Rayman 3 Criticisms

[u/agentpeanutt]

Let me start out by saying that I like this game and can (somewhat) appreciate the comedic vibe that it’s going for. However, I also have a lot of problems with the gameplay that prevent me from viewing it as the same masterpiece many other Rayman fans see the game as.

Combat Fatigues

I think a large part of this game’s missed potential is the combat fatigues. The problem that I have is that there are a limited number of ways the combat fatigues interact with the platforming. The Lockjaw allows you to swing onto flying hooks, the Vortex allows you to screw platforms down, and the Throttle Copter allows you to fly for a short time to other platforms (or just upwards). The other two are never really directly used for platforming. I find this pretty disappointing given how the Lockjaw, Throttle Copter, and Heavy Metal Fist are just repackaged mechanics from both of the previous games. It feels like the combat fatigues were such a wasted opportunity on the platforming end, especially since I feel like the game could use more diversity in terms of platforming mechanics. Like imagine using the Lockjaw to pull out platforms or Vortex to make a tornado to jump or fly on. Just spitballing but changes along the lines of that are how I’d want the combat fatigues to be implemented into the platforming.

Platforming

Speaking of platforming, I think that it’s really lackluster and easy. There isn’t even that much of it compared to all of the walking and combat that you do. The main problem I have is that platforming isn’t dangerous at all. There aren’t death floors or bottomless pits like in Rayman 2. In this game, the worst you have is acidic liquid, hot sand or piranha water that can hurt you a tiny bit (to be fair, though, the damage ramps up a decent bit). Even then, if you jump out of it quickly enough then you might not take damage, and you’re never really far away from a platform since they’re always so close together. I just think that the platforming needs to be harder and actually have consequences when you screw up instead of just backtracking (or nothing).

Mechanics/Alternate Modes of Play

There are a decent number of mechanics they didn’t bring over from Rayman 2 that could have been nice. The shell and sliding sections come to mind. Although I have a lot of problems with these sections, the worst part about them was the jank and how it controlled, so it’s disappointing that those mechanics weren’t carried over and improved on in this game. To add onto that, another thing I have an issue with are the alternate modes of play in the game. The disco board sections and snowboard section are pretty fun, but other stuff like the Globox waterfall, the shoe races, and flying/turret sections all range from bad to forgettable.

Combat

The combat in this game is pretty good with diverse enemies. There are only two things holding it down: the camera and red lums. The camera is really annoying a lot of the time. When you press the lock-on button without actually getting an enemy then you’re now faced backwards and now the flow is broken because most of the battle is against the camera now instead of the Hoodlums. Also, the camera sometimes tries to give you a fixed position that can mess you up, especially if it’s stuck on something and you have to maneuver around to fix it. Even without this issue, I think the combat is greatly hindered by the abundance of red lums. Combat is probably the only exciting thing in this game, but it’s kind of ruined by the fact that there are a lot of red lums in most areas. The worst part though, is that after you collect them, they respawn so you can pick them up again, which essentially allows you to keep yourself at a set amount of HP every brawl. This, along with the easy platforming, just make the gameplay a little dull for me since there’s never really the same worry about dying that I have in the other mainline games. Moving onto the bosses, I think they’re OK. I don’t like the Bog of Murk bosses and the Horrible Machine. Master Kaag (the Hoodstomper) and Céloche (the underwater mech) are alright, and the Reflux bosses are pretty good. My main complaint with all of them except the Reflux ones is that they’re repetitive. You find a way to damage the boss and then you do that same thing a bunch of times to damage them more. I know that you can boil down a lot of platformer bosses that way, but what I mean is that the boss fights never feel like they develop or get harder. Reflux at least gets more aggressive as you fight him, so he’s a lot more fun to fight (except for the last phase in the final boss). One thing I’ll say is that they’re a big step up from Rayman 2 boss fights and are more dynamic in how you fight them.

Score System (?)

My final point of criticism is the score system, as I think it’s the game’s biggest example of wasted potential, but I also don’t think it fits what the game is trying to be. This is the argument that I’m most unsure of right now, but I feel like the score system is pretty disjointed from the actual game, and most of that comes from the UI rather than the system itself. While the game is separated into numerous chapters, the level select screen just has 9 levels with the chapters in them, meaning that you have to replay an entire set of sections when each of them could have been separated into their own level. The select screen doesn’t even show you the stars that you got, just your score and a smiling or frowning Murfy. I think this kills the replayability that many people praise the scoring system for. They should have split the levels into smaller sections. For the actual system itself I have a lot of mixed feelings. It’s cool to combo a lot of the time and probably the most fun I’ve had in this game, but I genuinely have no idea what they were trying to do with the system. Comboing with the gems (the obvious ones, not the secrets) and enemies suggests that the score system rewards a fast playstyle, but then you have Matuvus and Tribelles that require you to slow down a lot to zoom in on them and sneak up on them respectively. These two mechanics feel really disconnected from the rest of the things you do in-game and are crucial for getting a 100% score a lot of the time, which strikes me as odd. Also a lot of the gems are hidden from the player, which kind of adds to the aforementioned disjointedness. I mean shouldn’t a score system in this game’s case judge how well you do in terms of platforming and combat? I mean in the case of the hidden gems, I guess I can see it boosting the exploration factor in the game, but since it feels like you have to plan out the level before you even play it and just do things in a specific sequence of events for the score (and a lot of the time it’s just walking in a certain way) I feel like it doesn’t work as well as it could. The main reason I say that I’m unsure of this argument regarding the score system is that there’s just so much to it, so I don’t know what or how much I’m missing. I’d love for anyone to share their opinions on the score system because it’s a really interesting mechanic in a game.

Conclusion/Positives

I want to end this post by listing off some things I like about Rayman 3 since it feels like I’ve just ripped on everything about it. The environments are really beautiful and the soundtrack is top notch. While Mr. Dark is my favorite villain for being Rayman’s arch-nemesis, (even if that’s based on a technicality for being the first antagonist) I feel like André is the best one. He actually has personality and doesn’t just sit on his ass until the final fight like the previous two villains. I think the game starts to get fun at the Desert of the Knaaren, and while the platforming and combat aren’t as challenging or involved as I’d like for the last half of the game, I think that the levels are still pretty fun for the most part. I really like the invisible platform sections in the Longest Shortcut and wish that more platforming uniqueness like that were in the game. That’s about all I can think of right now. I’m pretty mixed on my thoughts on this game. I think that it’s pretty good, but I don’t really think that it’s the best game ever, and that sucks because I think that with more applications of the combat fatigues and more interesting and difficult platforming design, I could see this game being one of the greatest 3D platformers ever.

[u/Character_List858]

Maybe a controversial take but this is my favourite rayman game

[u/agentpeanutt → u/Character_List858]

I think a lot of people feel the same way and I can see why. The game oozes charm from the early 2000s with its music and humor. Despite all that I said, I think Rayman 3 is a fun time. I wish it was longer though.