The story takes place a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... Ok, so I don't know exactly when or where the story takes place, but I do know that it takes place in a whimsical fairy world, inhabited by all manner of creatures. And then, from out of nowhere (nowhere being somewhere that isn't there) Admiral Razorbeard invades the planet with flying pirate ships and an army of robotic pirates. In short, the pirates enslave a hefty portion of the population (including Rayman and company) and shatter the Heart of the Planet, the energy source from which Rayman's and his friends' magical powers derive, into 1000 "lums" (little glowing fairy thingies.) Rayman must then escape and find all 1000 lums in order to restore the planet's Heart. Another objective that Rayman must fulfill is to awaken Polokus (whose name means "Short Stumpy Thing With Five-Foot Long Arms"), the Spirit of the Earth. Once awakened, Polokus will be able to easily defeat all the pirates that walk the land (but the job of taking out the flying prison ships is up to Rayman, of course.) However, to awaken this great and mighty being, Rayman must find four masks, sentimental objects from a fairy Marti-Gras no doubt.

Although the most basic framework of Rayman 2 is the same as that of other console jumpers (collect all 938,256,124,486 coins/flies/carrots/chocolate laxatives/nose hairs, and then go back to every level a dozen times because you were too dumb to get everything the first time around), the game breaks away from the rest at that point with pure ingenuity. Each level is absolutely stunning in its color, texture, lighting, and architecture. Rayman's world is one from a surreal dimension, both harmless and deadly, but always beautiful. Levels range from sylvan forests, under-ground volcanoes, shores of stunning moonlit oceans and bays, edges of bottomless precipices, and more.

The game's characters fit right in with the levels as well. Despite the fact that none of them are geometrically complex, each are highly expressive and well-animated, and cock-eyed to boot; pure physical humor is commonplace within the game. Many look like something out of the Muppets, and the scripting is equally witty. Truly, games whose characters are as colorful and expressive as Rayman 2's are few and far between.

Sound and musical effects are excellent, though the voices of the characters in the game are the most noteworthy. Each speaks a different form of fairy dialect; thankfully, we are provided with English subtitles. Rayman's dialogue would sound something like this: "Zzyow zaben zootin! Zit'n zat'n yabba du yeh!" ("I have no arms or legs! I can dribble my torso!") Two other notable characters are Globox and Murfy. Murfy is a cross between the Cheshire Cat and a telepathic flying frog. He speaks in an unintelligible whisper, all the while keeping a straight, enormous grin that is bigger than his body ("Whisperwhisper-whisperwhisper." Translation: "My mouth is so big I can swallow myself!") Globox seems like an anphibious squeak toy come to life; he has the ability to summon a small rain cloud to make plants grow or to put out fires; he can also store things in his gargantuan mouth (huge mouths are commonplace in Rayman's world.) When not speaking like a stoned Fozzy, he makes odd little noises and movements when idle. Oh yes, he also has literally hundreds of children (just imagine a horde of little living squeak toys running around.)

As stated before, Rayman 2's strongest point is its never-ending ingenuity. The huge number of different gameplay styles at different points in the game are so good that almost all of them could be used as the basis for an entirely new and seperate product. Some are played just once, such as flying through tunnels on a rocket-propelled chair that resembles a one-man monorail, all the while twisting at different directions to avoid obstacles, and water-skiing while holding on to a giant snake's scarf. Others you get to play multiple times, such as taming and then riding a walking mortar shell as if it were a wild bronco, holding on to a flying powder keg, rafting down a river of molten lava on a giant plum (yes, a plum...what would happen if you ate such a thing?), sliding down various slippery slopes, and flying on another living mortar shell with wings. The latter is of special note, because the feeling that the flight mechanics gave me while flying about is not one I've felt since playing Drakan. The feeling was one of pure and real flight that was flawlessly smooth and so fun that I nearly soiled myself with joy.

Rayman 2 features 40 long levels chock full of challenging and fun surprises, not to mention level-specific bonus rounds if you manage to collect all the lums. One such level is when you control a baby Globox and must beat a robot pirate in a race to reach a fairy. The victorous ending to this is a celebratory dance by the miniature Globox that is of such epic and cosmic proportions that I was surprised when the Gates of Heaven didn't burst forth with a legion of angels singing glorious praises to the dancing squeak toy below them. Between that and the hilarious camera angles, I nearly killed myself when I fell out of my chair laughing (really).

In a more technical aspect, Rayman 2 runs perfectly smooth with no clipping errors. The difficulty level cannot be changed, however, the game does a good job in letting you get comfortable with the controls before getting hard. Speaking of controls, the game is really meant to be played on a gamepad with six or eight buttons. In many instances the level of control needed could only be provided by a gamepad. As far as saving goes, each level is accessed through a central hub called the Hall of Doors; you can only save you game while in the Hall. There are checkpoints within each level; upon dying you will be returned to the last checkpoint you visited. Thankfully, each checkpoint is at a reasonable spot, so you won't have to try to make it through 2/3rds of the level again if you die. Camera angles are handled well, though you will find yourself adjusting them every now and then, but any complaint in that direction is rather minor.

Rayman 2 is an excellent game that easily breaks free of the "Mario 64 clone" and adds so much ingenuity and creativity to a reduntant genre that it stands head and shoulders above the rest (relatively speaking, of course, seeing as how Rayman doesn't even have shoulders.) This is a game that anyone, even the most serious and virtual-blood-covered gamer, can enjoy.

· · · Mithril