Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc

The name Rayman and I go way back. Anyone who owned an Atari Jaguar during that period had to know about this cool game. The title looked so good, and played so well, that it had the potential to become the next Super Mario or Sonic the Hedgehog. Although the game was released too late to save what was left of the Jaguar back in 1995, it was still an incredible 2D action game that later saw success on the Sony Playstation and Sega Saturn. The series has seen even more success in the 3D market in the cult favourite Rayman 2: The Great Escape. After a few years of waiting, Ubisoft has given us the third instalment, and our hero has a tougher look to him this time around. Since I loved the first two games so much I had high expectations going into this. You would think that part 3 would be the best one of all, eh? Sorry -- with all of the game's problems that just isn't going to happen.

The game's story begins when Rayman and his friends suddenly get attacked by a large group of evil Dark Lums creatures led by Andre, a former energy fairy that has gone bad. Andre will even manage to poison your best friend Globox and you have to cure him before it is too late. Our limbless hero must now do battle with Andre and his pesky Dark Lums to restore some order to a land now in chaos. If you've never played a Rayman game before then your little green friend Murfy will give you some helpful tips (and some not so helpful insults if you do something wrong) and he even reads from his very own game manual, which can be pretty funny at times because he even admits this is a game!! I kind of like the idea of the video game based story line myself, but it also hurts the credibility of the adventure when one of your main characters doesn't even take the game he is in very seriously.

Where Rayman 3 really falls apart is with the game's camera system, or lack there of. The camera likes to stay in a fixed position for most of the game, and you can try to use the right analog stick to move it if you like, but that doesn't always work -- especially in the enclosed areas. It can be difficult to see what you are doing when you don't even have a good view of the action and yes, a lot of the adventure involves jumping from platform to platform and a sloppy camera is the last thing you need.

If there are any good points to this game it would definitely have to be the rich and colourful graphics. Each new level comes loaded with awesome scenery that is filled with well-crafted artwork, plus the music will even match the stage as well. One fine example of the good combination in site and sound is during the freaky portal level, where you witness some cool psychedelic effects mixed in perfectly with high-speed techno music. With all of its unusual locations and crazy characters, it really feels like you are in a fantasy world. In other words -- keep the artists and fire the producers.