Rayman (Game Boy Color)

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Rayman
Rayman
Published by Ubi Soft Entertainment
Developed by Ubi Soft Entertainment

Directed by {{{directed by}}}
Produced by Riccardo Lenzi (project manager)
Designed by Benoit Maçon (lead designer)
Davide Soliani, Giordano Nisi, Marc D'Souza, Massimo Guardini, Riccardo Landi
Programmed by {{{programmed by}}}
Art by Jean-Marc Geoffrey (artistic and animation director)
Written by {{{written by}}}
Soundtrack by Éric Chevalier (original music)
Stefano Palmonari (MIDI adaptation)

Release date Game Boy Color:

European Union.png 1st February, 2000
Japan.png 24th March, 2000
Pocket PC and Palm OS:
1st September, 2001
Symbian:
2002
Nintendo 3DS (Virtual Console):
United States of America(USA).png European Union.png 31st May, 2012
Japan.png 25th July, 2012 (Nintendo 3DS)

Genre 2D platformer
Gameplay mode Single player
Platforms Game Boy Color, Pocket PC, Palm OS, Symbian, Nintendo 3DS (Virtual Console)
Ratings E (ESRB)
Distribution media Cartridge, digital
Game engine {{{game engine}}}

Rayman is a 2D sidescrolling platform game based on the original Rayman game. It was first released for the Game Boy Color in 2000 with some enhanced ports later being released for the Pocket PC, Palm OS and Symbian.[1] The Game Boy Color version can be downloaded through the Virtual Console service on the Nintendo 3DS family of systems.[2] Due to the cartridge size limitations, the game is much shorter than the original Rayman, and many characters and locations are absent. However, the game remains notable for its final boss battle against Mr Dark which has been changed drastically.

Most characters from the original Rayman do not appear in this version. The allies – Betilla, the Magician, Tarayzan, the Musician and Joe the Extra-Terrestrial – are all omitted, and so are the bosses – Moskito, Mr Sax, Mr Stone, Space Mama and Mr Skops. The only characters in the game, apart from generic enemies, are Rayman, Mr Dark, Bad Rayman, the Tings and the Toons.

Plot

The game follows the same general plot as the original: the evil Mr Dark has imprisoned the Electoons in cages and cast the Glade of Dreams into imbalance, leaving Rayman to free his prisoners and defeat him. Like the gameplay, the story is simplified with many characters having been removed. This version's unique intro sequence details most of the plot changes:

...Rayman...

Hey, wake up! We are the tiny fairies called Tings. Something terrible is happening...

That evil Mr. Dark came and imprisoned the Toons, the precious light-giver sprites of our land

He stole their energy for himself, throwing the world in chaos and darkness, with monsters spawning from everywhere!

I'll never let him do this!

Hurry up, Rayman: go after him and break open the Cages you find along the way!

Hold on, my friends! You won't be imprisoned for long

Go now! We Tings will show you the way: follow and catch us as you go. We'll also give you magic powers during the course of your quest!

Gameplay

The game, like the original game it is based on, is a 2D sidescroller where the player gets to control Rayman. Each level has an exit sign, shown as an arrow pointing downwards, which moves Rayman on to the next level. Between each level the player will get a save code which can later be used to load the game since there's no battery save available. On the Nintendo 3DS version the player can use the available save state feature, like in any other Virtual Console game on the system.

In each level there are Tings to collect, which, like in the original game, will reward the player with a life once a certain amount is collected: in this game, however, only 30 of them are needed instead of 100. Other ways to earn lives include finding them in secret areas or finishing a bonus level, which are shown as an arrow pointing upwards. Most levels also include cages for Rayman to collect, with the remaining cages for the level shown on the bottom of the screen. Whenever Rayman gets close to a cage, the music will change to indicate a nearby cage. Some cages cannot be obtained during the first playthrough as they will require a power Rayman has yet to achieve. Since the world map does not become accessible until the end of the game, the player will not be able to backtrack and collect the remaining cages until then.

Airy Tunes is heavily based off Band Land.

While the game is mainly based on the original Rayman, there are several noteworthy differences which sets them apart from each other. In this game, Rayman is oddly enough has his appearance from Rayman 2, which can be seen in both the gameplay and cutscenes. The music is mostly based on Rayman 2, with themes based off of what plays in the Precipice and the Canopy, along with some exclusive tracks as well. All levels are original, with only the general level themes being based already existing ones from the original game, such as Airy Tunes being based on Band Land.


Levels

Once the game is complete, the player will be taken to the world map where they will be able to replay previous levels. The world map shows which levels have any cages remaining, as well as how many. The Dark Legacy levels are first shown simply as question marks, not letting Rayman enter them. This however changes once Rayman finds every cage, when they will now unlock one by one. The Dark Legacy levels do not contain any cages themselves and are known to be the hardest levels in the game. Once all levels are completed, the player will unlock the Time Attack map, which will give access to all bonus levels in the game.

Ubi Key

The Ubi Key is an exclusive feature in which two Game Boy Colors can transfer data to each other using the infra-red links (the small black tabs next to where the user inserts the Game Pak). In Rayman, a giant key can be found in the first part of the Spellbound Forest which, when collected, can be sent to games that support it, such as the Game Boy Color version of Tonic Trouble. Receiving a key unlocks the bonus level Ubi Cliff, which can be accessed in the Pocket PC and Palm OS versions by other means.

Online challenges

The Pocket PC and Palm OS versions feature online challenges.

Japanese version

Two localizations of the game exist: the main one, available in English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch and Italian through a language selection menu, and the Japanese one, available only in Japanese, and in which the language selection screen has been removed. The level names, however, are always in English in the international version, regardless of the chosen language, while in the Japanese version, they have been replaced with symbols. The manual for the latter, however, contains the Japanese level names, making it the only language other than English in which they are available.

Another notable difference in the Japanese version is Rayman and Mr Dark's hands, which have be redrawn to have five fingers instead of four. Such a change was considered for the Japanese localization of the Dreamcast version of Rayman 2, for fear that Rayman's hands might evoke the practice of amputating one's little finger, which is primarily performed within Japanese criminal organizations, but the developers eventually decided against it as other popular characters such as Mickey Mouse and Mario also had four fingers.[3] It is likely that the motivation for this change was the same here, but that the Game Boy Color localization team stuck to their initial decision.

Early development

Promotional screenshots and screenshots from the manual, both from an early version of the game, show environments as well as enemies and animations that were cut during development and are not present in the final game. Various entities and graphics appear to have different colours, such as the Livingstones. Most notably, seemingly hostile creatures sharing a similar appearance can be seen in various worlds, all of them having in common a big head and identical feet as their only body parts.

Concept art

In 2020, Davide Soliani shared several pictures of concept art on his Twitter account.[4][5]

In 2021, he went on to post more sketches, some previously unseen and others being higher-resolution versions of the ones he shared the previous year.[6][7][8]

In 2022, Soliani reposted lower quality versions of some of the images he shared in 2020.[9]

Sticker book

New copies of the European version of the game contained a small sticker booklet and some stickers which used Rayman 2 artwork. Strangely, there was also a page that featured Rigatoni, the main antagonist from The Animated Series, which was possibly a means to advertise the series, though it never aired in more than a few countries. The rest of the stickers could be obtained at the now-defunct official Rayman 2 website, Rayman2.com.

Gallery

Unused assets

Game Boy Color

Pocket PC

Symbian

Covers

Manual

Click on the thumbnail to read the manual.

Ads

Trivia

  • Multiple other games were made using the same engine as this game uses, including Rayman 2 Forever, Donald Duck Quack Attack and Mowgli's Wild Adventure. The engine was later used as the basis for a similar engine on the GBA, named GBASimilar, which Ubisoft used for many more games, including the Game Boy Advance adaption of Rayman 3.

See also

References

  1. gameloft.com (via archive.org), Rayman, https://web.archive.org/web/20030808154120/http://www.gameloft.com:80/en/product_page.php?item=52
  2. Nintendo UK's official site, Rayman | Virtual Console (Nintendo 3DS), http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Virtual-Console-Nintendo-3DS-/Rayman-275803.html
  3. Ubi Soft Divertissements inc. (via archive.org), Dossier spécial - La localisation chez Ubi Soft !, https://web.archive.org/web/20010217082924/http://ubisoft.qc.ca/presse/presentations/localisation_p4.htm
  4. Twitter, @DavideSoliani, https://twitter.com/DavideSoliani/status/1304726599619809280, « This morning, in my garage, I've found thousand stuff of my youth, my work and my passion about Nintendo. This one is about my first project ever, Rayman game boy colour, released in 2000 (I've started in Ubi in 1999. A 50 page archiver with the notes of my levels Face with tears of joySmiling face with heart-shaped eyesSmiling face with open mouth and cold sweat »
  5. Twitter, @DavideSoliani, https://twitter.com/DavideSoliani/status/1307226197106003973, « The garage digging continues. This time I've found a 21 years old collection of artworks of Rayman Gbc, and another game that was never released. I hope that the Rayman players will appreciate. Have a great week end you all Smiling face with smiling eyesFolded hands »
  6. Twitter, @DavideSoliani, https://twitter.com/DavideSoliani/status/1415577039097245696, « Many of you asked me to post more sketches from Rayman GBC, my first ever game in Ubisoft Milan. Here we go #1 »
  7. Twitter, @DavideSoliani, https://twitter.com/DavideSoliani/status/1415577561510424578, « Many of you asked me to post more sketches from Rayman GBC, my first ever game in Ubisoft Milan. Here we go #2 »
  8. Twitter, @DavideSoliani, https://twitter.com/DavideSoliani/status/1415578229360975873, « Many of you asked me to post more sketches from Rayman GBC, my first ever game in Ubisoft Milan. Here we go #3 I will post more when I’ll find them. Kudos to Fabio Pagetti 😊🙏🏻 »
  9. Twitter, @DavideSoliani, https://twitter.com/DavideSoliani/status/1569298868675698688, « Now that it’s official I can post those level design work I did with serenity once again. Found them I’m my garage 23 years after with my notes (sorry, In Italian). The pages shows the integrity of the map of course, not the GBC frame portion. Good memories ❤️ »

External links