Rayman on DSiWare puts the focus fully back on the titular character, as it's the most back-to-his-roots release Ubisoft could possibly come up with -- a port of his very first game. This vibrant, humorous, beautifully animated side-scrolling hop-and-bop first arrived on the Atari Jaguar and PC platforms back in 1995, then made the leap to several other systems throughout the past 14 years. You might have played it on the PlayStation, or the Saturn. The Game Boy Color, or the Game Boy Advance. It's a game that's gotten around.
And now, on the DSi, it's just as beautiful as it's always been. The colors pop, the sparkles shine. There are no missing frames of animation. Rayman runs, jumps, bounces and hams it up with goofy animations in perfect timing as he quests to save his world from the villainous Mr. Dark. Some past ports of the game have had to make visual compromises -- this one doesn't. Other than a refitting of the resolution to match that of the DSi's screens, this is pixel-perfect Rayman.
Maybe a little better than perfect, even, as the DSi's second screen comes into the design as a helpful map. You can use the stylus to drag around and get a preview of the entire current level, while icons indicate Rayman's current position, the location of the end goal and any checkpoints along the way. Many of this classic Rayman game's levels are straightforward, meaning the map won't mean much on those occasions -- but it's a blessing to have in some of the more complex, maze-like stages.
The DSi's camera feature also gets itself tossed into the mix, but in a way that's oddly appropriate. Rayman's mid-level checkpoints have always featured photographers in this design -- the hero reaches one of them, says cheese, and has his picture taken to save his spot in case he loses a life later in the level. Now, those same photographer points also employ the DSi's hinge camera -- so as Rayman gets his photo snapped, you do too. A funny picture of yourself gets briefly displayed on the lower screen to adorn your save data, and then you keep right on moving through the classic platforming quest.
It's a simple little addition that isn't dramatically innovative or anything, but also doesn't break the flow of the action. Other recent DSi platformers like Castle of Magic and Foto Face: The Face Stealer Strikes have more robust camera-focused features included, but they also require a larger investment of time and effort to enjoy -- which can take away from the core platforming gameplay. So I like what Ubisoft's done with the camera here. A brief pic, then back to saving the day.
And, finally, Rayman's still just a fun platformer to play. If your only experience with the limbless hero has been through his shoved-to-the-side roles in recent Rabbids releases, you should have fun discovering his heroic powers here. Rayman can toss his fist across the screen, glide through the air with spinning helicopter hair, crawl, bounce, get shrunken down to mini-size by hovering blue elves and more.
The action is tight, but -- be warned -- also pretty challenging. You wouldn't think a game with this much cartoonishness playing out across the screens would be that difficult, but it is. Some of the jumping challenges may take you four or five dead Raymen to get right. A few of the boss battles are pretty brutal. And even some of the low-level enemies can take you out with a single hit, thanks to the developers' devious placement of them on small, cramped platforms surrounded by instant-death traps.
You know, now that I think about, old Rayman might have willingly wanted to let the Rabbids take over the tough stuff for a while. He was probably tired of falling into pits.
