Rayman 3

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Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc
R3 PS2EUcov.jpg
Published by Ubisoft
Developed by Ubisoft

Directed by {{{directed by}}}
Produced by {{{produced by}}}
Designed by {{{designed by}}}
Programmed by {{{programmed by}}}
Art by {{{art by}}}
Written by {{{written by}}}
Soundtrack by {{{soundtrack by}}}

Release date 3rd March 2003
Genre 3D Platformer
Gameplay mode Single player
Platforms Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft Xbox, Game Boy Advance, Nokia N-GAGE, Macintosh, DigiBlast, mobile phone
Ratings {{{ratings}}}
Distribution media {{{distribution media}}}
Game engine {{{game engine}}}

Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc is the third major game in the Rayman series, and the sequel to Rayman 2: The Great Escape. Rayman 3 was released in 2003. It is notable for being the first Rayman game not directed by series creator Michel Ancel, who was occupied with the development of Beyond Good & Evil at the time. Like its immediate predecessor, Rayman 3 is a 3D platformer. However, Rayman 3's levels are more straightfoward and oriented towards action and combat rather than platforming and exploration. The main campaign of Rayman 3 is temporally linear – unlike the previous games, where Rayman could physically return to completed locations, each Rayman 3 level is visited only once within the storyline.

Rayman 3 features a points-based scoring system; another first for the series. Players could post their final scores on the then-new RaymanZone website. However, this function was disabled when RaymanZone was retooled to suit the Raving Rabbids games. In February 2009, members of the Rayman Pirate-Community contacted Ubisoft and successfully arranged for the creation of a new Hall of Fame [1].

Worlds

Similar to the gap between Rayman and Rayman 2, most locations in Rayman 3 were new and not directly connected to those of the previous games. However, they are still the same environments as Rayman's games tend to stick with: the mountains, forests, and swamps from Rayman, and the plains, coasts, and fortresses from Rayman 2. One area in particular, the Fairy Council, was alluded to in Rayman 2, and one of Count Razoff's ancestors (most likely his father) supposedly shot Space Mama; these allusions make Rayman 3's locations generally regarded as still being in the same canon as Rayman and especially Rayman 2.

Rayman 3's worlds in particular included many elements which Rayman 2 and Revolution lacked: unique environments. While the Iron Mountains and the Menhir Hills pretty much looked the same, Rayman 3 's worlds were vast and varied. Many elements from Revolution were included in Rayman 3 's worlds – the most evident of these are the ambient sounds (for example, the Desert of the Knaaren has the same ambience as Beneath the Sanctuary of Rock and Lava) and the unique lighting. Rayman 3 also had many instances of stained glass windows, also a previous characteristic of the Lava Sanctuary.

Rayman 3 returned to the fairy tale-like theme of Rayman 's locations, though not as surreal. Many odd locales dot Rayman 3 's small collection of worlds, such as in the Fairy Council and the Longest Shortcut.

Finally, Rayman 3 included many allusions to its two predecessors. References to the original Rayman game include the picture on the Manual read by Murfy in the Fairy Council, the pictures of Livingstones on plum-posts, the 2D Madness and 2D Nightmare flashback minigames, and the revelation of a connection between Count Razoff's ancestors and ‘the Space Mama of Picture City’. References to Rayman 2 include the appearance of the previously-mentioned Heart of the World, the reappearance of nettles in the Bog of Murk, the reappearance of Zombie Chickens in the Desert of the Knaaren, statues of Sssssam the Watersnake in Razoff's mansion, a statue of Ly the Fairy in a hidden room in the Longest Shortcut, and statues of Admiral Razorbeard and his Robo-Pirate servants in a secret room in the Hoodlum Headquarters. Additionally, both Murfy and Globox both make tongue-in-cheek metafictional references to Rayman 2 – Murfy complains that he was promised a larger role after Rayman 2 than the one he ultimately received, and Globox complains that Rayman is somewhat less pleasant than he was in the previous game.

Plot

The Fairy Council

Rayman and Globox are sleeping peacefully together in the forests of the Crossroads of Dreams. A nearby Red Lum receives such a terrible fright that it is transformed into an evil Black Lum named André, with aspirations of world domination. André begins to convert other Red Lums into Black Lums, spreading his corruption simply by touching them. Soon André has a large swarm of Black Lum minions. Acting as one, they steal the wool from a nearby Mawpaw and weave it into a sack-cloth costume for André: he has now become the first Hoodlum. Raising his blunderbuss, he advances towards the terrified Murfy, who cowers behind a mushroom. Murfy flees and wakes up Globox. Unable to awaken Rayman, Globox tries to drag him to safety and accidentally pulls off his hands. Murfy grabs Rayman by the hair and flies him to the Fairy Council, where André's forces are gathering. Many Black Lums have now become Hoodlums – multiple Hoodlum varieties are beginning to emerge. Rayman tracks down Globox, who returns his hands. Inside the Fairy Council, Rayman manages to defeat André's Hoodlum form, reducing him to a Black Lum once more. André reveals his plan: to reach the Heart of the World, deep within the Fairy Council, and convert its energy into an army of Hoodlums with which he can take over the world. In the ensuing struggle, André accidentally flies into the mouth of Globox, who unintentionally swallows him. When the heroes reach the chamber housing the Heart of the World, they encounter the Grand Minimus, the Kings of the Teensies. Realising that André must be extracted from Globox's stomach, the Grand Minimus instructs Rayman to take him to an old friend of his – Otto Psi, a Teensie doctor whose office is in the Clearleaf Forest. Murfy takes leave of Rayman, saying ‘See you in Rayman 4!’. Rayman and Globox step into a portal and pass through a psychedelic Teensie Highway, which leads them to their next destination.

Clearleaf Forest

On the other side of the Teensie Highway, Rayman and Globox find themselves in the Clearleaf Forest. André, still trapped inside Globox's stomach, begins to shout taunts and insults – this continues for most of the game. There are now a great many Hoodlums throughout the world – they are fought in almost every subsequent level. The Hoodlums have also started imprisoning Teensies in cages – although it is not strictly necessary to do so, Rayman can break these cages open. He is rewarded with Red Lums, jewels, and – as in Rayman – permanent increases to his health. Like the Hoodlums themselves, these Teensie cages are found in almost every subsequent level. Rayman takes Globox through the forest. Along the way, he defeats Master Kaag, a baby Hoodlum and mechanical genius. Eventually the heroes arrive at the office of Otto Psi, the first Teensie doctor. Otto attempts to remove André from Globox's stomach by playing Globox's arm like a guitar. This method proves unsuccessful – it only causes André to take refuge deeper in Globox's body. Otto refers the duo to the second Teensie doctor, Roméo Patti, whose office is in the Land of the Livid Dead. He ushers them into a portal leading to another Teensie Highway.

The Bog of Murk

Unfortunately this particular Teensie Highway is broken. Rayman and Globox are separated as they fall through some spatial rift into the Bog of Murk, a dark and unpleasant swamp. Rayman lands in the outhouse of the hideous witch Bégoniax, provoking her wrath. After he defeats her, she ushers him into her magic mirror, and he is teleported into another region of the Bog. After fighting his way past the Hoodlums, he arrives at the mansion of Count Razoff the hunter, last of the Shoedsackovskaïa family. After defeating Razoff, Rayman finds Globox in the hunter's dungeon. Bégoniax appears, revealing her love for Razoff; she carries the protesting hunter away. Rayman spots another magic mirror in Razoff's dungeon. Realising that it is another portal, the heroes step into it.

The Land of the Livid Dead

After stepping through the portal, Rayman and Globox find themselves in the Land of the Livid Dead, a mild, Celtic-styled landscape populated by Griskins, the ghosts of a Teensie tribe. After overcoming many Hoodlum enemies, the heroes find themselves at the foot of a tower made of light. Long ago, this was constructed by the Great Spirit Palmito as a prison for the Griskins. When Rayman frees the ghosts, they help him along his way by destroying some Hoodlums. Rayman then defeats Céloche, a gigantic, amphibious, mechanical tripod piloted by a Hoodlum. The heroes finally arrive at the office of Roméo Patti, the second Teensie doctor. Roméo attempts to extract André from Globox's stomach by drumming on his belly; however, this only drives André into Globox's brain. Roméo refers the heroes to the third and final Teensie doctor, Gonzo, whose office is in the Desert of the Knaaren. He then ushers them into another Teensie Highway portal.

The Desert of the Knaaren

The heroes emerge in the Desert of the Knaaren, a scorched landscape whose cavernous underworld is inhabited by sadistic beasts known as Knaaren, who worship a god known as the Leptys. The Knaaren quickly capture Globox, leaving Rayman to make his own way through the tunnels. Rayman himself is eventually captured, and forced to take part in an arena battle against Reflux, the undefeated champion of the Knaaren. Rayman defeats Reflux, and Gumsi, the child-king of the Knaaren, grudgingly rewards him. With the Sceptre of the Leptys, Gumsi invokes his god, and it bestows a new power upon Rayman: the Grimace. Rayman can now pull a grotesque face which causes corrupt Black Lums to revert into harmless Red Lums. Armed with this new power, Rayman and Globox finally arrive at the office of Gonzo, the third Teensie doctor. Gonzo summons Otto Psi and Roméo Patti, and the three doctors together do what the individuals could not: their joined music succeeds in exorcising André from Globox's body. Unfortunately for the heroes, André escapes. The doctors despair, realising that if André finds the energy to multiple, all is lost. Deep within the tunnels under the Desert of the Knaaren, he tracks down Reflux, who was disgraced by his defeat at the hands of Rayman. André convinces Reflux to steal the Sceptre of the Leptys from his king, Gumsi. With the energy from the Sceptre, André will be able to spawn a vast army of Black Lums (and subsequently Hoodlums). André promises that he will make sure Reflux gets a chance to exact his revenge upon Rayman.

The Longest Shortcut

The Teensie doctors take Rayman and Globox through a portal. Once they arrive, the doctors explain the situation to the heroes: André and Reflux have joined forces and plan to invoke the Leptys, gaining unimagineable powers. The doctors tell the heroes that they are currently in the Longest Shortcut, which will hopefully allow them to catch up with the villains. A temple filled with light, mirrors and statues of the Grand Minimus, this level focuses entirely on puzzles and platforming, and features no combat. At the end of the level, the heroes find themselves at a dock, where the three doctors are waiting for them. The doctors inform them that they are too late, but give them a ship, telling them to use it to try and catch up with the villains. Rayman and Globox climb aboard and set sail.

The Summit Beyond the Clouds

As they cross the Looming Sea, their ship is assailed by Hoodlum watercraft, but Rayman manages to fight them off. Eventually Globox steers the ship to the snowy mountain range known as the Summit Beyond the Clouds. Ascending the mountains, Rayman and Globox eventually find the hidden entrance to the Hoodlum Headquarters, where they will hopefully be able to find and stop André.

Hoodlum Headquarters

The Hoodlum Headquarters is the Hoodlums' base of operations: an underground network of crate-filled tunnels and magma-filled caverns, all presided over by ‘Toots’, a female Hoodlum whose sensual voice whispers instructions over the intercom. Globox sees a cardboard cut-out of his wife Uglette in a bikini – believing it to be the source of the attractive voice, Globox runs towards it and falls into a trap door, where he is captured. André's voice follows Rayman as he makes his way through the Hoodlum Headquarters, constantly taunting him and shouting instructions to his Hoodlum minions. At one point, Globox is taken by a mechanical arm into a room filled with Armaguiddons – flying Hoodlum vehicles. It is later revealed that he has somehow managed to escape and commandeer one. Eventually Rayman finds the Horrible Machine, a boiler-like construction which lies at the heart of the Hoodlum Headquarters. It appears to manufacture Hoodlums. When Rayman defeats it, it breaks down, and the entire Hoodlum Headquarters begins to collapse. Rayman manages to escape just in time – the Horrible Machine explodes, blasting fire and Black Lums in all directions and blowing the entireHoodlum Headquarters into oblivion. The blast sends Rayman flying through the air. André manages to escape from the chaos of the exploding Hoodlum Headquarters. He flies to the top of the nearby Tower of the Leptys, where Reflux stands waiting for him. Reflux holds the Sceptre of the Leptys. Raising it to the sky, he shouts an invocation, commanding the Leptys to give him its power. The sky swirls and darkens, and becomes filled with a vibrant blue mixture of strange stars, clouds and asteroids. This mystical mass of energy seems to be the Leptys itself. As Reflux raises the Sceptre, it is struck by bolts of lightning from the Leptys above. The Sceptre glows more and more brightly.

The Tower of the Leptys

The explosion of the Hoodlum Headquarters sent Rayman flying through the air – now he lands at the foot of the Tower of the Leptys, slowing his descent with his helicopter hair. The sky above glows with the Leptys's power. Rayman enters the Tower and begins to climb. Although the Tower is filled with Hoodlums, the statues it contains make it apparent that it was built by the Knaaren in honour of their god, the Leptys. Eventually Rayman meets up with Globox, who seems to have escaped the Hoodlum Headquarters with the Armaguiddon he now drives. The heroes use the Armaguiddon to ascend through the upmost tunnels of the Tower, which are filled with gigantic gears and vertical passageways which would have been impassable on foot. Rayman must use the Armaguiddon's plasma cannon to defeat waves of Hoodlum-piloted enemy Armaguiddons along the way. Globox seems to miss André's presence – he now perceives the malevolent Black Lum as a mischievous child, and seems to lack any awareness of what is actually happening. Once they reach the top of the Tower, Rayman goes on ahead to the final confrontation. Reflux has grown and mutated as a result of absorbing the Leptys's power. The two have a brief battle – Rayman defeats Reflux by attacking the Sceptre. Reflux then decides that he requires more power than he can get by simply wielding the Sceptre of the Leptys as a weapon – he now takes the Sceptre and embeds it into the flesh of his own back. This greatly magnifies Reflux's power, causing him to mutate even further and grow to a colossal size. The two have another battle – Rayman now manages to climb up Reflux's arm and onto his back, where he can continue to attack the Sceptre embedded in his flesh. Next Reflux begins to float, and causes the upper blocks of the Tower to levitate upwards with him. Rayman must climb these blocks while avoiding Reflux's attacks. Eventually Rayman finds a Shock Rocket, which he uses to attack the Sceptre once more. Reflux then sprouts wings – he now bears a resemblance to the gigantic, eagle-like statue of the Leptys seen in the Desert of the Knaaren. He flies upwards into the glowing storm of energy overhead. Rayman is unsure how to proceed – luckily Globox appears in his Armaguiddon, and the heroes ride it upwards into the strange storm in the sky. They then find themselves in a surreal landscape filled with eyes on stalks – this world appears to be some manifestation of the Leptys itself. They are attacked by Reflux, who chases them in a circle through the air. Rayman uses the Armaguiddon's plasma cannon to damage Reflux. This forces Reflux to alight on the ground of this bizarre place for a moment so he can recover. When he lands, Reflux shoots a barrage of hundreds of Black Lums from the flesh of his back. As they hit the ground, they transform into an army of Hoodlums. These Hoodlums march back into Reflux, where they are absorbed. If Rayman uses the Armaguiddon's bomb launcher to kill some of the Hoodlums, Reflux's overall health is reduced. When all of these Hoodlums are absorbed or destroyed, Reflux flies after the heroes and their Armaguiddon again. These two stages of the battle are repeated alternately until either Rayman or Reflux is defeated. when Reflux is finally beaten, he freezes into a gigantic block of solid ice, then shatters and disappears. André emerges from Reflux's remains – it is revealed that he was inside Reflux throughout the entire battle. This is the reason Reflux could shoot Black Lums from his back – André was inside him, converting the energy from the Sceptre of the Leptys into more Black Lums. André is now alone and helpless, and is entirely at Rayman's mercy. In desperation he cries out to Globox for help, but receives none. Rayman pulls a Grimace, converting André back into a Red Lum. This causes all of the Black Lums throughout the Crossroads of Dreams to revert, effectively putting an end to the Hoodlum invasion. Rayman and Globox tumble all the way to the ground; their fall is broken by a Squab. Rayman realises that they are now in exactly the same place they were in when Murfy woke them up at the beginning of the game. He remarks that they can now get a good night's sleep after all – the events of the entire game took place over the course of just one day. Globox appears to be sad. When Rayman asks him what is wrong, Globox says that he misses André. He asks Rayman to scare a Red Lum, thus bringing André back. Rayman says that he does not think this is a good idea. As he drifts off to sleep, Rayman remarks that that he hates to imagine what could possibly scare a Lum. A flashback is then shown. It reveals that, immediately prior to the beginning of the game, Rayman's hands sleepwalked and created strange shadow puppets on a wall. These shadow puppets frightened a nearby Red Lum so badly that it was transformed into a Black Lum: André. This means that the actions of Rayman's wandering hands brought about the creation of the Hoodlum army and caused all the events of the entire game.

Score system

Main article: Rayman 3 scoring system

Rayman 3 is the first game in the series to introduce a score system in an arcade-style format. Until the reformat of RaymanZone for Rayman Raving Rabbids, players were able to enter the key code they are provided at the end of the game in order to participate in a worldwide score ranking. A new Hall of Fame was created on Rayman Pirate-Community in 2009. The score system notably increased the replay value of the game.

The scoring system is based on the combo mode, which is triggered every time points are collected. Depending on the nature of the last yield, it will either last 2 or 6 seconds, unless the player collects points within the given time, thus bringing back the time left before the combo mode ends to 2 or 6 seconds. Any item collected during the combo mode will have their points added to the combo counter (in addition to the main counter), with a multiple of two for the items between the sixth and the tenth position, three for the items between the eleventh and the fifteenth position, four for the items between the sixteenth and the twentieth position, and five for the items after the twenty-first position. When the combo mode ends, all the points in the combo counter will be added to the main counter, and any new combo will start at the first position again. Notably, if Rayman is using a Laser-Washing Powder can, points are doubled.

While the developers thought the maximum attainable score was around 500,000 points, the discovery of various glitches and the mastery of the scoring mechanics allowed much higher scores, the highest known overall score being 858,001 points. [1]

Main characters

Friends

Enemies

The complete list can be seen here: http://www.raymanpc.com/wiki/en/Category:Characters_from_Rayman_3

Levels

Trivia

  • The Fairy Council and the Heart of the World were first mentioned in Rayman 2, and only now make an appearance in Rayman 3.
  • Sometimes, when you start hitting Globox, he says "You were nicer in Rayman 2!".
  • There are lots of secret rooms in the game, but three of them refer to Rayman 2. One, located in the Longest Shortcut, has a statue of Ly in it. Another, in the Hoodlum Headquarters, has statues of Razorbeard and some of his Robo-Pirates sitting at a table, in the style of 'The Last Supper' painting by Leonardo da Vinci. Also, in Razoff's mansion, one of the many different statues is of a snake which appears to be Sssssam the Snake from Rayman 2.
  • At the beginning of the third part of the Fairy Council, when Rayman and Murfy are looking for André and Globox, Murfy tells Rayman to hurry or else "he'll start telling everyone he's your father!". This is a reference to the famous scene from the film, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, in which the villain, Darth Vader, reveals to the hero, Luke Skywalker, that he is his father.
  • In the Fairy Council, when Rayman and Murfy pursue André and encounter the Ludiv, the Dark Lum Lord throws the fairy away from her home, saying Zelda needs her, before hiding in the Ludiv's home. Zelda is a major character from the popular video game series The Legend of Zelda.
  • In the Bog of Murk, inside Razoff's house is a room with a large mirror. If Rayman is left in idle in front of it, he'll make a face at himself and notice he has something stuck in his teeth, pulling it out.
  • Spiral doors from Rayman 2 have mainly been replaced with Mirrors.

See also

External links

Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc playthrough at YouTube (PC version)

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Rayman Pirate-Community, Rayman 3 Hall of Fame, http://raymanpc.com/?p=hof Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "pchof" defined multiple times with different content