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Over the years, Rayman has become a household name. With the revitalization of the franchise with the new Rayman: Origins, Ubisoft’s armless, legless mascot seems to be making a big comeback. Before we move forward, let’s take a look at Rayman’s past. Specifically, let’s talk about the newly released downloadable title Rayman 3 HD.
Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc was originally released in 2003. It tells the story of Rayman and his cohorts as they take on the evil Andre and his army of hoodlums. The game has a lot of humor and charm. The story is well presented and you can’t help but chuckle at some of the goofy banter that goes on between Rayman and Globox.
I can't look at this screen without humming the Batman theme.
The game seems to be unchanged from the 2003 formula. It’s still the 3D platformer everyone remembers. Rayman has multiple abilities he can learn and utilize. The game also features special power-ups that he can use to enable special attacks and abilities. These help out in combat, but also may be essential for solving platform puzzles. They last a limited amount of time, so you sometimes have to be quick on your feet.
The game is complexly score driven. Collection items, defeating enemies, and solving puzzles all go into your total for a level. It’s all about doing things in succession in order to keep your combo going to rack in the points. That’s a more difficult task to do than you may think. You may have to go back and replay levels to get the better scores.
The biggest difference is, of course, the HD upgrade. The game runs at 60 frames per second, and the game does look rather smooth in most aspects. Some of the letters, and other small things, look a little pixilated, but for the most part, the HD works well. The game has a very unique art style that you don’t see often. The environments are very, yet give off a very dark feel.
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
There are some issues with the game. This game may have an HD upgrade, but it still plays a lot like a game from 2003. The camera will fight you more times than not, and there are some clipping issues. In a platformer, these issues can get frustrating at times. I can’t fault it too much, though. It’s still a very solid game. I had the most problems with the sound inconsistencies. For some reason, the music would become very loud at times, and the voice acting became muffled. It was difficult to understand what everyone was saying. When one of your shining points is your funny dialog, and you can’t even hear it, you miss the mark.
All in all. Rayman 3 HD is still a decent game. The higher resolution makes the game look really nice during game play, and the action is still pretty fun. Yes, there are some issues with the game, but I can look past these and see all the enjoyment I got out of it, all for $10. If you’ve never played a Rayman game before, this is a good, inexpensive starting point.
Review copy of game provided by publisher. Primary play on Xbox 360.
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