I never played the original game because I hadn't a playstation and couldn't find the PC version, but I loved Rayman 2 on the N64 and the Game Boy Colour version of the game, so I snapped this up, and oh my.

What a bitter disappointment.

It's not a matter of disliking the game "because it's old", because I could still fire up some far more archaic platformers than this and still had fun. This game's just rubbish.

Pretty, yes. Decent soundtrack, yes. But the gameplay is diabolical. An above average amount of leaps of faith and cheap tricks (off-camera obstacles and pits being the main offender) make each level a trial and error chore.

What really made me seethe and prompted me to write a damning post was the Pencil Pentathlon level, with a section where you have to run down a greased hill and leap between two rows of spikes. It's borderline impossible, and sums up more or less everything about why the game simply isn't fun. Not to mention that small Rayman jumps like his body is filled with lead, super helicopter mode handles disastrously... The enemies (which in most platformers are just nuisances ramp up fake difficulty by permanently ducking every attack, unless you game them by spamming punch at point blank range. Then there's the small enemies that can only be defeated by you punching and then immediately crouching so your fist flies back at the correct height. Crouching and punching is too compley for poor Rayman, it seems. Maybe it's the lack of elbows.

EDIT: Discovered holding right and not running gets you through the pencils, although such a solution is not intuitive at all. A lot of other complaints about the platforming still stand. And finally, I intend to 100% the game anyway, because that's how I roll. Competionist disorder since the days of Banjo-Kazooie...

Overall, this game ain't a good purchase for anyone without the rose-tinted specs. That said, I'd still snap up Rayman 2 if it ever got a GoG port, simply because it saves me having to dig out the N64 if I want to give it a spin. :p

It's true that some parts are not good at all. The sequence with the jump between the pencil is very hard and turned me mad (i used almost all my game overs the first time). The trickiest part is that you must NOT run whereas this is the power you just unlocked, it's illogical.

But i don't agree with you in general. For me and many, Rayman has brilliant level designs most of time. Actually this is one of the most clever and well-made 2D platformers i know especially from the point of view of level design. Each level has its own direction and asks for specific movement patterns from the player; even if they seem tricky, traps that can (almost) always be avoided if you understand the workshop's patterns and if you master its simple logic.

I especially like the way cages are hidden in the level and the trigger system that make them appear. The cages are much more hard to find that in PSX version but there is always a logic, something the game shows you to do if you are a observant. Each secret can be found, each trap can be avoided on the condition you pay attention to the way the developers want you to think or react - they always give you clues. It's sometimes hard, of course, but the game can finally be mastered by a 12 years old player not good at videogames (i'm one of those).

For me it's just the best Rayman, and one of the best platformers of all time. And the PC version is, from far, better than consoles versions that are simpler, but with some really bland workshops.

Despite my post of misgivings I've continued to persevere with the game, and I'm currently at 88% completion.

I'm ready to concede the point about the design. Many levels are well-made, and although I initially had misgivings about having to collect certain tings or jump onto certain platforms to make cages appear, after a while you sort of attune yourself to the designer's mindset and discover a convoluted sort of intuition to it. I could gripe about the trial and error of losing lives leap of faithing down bottomless pits to see if they are in fact not bottomless (and a number of cages have been hidden in this way), but on the other hand that's nothing different from when I used to spend my days hurling Dixie Kong down bottomless pits in DKC2 to find those goddamn bonus barrels. So I'll let that slide. :p

What I DON'T approve of, however, is the game's nasty tactic of spawning things. Eat At Joe's is a major offender on this front, with fireballs spawning behind you. I also recall an instance in Space Mama's Café where I was running along and three enemies spawned about two metres in front of me, which I promptly collided with. Until you know where these spawns are, it makes for some very frustrating first playthroughs with what is essentially a designer dick move.

All that said, though, I'm still playing it. The game has that elusive "charm" factor that keeps me coming back, even though it occasionally has me regressing to a 12-year-old shouting "That's not fair!" at the screen. And some parts absolutely aren't.

So, I will say it's not one of the worst games I've played after all, but it has its flaws.

I still find Rayman 2 to be my favourite Rayman game, though. Apart from a couple of bad moments (The Top of the World and the final battle with Razorbeard, for those who played it.)

I know the original post is a few years old, but no, you were right the first time. This game is mostly shit. The art is superb, the soundtrack is very good, they do some interesting things with level design, the path you have to follow, triggers and such. Unfortunately, as you mention, they also stuff the levels full of bullshit traps and fake difficulty. Far, far too many times I plummeted to my death, wishing I'd been controlling Earthworm Jim (from the console version, not the shitty DOS version of that game) or some other, better programmed character through levels that were just as pretty but designed by someone who isn't going to hell for clearly hating humanity and specifically the people who let him feed his children by buying the games he works on. I hope Ubisoft fired whoever put these levels together. That sequence with the pencils was infuriating, indeed. I cheated to skip the Joe's level once I got to the second big nosed fish pushing the ball around, because it's just not worth getting that frustrated over a game.
So yeah, Michel Ancel has a fun art style, but seriously, fuck everyone who actually put this game together. There is an unending well of disdain in my heart for the team that put this game together, if they think it was an acceptable product. I too loved Rayman 2 and went to check this one out and nearly threw it out the window. I'm amazed anyone approved Rayman 2 to be made after this bullshit. It makes me wonder if anyone tried actually playing it before they shipped it.
My final verdict: Don't waste your money on this shit. Look at some screenshots or some youtube videos of gameplay, looking at it and hearing it is the best part, not snapping your joystick in half because someone at Ubisoft doesn't understand fun. Michel Ancel and Ubisoft do not deserve your money for this piss-poor effort (nothing against GoG, don't buy it anywhere). I feel like he painted me a beautiful picture, but I'm only allowed to look at it while he punches me in the kidneys repeatedly.

A lot of people don't like the original Rayman because of the fact the learning curve to complete some of the levels is ridiculous. The reason is that the developers never sought any beta testers or even play tested the game they made, so they had no idea that their game was extremely hard in places. I too dislike Pencil Pentathalon and it took me a LOT of lives to get through it (and this was the PS1 version mind you).

Something I recommend doing is to farm lives from previous levels by collecting 100 tings over and over until you have at least 60-70 lives.

But yeah, this game has way too many flaws and the fact that you HAVE to 100% the game to even get to the final battle is stupid.

Rayman requires more skill and reaction time than any other platformer out there, since its levels are designed by Satan himself.

XD,XD, XD, I`m totally agree with you...