The Echoing Caves
The Echoing Caves (Echoing Caves in the PlayStation version) is a level in Rayman 2: The Great Escape. This level allows the player to revisit a part of the Fairy Glade which was unreachable before (and where a Globox Crystal can be found in the Dreamcast version), via a secret passage, and introduces kegs which can be used as rocket to get across pools of acid.
Original versionPhase 1Before the level starts, a cut scene set in a rainy part of the forest starts, in which a red Henchman 800 surveys the area, and walks into an automatic door which is then locked. Rayman then arrives in the area, jumping off a high ledge, and engages into battle with said Henchman. When it is defeated, Rayman then has to find four switches to unlock the door and go through. Any switch can be turned on in no particular order. The first switch is situated in a small wooden stronghold nearby the battle area. Opposite that is a wooden drawbridge that Rayman must jump from in order to reach the ledge on the other side and drop down the hole in the ground into a small clearing. In the centre of that, there is another hole filled with clean water - this is a tunnel which leads to a wooden room in which the second switch is found. Back in the clearing, there is a plum tree - Rayman has to knock a plum down, take it down a corridor, and throw it at the head of a Gorilla Pirate. Then he can jump on that, climb the rope ladders and return to where he started. Rayman then has to cross a pit using two pillars that stand, and jump down a cliff that leads to a misty pond half surrounded by a wooden buliding, where a purple Henchman 800 sleeps. The third switch is found there. Opposite that switch, Rayman finds a timed switch that triggers the rise of wooden pillars of varying sizes, which Rayman needs to climb to get to the ledge above and climb a rope ladder, leading him down a passage into an area with a vast chasm. The only way to cross this safely is to use the floating platforms that rise a certain height, turns itself upside down and comes back down again, while taking care not to be tipped over. At the other side, there is a little pond with a water mill spinning next to a building that Rayman has to go into. Inside there is a timed switch that opens the door before him, leading him out to a wooden ledge at the side of the wooden building where the last switch can be found. Not only are all four switches turned on, Rayman is back to where he started, so now he can go through the door. Phase 2... Rayman enters from above, and can grab a keg with which he can break a door and access a cage. He is then introduced to the ability to fly a keg, by lighting it using a nearby torch. With this first flying keg he can reach a structure across an acid river. There lies another cage and a second keg to light. With this keg Rayman can reach the level's exit, however he must overcome an Ape-pirate and access a switch to open the door. If he is very good at flying the keg, he can also reach a second exit, which leads him back to the Fairy Glade. Back to the Fairy Glade... Phase 3... Arriving through a large door, Rayman must once again light a keg and fly through a tunnel above an acid river. At the end, he comes across a small wooden building where a pirate awaits him with a prisoner. Once the pirate is beaten and the prisoner freed, Rayman must head back outside the building and hit a timer switch, to open a large door leading to the next tunnel. He then has a time limit to reach a keg, light it, and enter the tunnel before the aforementioned door closes. if he fails, he can try again. At the end of this tunnel lies the cage containing the Teensie which will take Rayman to the hall of doors. A pirate ship looms ominously outside the cave, watching, possibly in reference to the warship's appearance in the following level. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Dreamcast version | ||||||||||||||||||||
PlayStation versionOne notable change is that the return to the Fairy Glade has been removed, as the cage it originally allowed the player to free has been omitted. | ||||||||||||||||||||
PlayStation 2 versionMany changes have been applied to this level as far as level design is concerned. Phase 2 and 3 are gone completely, and Phase 1 now occurs as Phase 2. Phase 1, in this game, is now Phase 2 of the original Precipice, requiring Rayman to climb a sinking tower. Phase 3 is now the Phase 2 of The Top of the World a level omitted from Revolution. The end of the level now features a Ninja Henchmen battle as the player must destroy one of two generators to reach the Lava Sanctuary. The original Phase 2 and 3 are now found in the Precipice. As a result, this level no longer introduces the flying kegs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Game Boy Color versionIn the Game Boy Color adaptation, the Echoing Caves directly follow the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire, and this is where the third mask of Polokus is located. It resembles the original level much more than the rest of the game. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Trivia
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