Review by: Justin Amirkhani

Even in his prime, Rayman has always sat in the shadow of other platform mascots. However, being the only kid at the 3DS launch party has finally given the limbless hero a chance to steal the spotlight with Rayman 3D. As the only action-platformer on the system there isn’t much competition for now, but that doesn’t mean it’s worth a purchase even if you’re looking for something in the genre.

With the game being a direct port of Rayman 2: The Great Escape, the game doesn’t have much going for it in the looks department. Barely improved from its original release on the Nintendo 64, the landscapes are composed of blocky geometry covered by simplistic textures. If the game has been remastered it’s not noticeable at all.

Where the graphical fidelity slips from poor to cumbersome is with the inclusion of 3D. Because the game is a direct clone of its ancient 1999 release, a large number of elements within the game are actually 2D sprites propped up in a 3D world. These billboard sprites leap off the screen in intrusive and annoying ways when viewed in 3D and generally look out of place even more because of the effect. It would be excusable as an artifact of the port if the rest of the game made use of the additional depth, but without a gimmick the non-3D level design shows as the whole experience remains flat albeit a little blurrier when viewed with the slider turned up.

As far as platformers go, Rayman 2: The Great Escape was one of the best of all time, back in 1999. Games have evolved a lot since then and the tropes that games like this established in the infancy of 3D rendering have become the rudimentary blocks of every other title in the genre. With nothing added to the experience, Rayman 3D is vintage in the worst way possible; its mechanics are solid but so overplayed they’re boring.

It’s also a game designed around collection, which dances the line between addictive and annoying, pending your personality type. Bonus levels are available to unlock for those with the patience (or the madness) to pick through each level, providing some variation to the monotony in the form of simple side-quests.

The narrative suffers from the James Cameron school of storytelling in that it assumes the player is willing to get invested in a world greater than the confines of the segment. There’s a mythology to Rayman 3D that goes beyond what the player is likely looking for and it’s hardly explained for the few players who are interested. It’s clear that the developers thought they were on to a unique fantasy epic, but in reality it’s just a confusing mash of wacky creatures with weird names.