Specific Entries
Platform Games:Other Games:
Other Media:
The Entire Series
- Acclaimed Flop: Origins and Legends. Considered to be the peak of the franchise by many, they have been hailed as some of the best platformers of all time, especially Legends, but they sold poorly, and no new Rayman games have been released since 2013 (Ubisoft has shifted towards more lucrative franchises aimed at older demographics for a long time, look no further than Assassin's Creed).
- Breakthrough Hit: Ubisoft saw its fortunes rise because of Rayman.
- Creator Backlash:
- More minor than most, but Michel Ancel said that Rayman 3 was too "concrete" for his tastes.
- Ancel has also spoken out quite vocally against Ubisoft's decision to delay the Wii U version of Rayman Legends weeks before it's original release date. Allegedly, he even threatened to leave the company over it.
- Development Hell: A potential Rayman 4 in 3D in the same spirit as Rayman 2 and Rayman 3 has been stuck there for years due to a combination of the 2D Revisiting the Roots titles of 2011 and 2013 not performing that great despite the rave reviews, Ubisoft focusing more on Cash Cow Franchises such as Assassin's Creed and Raving Rabbids, and Michel Ancel once being too busy with Beyond Good & Evil 2 then quitting the video game business altogether.
- Executive Meddling:
- Rayman M's title was changed to Rayman Arena in the US because the 'M' might be mistaken for the ESRB rating of "Mature" instead of "Multiplayer."
- Rayman suffered more meddling when Rayman Legends was delayed for a September 2013 release to make it Multi-Platform. Unfortunately, this was around the same time other blockbusters like Grand Theft Auto V came out, thus Legends failed to sell much.
- Flip-Flop of God: The series has been flip-flopping for years as to whether or not the title character's signature floating limbs are one-of-a-kind or not. In the original Rayman game, all characters in Rayman's world had floating limbs, and Rayman himself was nothing special. In the sequel, however, save for his Evil Twin, Rayman was explicitly stated to be one of a kind, because he was created by the fairies who had their own mysterious ideas. Then Rayman Origins came along, and said his limblessness was an accident. Until the Play Station Vita version, which suggested that there'd been at least one other (female) limbless person. And then Rayman Legends comes along, and the alternate Rayman costumes are strongly implied to be different characters — including one inspired by the "Tarayazan" character from the first game.
- Port Overdosed: Every major Rayman game has appeared on several consoles:
- The first game was initially released on Atari Jaguar, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and PC, with ports for the Game Boy Advance, and DSi.
- Rayman 2 was released for the Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, PC, and PlayStation, followed by a PS2, DS, iOS, and 3DS release.
- Rayman 3 was on GameCube, PS2, and Xbox, with a digital release on the PS3 and Xbox 360 later on.
- Rayman Origins is on PS3, 360, and Wii consoles and the portable 3DS and Vita systems.
- Rayman Legends released on Wii U, PS3, 360, and Vita, with Xbox One and PS4 versions in 2014, and a Nintendo Switch version in 2017.
- Serendipity Writes the Plot:
- Rayman was originally going to have legs, arms, and a neck, but rendering issues caused the devs to omit those parts of his body. Needless to say, Rayman's lack of limbs became an iconic part of his character in the following years, with him even being the former Trope Namer for Floating Limbs.
- Ly was most likely cut from Rayman M, despite appearing in the advertising, box art and loading screens, due to her size and proportions being difficult to adjust with the technology of the time, as she is known for being extremely tall and skinny in comparison to everyone else. This is most likely the reason Tily was used instead.
- What Could Have Been:
- Rayman 1 was going to be a SNES game.
- The original concept of the franchise was that Rayman is a ten-year-old kid named Jimmy, who got sucked into ...Um...? Hereitscool, a world he has created on his computer...?, This story idea was abandoned possibly due to the technology themes clashing with the nature themes.
- Rayman 2 was originally going to be a 2D sidescroller like Rayman.
- The plot of Rayman 2 has had some changes over time. Originally, Rayman 2 took place after the original game, in which Mr. Dark has been defeated. Evil robotic invaders from space arrive and imprison many of Rayman's friends, one of whom is Betilla the Fairy. The robots, led by a character named Chief, were set on converting Rayman's planet into a cold ball of metal. It's speculated that Chief was the original villain, eventually to be replaced by Razorbeard. Like in the original Rayman, all of the characters would have been limbless, and old friends, along with new ones, would have made appearances and helped Rayman.
- Rayman 2 was going to have "Tank Controls" but it was changed to free-roaming controls when playtesters found the controls unplayable.
- Most infamous is the drastic change in Rayman Raving Rabbids from a platformer to a pack of minigames.
- We can only imagine how Rayman 3 would have turned out had Michel Ancel decided to work on it instead of Beyond Good & Evil.
- Ly was possibly intended to appear in Rayman M, even making it into some of the promotional material, before getting cut for unknown reasons.
- A Rayman 4 was in development during 2006, and it would have been the first Rayman game not developed by Ubisoft. It would have included transformations for Rayman
◊ and an entire level with cathedrals and stained glass windows in the likeness of Dark Rayman◊, and would have the return of Mr. Dark as a computer virus (as a reference to this early concept for Rayman 1). - Before the release of Origins, there was a clearer story planned (which would've been Rayman's original adventure retold, hence the name or a return of Mr. Dark), which was for some reason, cut out before the final product released. Instead, the story is brought down to Rayman and co. provoking the nightmares. This can be seen in the cutscenes leading up to the Boss Rush and final chase sequence in the endgame.
- The clearer story for Origins would have also explained the Magician's reason for being evil. In fact the original plan was to have him either be a Well-Intentioned Extremist or a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds.
- Several enemies were teased for, but not present for Origins. Amongst them:
- Zombie Chickens.
- Army Ants with spears.
- A greener version of Golly G. Golem.
- A strange feather-less bird with a monocle, possibly a Hunter's pet.
- Rayman 1 was going to be a SNES game.
