Not a Revolution but a Dream – Rayman 2: The Great Escape Review

Developer: Ubisoft | Platform: N64 (Via NS2 NSO) | Playtime: 6:35

I consider Rayman Revolution amongst some of my favourite games of all time, however that is not The Great Escape but rather the PS2 Enhanced Port that completely changes the level-based game into a mini open world. Rayman 2 has a great number of ports, surpassing the likes of Resident Evil 4 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (I didn’t fact check this, but it certainly rivals those) but I’ve only played the PC version. All that said, how do I rate The Great Escape? 

The story follows an introduction by the fairy, Ly. The Glade of Dreams has been invaded by an army of Robot Pirates, led by Admiral Razorbeard. With the capture of Rayman, all seems lost. That is until Rayman’s pal Globox is also captured, smuggling the last of Ly’s energy to him. Together, Rayman and Globox make (the) Great Escape but the pair get separated. Upon reuniting with Ly, Rayman is tasked with finding the Four Masks of Polokus to awaken the ancient God and restore peace to the land. You can see why Revolution works better than The Great Escape. 

I just namedropped a lot of characters there but most of the characters appear only briefly in the story before another comes in – Clark, the Teensies, Ssssam and others have such great designs they’d be playable characters in other games. This version of the game uses the gibberish ‘Raymanese’ rather than English (or whatever your language of choice is) but it’s got its own charms. It’s not quite on the same level as something like the jibberish in Banjo Kazooie but it’s something. 

The game consists of semi linear (but not narrow Crash Bandicoot/Sonic Levels) accessed by a fancy level select screen known as the Hall of Doors, rather than the inferior Isle of Doors from some versions or the three hubs that comprise The Front in Revolution. It’s not really relevant but it adds to the atmosphere of the game. Not that the game lacks atmosphere. Every level in the game oozes with charm and whimsy – everything from Grassy plains to swamps to underground lava rivers and ancient tombs has a dream like vibes to them, helped by the bright visuals and banger soundtracks in every single level, bar none. Between this game and the original Spyro trilogy, my love of more out there and surreal yet tangible locations really did come from my childhood.  None of the levels are terribly long or outstay their welcome, nor do gimmicks get introduced randomly or without further development. Your tolerance for Slides will be tested though, there’s a fair few of those. 

Primarily you’ll be platforming with some very mild puzzle solving but there’s a fair amount of ‘Combat’. This isn’t combat in the three hit combo slugfest thankfully but this isn’t a whole lot better. Rayman can strafe left and right and attacks by firing projectiles from his fists. These projectiles can be shot rapid fire which makes encounters easy, the only caveat that the pirates have invincibility after each instance of damage. The pirates retaliate with different projectiles of their own. None of the combat is particularly interesting, especially given how much there is. Each level also has a selection of Lums and Cages to find, Lums being the many collectible and the Cages being fewer. Finding all of both in a stage awards you with a bonus stage but there’s no punishment for not. There are four Lum barriers for progression but even with just getting a normal amount I passed the threshold to continue playing. This is a 3D platformer adventure rather than a collectathon. 

Despite small grumblings, I really don’t have any issues with the game, not in this playthrough nor previous ones. My only issue this time around is from playing the N64 version of the game for the first time, meaning the camera is a bit naff and I had to spend some time rebinding the controls to something more akin to what I’m used to. The final boss fight is also just straight up bad. I made liberal use of the rewind feature because otherwise I’d just choose not to finish the game/

There’s a reason the game is so beloved by many, going on to inspire classics like Psychonauts and becoming a 3D Platformer Hall of Famer, it’s because it’s a masterclass of wonder and creativity. An adventure through and through. I for one cannot wait for the remake, which hopefully drops at the end of 2026. Any fan of 3D platformers owes it to themselves to give The Great Escape a try. Or Revolution. Ideally, it would be Revolution.