legends. The much-needed refinements that the levels got made the experience a lot more enjoyable... for the most part. There is still some difficulty in there, mainly coming from the Magician's challenges. While I completed most of them in 2 or 3 tries, maybe 5 at most, some of them felt like they were just there for the crowd that liked the original Rayman's original difficulty (looking at you, Pinpoint Precision
).
3. Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc
The third game in the series with the third slot on my list; fitting, isn't it? And it earns this spot with its really fun gameplay and its focus on combat. Add that to the game's great soundtrack and its comedic parts thanks to the fully voiced dialogue, and you've got a recipe for success! But it isn't a perfect game; levels like the Longest Shortcut and the Tower of the Leptys can feel tedious or annoying at times, and the scoring system relies so heavily on combos that missing some of them locked me out of a few bonus mini-games. Regardless, Rayman 3 is still a great game overall, and the many things it does exceedingly well make for the best 3D Rayman game to date! There, I said it.
2. Rayman Origins
Rayman's return to 2D gameplay is a cartoony masterpiece. The smooth gameplay, the great designs of the characters - and I don't just mean the nymphs - the grand visuals, and the phenomenal soundtrack combine to make the series' second best game. While I think it would have been better off incorporating a lot of the scrapped content, like the expanded story with the Magician and characters like Tarayzan coming back, that doesn't take away from the experience as a whole. Rayman Origins is easily one of the best games in the Rayman series, and I'd say that it's one of the best platformers ever.
1. Rayman Legends
Okay, you guys probably saw this one coming. But how couldn't I place Rayman Legends at number 1? It does almost everything perfectly! You want great gameplay? This does it five times over. You want gorgeous graphics? This delivers on it almost effortlessly. You want great character designs? You got it, just look at the playable characters and enemies! You like great soundtracks? This has some of the best music gaming has to offer! You like games with a great story? Well... I did say it did
almost everything perfectly.
Anyway, Rayman Legends is one of the greatest platformers of all time, and easily takes the number 1 spot as my favorite Rayman game.
I don't mean Sonic game players, I've given it a try a couple of times, I mean the real Sonic fans from the so-called Sonic internet fanbase.
