Rayman Redemption is a fanmade reimagining of 1995’s hit title simply called Rayman. It is a 2D platformer containing a cartoon aesthetic that remains as pleasing to the eye as ever. The thing with that game is that beneath its cutesy, near child-like world full of color and charm lies a relentlessly brutal experience. That in itself is hardly a noteworthy thing in that era of gaming, but Rayman derived most of its challenge in quite a cheap manner and often bordered on straight-up trolling like needing every collectible to access the final level, which it never bothered hinting at until then.
Redemption seeks to tweak some of the less desirable aspects be it the frustrating level designs from the original, a zoomed out camera for fewer leaps of faith, and a choice of three difficulty settings to play on. The first two difficulty modes are Casual and Classic, with the main difference being that the latter uses a live system. Despite being called Classic, it is a far easier experience than the original ever was and features a ton more 1-ups making the risk of a game-over minimal. Last but not least is Demise, a mode in where save-points are disabled and you start with less health.
Starting off the game we are greeted with a cutscene that explains the plot before being tossed into the first level. One of the first things you’ll likely notice if you are familiar with Rayman is that we start with every move already unlocked. We can cling to ledges, use our hair to hover, and punch right from the get-go. This does destroy the intended flow of the first few stages. It was an interesting design decision to make, but it does retain replayability of the levels by introducing collectibles that can only be reached after unlocking aid from the Toon Totems. Once you reach them, they will unlock a variety of stage inclusions such as springs to help you reach previously inaccessible areas.
Another key difference is that Tings no longer only serve to give you an extra life once you collect one hundred of them. They double as currency this time around and can be exchanged for permanent upgrades such as power-ups healing more health, or cheaper one use items with benefits like giving you full attack power. There are also skins for both Rayman and the checkpoint cutout to purchase. None of this is necessary, you can ignore all of it if you wish. You no longer have to save all the Electoons scattered throughout the levels. Doing so will grant you a permanent health increase at certain amounts, yet you can access the final stage without them.
The gameplay remains as fun as ever and is further expanded on by the Toon Totems allowing us to swing from ‘Lums’ Rayman 2 style, among other things. They all fit surprisingly seamlessly into the original title. Another very neat inclusion is the paint gloves. Theses can be accessed in the art-themed worlds and let you create temporary platforms on parchment by punching. All of this is on top of the preexisting abilities like planting a seed to quickly create a plant-based platform and the shump mosquito levels, to name a few. Rayman is far from your run of the mill 2D platformer and does successfully spice up your journey on occasions with these brief gameplay implementations.
There has been a lot of tweaking to the level design. It makes the stages far more forgiving and may even push it a bit too far from the original’s brutal nature at times. It still has quite the bite to it and does offer up a decent challenge, however. This will not be a cakewalk. The most challenging stages are actually the new ones added to Redemption. In terms of difficulty, it is usually immediately clear when you are playing through a Redemption custom level. They are a lot closer to the original than the newly tweaked and made approachable old stages. You’ll find they occasionally feature new enemies too, all of who fit exceptionally well into this cartoony universe.
Then came the final stage. Now that was quite a surprise. Some of the bosses have been nerfed and made easier, but the opposite happened here. Unlike the original title, we actually get to face off against the villain Mr. Dark this time, and it is a battle to remember. It took me well over an hour to defeat him, which is funny considering it is the one time where I can recall that Redemption is more difficult than the original. Then there is the actual last stage after the game was supposed to end and is completely custom made for this version. That was an equally vicious battle to remember and I would have burnt through so many lives if I wasn’t playing on Causal that has an infinite amount.
Even if you defeat the game there is still much to see. Gathering the Magician collectibles in the stages unlock more custom levels to play through, of which there are a ton. They are challenge type stages that task you with collecting a certain number of Electoons or getting to the end before the timer expires. Doing so typically requires a good amount of skill as they do not give you much time to freely waste as you frantically dash across the stage. All the while you will be collecting more Tings that are kept even if you lose, giving you a sense of progression as you can now afford more skins and other goodies. Going back to 100% older levels is a whole different beast than just getting to the end. It’s a nice challenge for completionists or those doing it for the fun of it.
Rayman Redemption is an interesting fangame. It basically gives out Rayman 1 for free despite it still being available for purchase in the form of ‘Rayman Forever’ over at the GOG storefront. I’d download it immediately just in case it where to be taken down if you have any interest in it. This in my opinion the best way to play Rayman 1 and features many new things making it well worth a look from old-time fans. That said, Redemption does not completely replace the original. It takes many liberties and is a far more accessible game as well. They are quite different experiences despite sharing much of the same DNA. If you like 2D platformers, Rayman Redemption is a carefully and passionately crafted game that makes it all too easy to forget that it’s not an official remake. I highly recommend giving it a try even if you are not familiar with this franchise, and if you fancy gaining some new gray hairs, give the original Rayman a shot too.
Link to Download: Rayman Redemption
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