Rayman Advance

Rayman Advance
Published by	Ubisoft
Developed by	Digital Eclipse
Directed by	{{{directed by}}}
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Designed by	{{{designed by}}}
Programmed by	{{{programmed by}}}
Art by	{{{art by}}}
Written by	{{{written by}}}
Soundtrack by	{{{soundtrack by}}}
Release date	11th June, 2001 (Game Boy Advance) 22nd June, 2001 (Game Boy Advance) (Europe) 20th April, 2017 (Wii U) (North America) 25th May, 2017 (Wii U) (Europe)
Genre	2D platformer
Gameplay mode	Single player
Platforms	Game Boy Advance, Wii U (Virtual Console)
Ratings	{{{ratings}}}
Distribution media	{{{distribution media}}}
Game engine	{{{game engine}}}

Rayman Advance is a port of the original Rayman game for the Game Boy Advance which resembles the PC version most closely. It was released in 2001 after nearly a year in development as a launch title for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance handheld console. Oddly, both the European and North American covers use different renders of Rayman from Rayman 2. In 2017, it was released on the Wii U's Virtual Console alongside the Game Boy Advance version of Rayman 3.

Differences

Due to hardware limitations, this version has several differences from the other versions, although it is based on the PC release. The first part of Bongo Hills has been removed, most likely due to palette limitations, putting the cage that was meant to appear there at the last part instead. The music has been remade to fit on the cartridge, resulting in much of the original quality being lost. Some music tracks have even been completely removed, while a few new ones have been added. This was due to the developers putting most of their focus on the graphics of the game, resulting in little space left for the music on the ROM. The graphics have increased in contrast and brightness, resulting in some quality being lost. This was done late in development to compensate for the lack of backlight on the original Game Boy Advance. The intro and ending of the game now consists of a slideshow, similarly to the Atari Jaguar version, instead of the pre-rendered movie seen in most versions.

Other changes in this port were made to intentionally make the game easier. One extra unit of health has been added to the player's health bar, no Tings are lost upon dying, more lives can be found, more time is available on the bonus levels, fewer enemies appear and additional platforms have been added in some levels, most notably Space Mama's Crater. Some bosses have minor differences as well, such as Bzzit and Moskito being able to take hits before they fly away after being damaged, resulting in the player being able to constantly hit them with the right timing until they are defeated. This is also one of the few versions in which Mr Dark's Dare is replayable upon completion.

While there are not that many bugs throughout this port, there are a few noticeable ones. Some items, most notably the clouds, sometimes appear incorrectly. Some show the textures of a vanishing cloud, while they are stable. Some pencil sharpeners, most notably in Pencil Pentathlon, will move in the wrong direction or are placed incorrectly, causing some items, such as lives, to be unobtainable, and others much harder to obtain.

The very first scenery of the Dream Forest in Rayman Advance.

In comparison, the same scenery on PC.

Multiplayer

The game was originally planned to feature a multiplayer mode in the style of "capture the flag". It was marketed as being included in the preview versions of the game, but was never finished for any releases. The mode would have included one map per world, and all of them can actually be found in the game's ROM. Only the first few maps were finished, however, with the rest lacking any objects.

The multiplayer mode as it would have appeared

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Gallery

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  The North American cover art.

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  Bzzit in Rayman Advance.

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  The Virtual Console artwork.