Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition review

As big a fan as I am of the limbless legend, Rayman, I've never actually played his first game. I've certainly been interested in doing so, but hearing about how hard the game can get has mostly put me off. Until now, that is. For Rayman's 30th anniversary, Ubisoft is finally brining him back from the dead (again), starting with the appropriately titled Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition, a compilation of just about every version of his first game with some enhancements like rewind, save states, and what looks like true widescreen support.

The games included are: the unfinished, single level prototype for the SNES (1992); the definitive PlayStation release (1995); the Atari Jaguar version (1995); four versions MS DOS including the base game (1995), Rayman's New Levels (1997),  Rayman By His Fans (1998),  and Rayman 60 Levels (1999); the Game Boy Color release (2000); and finally the GBA game (2001). All of them, save for the prototype and 60 Levels, come with instruction manuals and cover art, something I'm a stickler about in collections like this. You've also got options for screen size such as original or stretched if you hate yourself, CRT and LCD filters for appropriate platforms, three save slots for every title in addition to whatever save slots the game itself has, and a rewind function that can take you back up to 14 seconds by holding the ZL button.

I spent the majority of my time with the PlayStation version, as the game says it's the definitive way to play. It's definitely had the most work put into it, as it's the only version with widescreen support that doesn't seem to stretch the image. Widescreen doesn't apply to every part of the game, boss fights are still in 4:3, but the game will dynamically adjust when needed. It's pretty cool to see, especially in a game as gorgeous as Rayman, with stellar pixel art and animation oozing out of your screen.

The game sounds great too, though is often a little too silent for my tastes. When music plays it's almost always a bop (even with some compression for the PS1, though the PC version sounds clearer), but a lot of levels just have no background music. It's weird, and makes me wonder if this is a quirk of the collection or something.

Everything I had heard about the original Rayman turned out to be true. The first world is a delightful romp with some tricky jumps but nothing too difficult. Then the game takes off the kid gloves and starts demanding absolute perfection at all times, only getting harder every time you think they're asking a bit too much of you. It's genuinely ridiculous near the end, with hazards you simply have to memorize to even begin to contend with. It's hard to believe anyone beat this back in the day just with lives, limited save points, and passwords. I probably would have given up if I didn't have rewind, as I used it constantly, but I'm still glad I played this. I had fun when the game wasn't punching me in the teeth, and it was always gorgeous to look at.

It helps that the game is always diving into something new, with a wealth of creativity on display. When you're not encountering new types of hazards, enemies, mechanics, or platforms, you're marveling in the splendor of a new, wacky environment. It's all appropriately dream-like, and it's cool to see where Rayman Origins and Legends took some direct inspiration, like the standee checkpoints.

Outside of playing the games, you can also take a look at Rayman's history, from his inception all the way to the present day, complete with video interviews along the way. As a game developer myself, it's always delightful to see behind the scenes. There's quite a lot here to see as it covers pretty much every step Rayman has ever taken, starting with Michel Ancel's journey into game development. It's a nice way to round out this collection.