Rayman (GBC)
That the Game Boy Color can do more than you'd expect is proven by Rayman from 2000 better than almost any other title. Ubisoft brought its limbless hero to the handheld console, and the result is a surprisingly expansive, colorful, and smoothly animated 2D platformer that many consider one of the technical peaks of the entire platform.
The game isn't a literal port of the original 1995 Rayman, but it takes over its spirit and visual style — sweeping, fantastical worlds full of traps, collectibles, and bosses. Rayman gradually gains abilities such as attacking with his hair or gliding through the air thanks to his propeller-like locks, and the level design plays with both exploration and precise jumping. On the small display everything looks unusually legible and fresh, a credit to the careful work with the console's limited memory and color palette.
Retro gamers single out Rayman on the GBC precisely as proof that even modest hardware could, in the hands of capable developers, deliver a full-fledged, long, and demanding experience. It's a title that often appears in rankings of the console's best games and still holds up surprisingly well today.
Game 48 of 129 for Game Boy Color
The same title elsewhere (4)
The Jaguar and PlayStation versions, both from 1995, share the same set of pre-rendered artwork and look remarkably alike — a rare case of a cartridge-based console keeping pace with Sony. The PlayStation benefited from its CD medium, delivering richer, fully recorded music, while the cartridge-bound Jaguar had to economize on sound data, so its score feels a touch sparser. Colour depth and scrolling smoothness are otherwise comparable on both machines. The Game Boy Color version from 2000 is a different game entirely: the tiny screen and cartridge memory forced smaller levels, simpler backgrounds and a narrower palette, yet the developers kept the smooth movement and charm of the original intact, making it a surprisingly accomplished handheld reduction rather than a rushed port.
From the same series Rayman →
Rayman 2: The Great Escape Win9x · PS1 
Rayman Revolution PS2 · 2000 
Rayman Advance GBA · 2001 
Rayman Arena PS2 · 2002 
Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc GBA · PS2 · GCN · Xbox · 2003 
Rayman 3 (mobile) Java ME · 2004 
Rayman DS DS · 2005 
Rayman Raving Rabbids DS · PS2 · Wii · PC · 2006 
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 Wii · 2007 
Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party Wii · 2008 
Rayman 3D 3DS · 2011 
Rayman Origins Wii · X360 · PS3 · 3DS · Vita · 2011 
