Rayman 2: The Great Escape

The transition of a beloved 2D series into three dimensions used to be a graveyard of good intentions around the turn of the millennium — many icons did not survive the leap. Rayman 2: The Great Escape from 1999 is, by contrast, a textbook example of how to do it right, and it still ranks among the best 3D platformers of its era.

Michel Ancel and the Ubisoft team took the armless and legless mascot and placed him in a beautiful, dreamlike three-dimensional world full of fantasy. The result was stunning: smooth and precise controls, inventive level design that constantly offered new ideas, and visually captivating environments that blended colorfulness with a gentle melancholy. Rayman runs, climbs, flies using his helicopter hairstyle and shoots energy orbs, with each ability woven into the game naturally and with a sense of pacing.

The Great Escape excels precisely in its balance. It never overloads the player with frustrating difficulty, yet it never slides into boredom — it constantly alternates action sequences, platforming challenges and calmer exploratory stretches. The atmosphere is meanwhile unique, imbued with a poetry few titles could boast, and the music and art direction complete the feeling of walking through a living, breathing dream.

It is no coincidence that the game is often ranked alongside such greats as Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie — it belongs to the golden canon of the three-dimensional platforming genre. Michel Ancel later proved his talent again when he created the cult Beyond Good & Evil, thereby taking his place among the most distinctive European game creators.

Today Rayman 2 holds up as a timeless piece of design. Its controls, inventiveness and visual poetry have not aged, and the game remains a joy for anyone who loves a well-crafted adventure.

Why play it: A masterfully handled transition to 3D, one of the best platformers of the era with a beautiful world and flawless controls.