Rayman Advance

Overview

You are a real cool dude named Rayman and your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to get the 'Great Protoon'? back from Mr. Dark, free the 'Electoons'? and put them all together to restore harmony and order to the world.

Sound easy? It's not. Sound fun? It is. This is a very good side scroller game with a lot of twists.

Gameplay, Controls, Interface

The controls are simple but effective. You have movement on the keypad of right, left, and crouch down. You get Jump with the 'A'? button and you get your fist or other special features on the 'B'? button. You get the fist move shortly into the very first of the game so don't worry about it when you first start -- you must jump and climb your way a bit before you get it. Once you get this move you will find it immediately necessary to continue along the path. The documentation states there are over 60 levels -- I will have to take their word for it right now because I have not gotten that far. It will take some real time to finish this game. I like that. Finishing a game in a weekend takes the fun out of it real quick.

There are extra lives all over the place and you can earn lives by collecting small blue orbs called 'Tings.'? There are also plenty of continues to keep you moving along in the game. You start the game with five lives, and you can get this up to seven or eight lives really quickly early in the game by collecting all those 'Tings.'

There are three save slots that can be copied, deleted, or played. You must make it past certain spots to have the saved games actually help you out. When I first started, I got a few screens into the game and then turned it off. When I wanted to play again, I found that I was starting from the beginning. Do not forget to stop and have your picture taken as this will help you out if you lose all your lives and then have to use one of eight continues to get going again. This will allow you to start farther into the game when you continue, but it still will not be far enough along for a save point. Keep at it and you will find the game pulls you in. I have lost myself in this game for a couple hours at a time.

Multiplayer

There is no multiplayer mode for this game. No surprise, as very few game developers have included it (this seems to be the one area that is frequently overlooked on the Game Boy Advance), but it still would have been a fun addition to this release. It would have been a lot of fun to have multiple Raymans (or is that Raymen?) running the course. Either that or match play taking turns but able to watch each other's moves and scores and learn from one another. Maybe a race through the levels seeing who can get to the end of each level first would have been fun. There are lots of possibilities.

Graphics

The Game Boy Advance version of Rayman is clean and clear. The eye candy factor alone is worth playing this game. The colors are bright and comic book-like. The contrast is good so you can see what you are doing. All in all the visual presentation is fantastic. This is a great looking game. The animated fist is a lot of fun and has a good stretch on the return. Try launching the fist and then crouching down or jumping up, the results can be great and the animation is fun.

Audio

The music and sound effects are good and appropriate. The amount of sound you want is changeable. If you do not want the music, you can turn it off, or if you like only the music and want the sound effects turned off you can do that also. I like both together. The best part is that Ubi Soft gives you the choice.

Documentation

Reading the instruction booklet is helpful. You will get some good tips on what to expect and how to use some of the special powers. There is not a lot to it and it is a fast read so a quick skim is recommended. You will learn what each of the special items look like and what to look for during your journey.

Bottom Line

Rayman Advance is an E-rated game and I decided to run it by my eight-year-old son and his swim team buddies. They climbed all over each other to get the game and try it. Once they played it, they were even more enthusiastic to play again. It was a great way for the boys to pass the time between events. Oftentimes, there was one boy playing and two to three looking over his shoulder to watch the action (and to give advice -- they were practically playing by committee). This is high praise for a game these days. It takes a lot to please six boys at age eight. Rayman was able to pull this crowd away from other such titles as Zelda and Pokemon (and THAT is an accomplishment). I really enjoyed this game a lot myself and being a somewhat overgrown child, I guess that fits. I would recommend this game for all ages. It has a lot of replay appeal. A great game! Score: 92. Well done, Ubi Soft.

Not to be outdone by Pinobee, Ubi Soft is releasing a new version of its nine million selling hero Rayman for Game Boy Advance. This game is based on the original Rayman that was released on the PlayStation and Saturn a few years back with more than 30 levels of action and a special new 'capture the flag' mode for two-player link-up games. It's a shame the company didn't go the whole hog and create an all-new Game Boy Advance adventure because most of you will probably have played the levels in this version already!

He's at least twice as mad as Paul, and he's got no limbs! It's been a while since Rayman, 'the limbless wonder', last bounced onto our screens. To be honest, no-one's really missed him – no helplines have had to be set up, no counselling services have been overrun with tearful teenagers demanding to see our hero chuck his hand at someone again, and, quite honestly, Rayman's something of a bit-part player on the console scene. And that's a shame, because games featuring this likeable bundle of extremities have normally been pretty top-drawer – much like this latest instalment on the Game Boy Advance.

Like all the other Rayman games, you control our gangly hero as he rampages across various tried-and-tested platform environments, lurching over unsteady walkways, and collecting little blue crystals in the same way Mario snaffles coins and Sonic stashes gold rings. Our disconnected friend must also overcome all kinds of foes by battering them with his oddly detachable fist. Other than that, the gameplay is fairly standard platform action from the word go. But, there are a few different sublevels to be getting on with, like our personal favourite, when Rayman ends up flying around on the back of a giant pink mosquito! No, really!

One of the first things that hits you about Rayman Advance is the lushness of the graphics. What we have here is continuous four-level parallax scrolling on a full-colour handheld console the size of a small cornish pasty. It's pretty impressive. What's gonna really impress gamers is the fact that, as Rayman wanders through the game, he's surrounded by fluttering bluebirds, swooping sparrows and frolicking toadstools (yes, this title even has funky fungus!). These effects add a great deal of depth and humour to proceedings, and it's sometimes quite distracting to constantly find woodland creatures under Rayman's feet while you're trying to get him across a difficult section of a level!

It should be pointed out at this stage that the preview code we got hold of from those hardworking boffins at Ubi Soft was prone to the odd crash, but the game will doubtless be totally sorted well before its release in June. That said, this title is already seriously impressive to look at, and a riot to play, with just the right mix of hilarious platform antics and a hard-as-nails challenge. In fact, several of the stages we encountered were fiendishly difficult – a bit of a change from the normal Game Boy platformer!

This game looks like it could be something of a GBA classic, so we'll be keeping you posted and reviewing the finished article in a future issue of the magazine.

The Mind Boggles...

Games programmers, let's face it, must be a pretty odd lot. These people are hired because of their coding skills, their artistic flair, or, in the case of Rayman Advance, their ability to design some of the most, er, warped platform environments yet seen on a handheld console! Seriously though, you've got to be a bit mad to dream up the vividly colourful, cartoonish levels we are presented with in Rayman Advance – but it's just this kind of loopy game design that gamers crave. Dig those krazy colours and go psychedelic, maaan!

Everyone’s favourite limbless Frenchman takes another step. You’ll want this... It's a long time now since Rayman made his debut on the Game Boy Color and reviewers raved about the miniaturised adventures of the floppy-eared freak! It's a bit strange to look back and see the reviews claiming "PlayStation-style graphics" – now we've really got 32-bit graphics, and they're definitely a sight for sore eyes!

Running through the unchanging backstory of Rayman's adventures is a silly but unavoidable chore, so here goes... Mr Dark has destroyed the harmony of the world by stealing the Great Protoon, and defeating its protector, Betilla the Fairy. The Electoons, who used to gravitate peacefully around this nucleus, have been captured and imprisoned, and there's no-one else out there prepared to battle through 62 levels of topsy-turvy platform action apart from trusty old Rayman. So he's back, with his spinning ears, his shooting glove and a total lack of any form of bodily support.

These psychedelic adventures are a real eye-candy feast. Okay, so fans may be a little disappointed that this isn't a NEW adventure, but the graphical detail throughout makes this a new watershed in handheld game design. For instance, when you let the little Toons out of their cage, they cheer and wander around the landscape for ages, kissing each other, snoozing in corners and dancing. It's impossible not to grin as you watch the weird antics of all the little characters. “These psychedelic adventures are a real eye-candy feast!”

Double Dutch

Sadly, there are always bad points. Whoever thought it would be a good idea to have an entire level following Rayman (via spotlight) through a pitch black cavern when it's difficult to see the full GBA screen at the best of times deserves a kick. In fact, Rayman Advance is unbelievably hard throughout, and no amount of save stations will stop you wanting to rip off all your skin in anguish at times. Oh well, you're bound to know someone who completed the original game on one of the older consoles, and there are loads of handy little hidden cheats to help you too. Take a look once again at the shots – it's all worth it! Rayman Advance is a top game, so be patient!

Pros

• Absolutely fantastic, colourful visuals
• A decent challenge
• Ingenious level design

Cons

• Can get a bit frustrating after a while

BOTTOM LINE

CONTROLS

• L: Not used
• R: Not used
• Select: Status
• Start: Pause
• D: Move
• A: Jump
• B: Fist

ALTERNATIVES

• Mario Advance: Nintendo
• Pinobee: Activision

RATING

• Graphics: 4.5 / 5
• Audio: 3 / 5
• Gameplay: 4 / 5
• Challenge: 4 / 5