Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc

The first game was colorful but hard, with a fairly basic story. The second had solid 3D gameplay with sections reminding of mini-games; the story, while darker, still lent itself to plenty of comedic moments, with Rayman as an all-loving hero. That said, two games aren’t enough to establish a pattern, and the franchise was still looking for its tone.

Also a recurring theme from now on: Globox and Rayman
being lazy butts who spend all their off-time sleeping or
relaxing. What? Heroing takes a lot outta ya.

However, it seems to be in Rayman 3 that the franchise finally settled on what it wanted to be, and that’s summed up in one word: Wacky. It’s more notable in Origins, where Rayman, Globox and the Teensies become a bunch of psychos, more than happy to attack and kill each other while saving the day. The visual signature of both that and Rayman Legends further emphasizes the silliness that’s now part and parcel with the name. But the first shades of that tone can be traced back to Rayman 3.

Today’s game was released to multiple platforms in March of 2003, with different release dates for GameCube, PS2, XBox, PC and N-Gage ports, with a rerelease in March 2012 for PS3 and XBox 360. It's also Rayman’s last mainline game before the Rabbid takeover. And though other games would exist between this and Origins (such as the rather mediocre “Hoodlum Revenge” GBA title that I covered in 2014), I feel it’s interesting to see what, again, changed in this new installment.

Full Wacky

That time a Lum dreamt big. "Take over the world" big.

The game begins on a bizarre revelation: The healing Red Lums, when scared, can turn into Black Lums, fuzzy chaotic beings. More precisely, one of them has become so dangerous it grew arms, and has sworn revenge upon the inhabitants of the Glade of Dreams. The Black Lum, named André (that’s not a scary name! Call yourself, I don’t know, Keith or something! “Oh, André, I’m so scared!” …Said no one, ever!), is quick to plot world domination. He and the Black Lums shear a woolly creature and create disguises. The animal was part of a caravan led by Murphy (voiced by Billy West), who flies off to warn Globox (voiced by John Leguizamo) and Rayman (voiced by David Gasman) of the incoming danger-

...Wait. Voiced by???

It's so... jarring, to see the characters talking to each other.
It's not a situation like Mario where talking is still minimal;
Rayman went from Simlish to "nobody ever shuts up".

Yep, this game is fully-voiced. I’ll leave it up to you whether you think that’s a good thing, but for me? Eh… I’m divided. It makes for lively interactions, something that would have been trickier to do had the game stuck to written dialogue, but it can also get grating fast. I was expecting Globox to have a deeper voice than that, considering his size. The game does make good use of its voice acting, dropping funny references left and right and having characters spout jokes whenever they can; even the caged Teensies, when freed (again), will make a funny statement about something they need to run off to do. Oh, the game is hilarious, alright; but that depends on whether you like to hear all that banter.

Love me an intro/tutorial stage that shows
stuff that'll never come again.

The panicky Murphy wakes Rayman and Globox up and they flee from the Black Lums… or rather, Globox runs off with Rayman’s hands, forcing Murphy to fly Rayman away in a gameplay sequence that’s never repeated. Once again, we have sections that feel like mini-games added to the adventure, making for variety. Rayman’s moves make a return, with his telescopic fist coming back as his main mode of attack.

The major changes in Rayman 3

Attacking sideways? Already a step-up from
"lock-on, attack, evade, repeat" from R2.

Combat has been vastly improved; whereas in Rayman 2 every enemy required the same technique, here we have a lot of different enemies, all with their own strategy to deal with. Rayman is now able to throw his fist forward, or left/right (by holding down the corresponding direction when shooting the fist with the Space bar). You can strafe by holding down a key, locking on to an opponent so your next hits will land.

Rayman now has access to power-ups, which he discovers over the early chapters of the game, called Laser-Washing Powders. They dress Rayman up into superhero-like gear and give him a temporary ability; each ability is necessary to progress platformer-wise, and some have combat bonuses. These cans are either readily available, or unlocked by beating an enemy, completing a mini-game or breaking a Teensie cage. The five power-ups are:

Meanwhile, Globox thinks Rayman is just playing dress-up.

-Vortex: Rayman throws a whirlwind from his fist, drilling down screw-like mushrooms and shrinking enemies;

-Heavy metal fist: Deals double damage to enemies and can punch open locked doors;

-LockJaw: Gives him a pair of metal claws with chains, which he can use to grab flying steel rings (which, unlike the Purple Lums, Rayman cannot grab to swing between platforms), and can also hurt enemies with electricity;

-Shock Rocket: Will launch a remote-controlled rocket that must be navigated around small enclosures or passageways to activate switches. Can also be shot at enemies;

-Throttle Copter: Gives Rayman the ability to fly for 3 seconds.

Oh good, the hero has rockets now.

This inclusion adds some freshness to platforming and combat. Though like I said, the power-ups are frequently mandatory to move forward in a section, so if you see one, it’s because you’ll need it.

Oooh, a 360-point score bonus. Also, yes I'll
try the mushrooms, give me a sec dammit!

Another first for the series: The inclusion of a scoring system. You get points for beating enemies, collecting gems, or doing other actions in rapid sequence. Do those points mean anything? They open bonus levels, but that’s about it. Owners of the game could submit their final scores to a now-defunct website to join the leaderboards. Some would think it’s a neat addition, I personally feel it’s unnecessary since the website isn’t available anymore. Hopefully the bonus stages are worth it.

The Doctors

I can't think of many stories in which the bad guy was eaten,
very early into the story, by one of the good guys.

The 1960s called, they wanted to say
"Groooooooovy, duuuuude".

Rayman retrieves Globox near the Heart of the World and retrieves his hands. The two must then defend the Heart from the Black Lums, now dressed and armed, calling themselves the Hoodlums. In the scuffle, André ends up accidentally swallowed by Globox. No one can pull the black fluffball out of the guy, so the Teensies suggest a trip across the Crossroads of Dreams, to Teensie doctors who could cure Rayman's buddy. For this, the Teensies open special highways in which Rayman, riding a hoverboard, can jump over platforms on his way to the next location. These short segments are trippy and fun, with great music and ambiance.

The game is split into worlds, which are split into stages; if you lose all of Rayman’s HP, you only restart the current stage, which isn’t so bad. No mid-stage checkpoints, and unlike Rayman 1 and 2, there is no level select screen; when you’ve finished a stage or a world, you see your score for it and move on.

The after-battle is even better than the battle.

Rayman and Globox proceed through Clearleaf Forest, where the Hoodlums have set up fortresses. We learn that André craves plum juice and will force Globox’s body to drink it, even though the big guy is allergic to the drink; this causes a plethora of bizarre effects that are beneficial to the quest. This world ends with a battle against a Hoodlum piloting giant stomping feet, and after you beat the Hoodlum, you take over, and it’s your turn to stomp an army of Hoodlums into oblivion. Sweet!

Razoff chasing Rayman around his mansion, with
a hunting rifle. This boss fight is amazing.

Past this, we reach the first doctor, who's unsuccessful. He sends Raymand and Globox off to a second doctor living at the end of the Land of the Livid Dead… but the Teensie Highway leading there is unfinished, so the heroes fall into the Bog of Murk. What happens there? Well, Rayman angers a witch who thinks he’s a pervert, so she tries to kill him with her potions. Then, we encounter more Hoodlum installations across the bog. Finally, we get to a mansion owned by Count Razoff, who’s dead-set on shooting Rayman in an homage to The Most Dangerous Game. We fight him twice, and both battles are amazing: First is a game of cat and mouse across his mansion, and second is a fight against Razoff standing on a wrecking ball.

Rayman and Globox get to the Land of the Livid Dead, also overtaken by Hoodlums. They’re everywhere! Once again, a lot of creative bosses and a lot of gorgeous scenery – give it to Rayman 3, one strength it has over its predecessor is a greater variety of beautiful environments. After saving the “afterlife” from the Hoodlums, we get to the second doctor, who is also unsuccessful.

This starry spiral staircase is a highlight
of the Land of the Livid Dead.

Damn, the Knaaren (pronounced Kuh-nah-ren),
they really are everywhere.

Thus, we move to the Desert of the Knaaren, a place so hot, the sand is like lava. The underground isn't so safe, either; the tunnels are inhabited by the Knaaren, a race of invincible warriors who worship the Leptys, a bird creature of mighty power. Globox is yet again kidnapped, so we set out to rescue him in a sequence that feels closer to kid-friendly survival horror than actual platforming. Rayman is also caught and must wager his and his friend’s freedoms by fighting the Knaaren champion, named Reflux – one of the rare characters in the franchise to be treated seriously. The boss fight is tough, but Reflux has one weakness in the weapon he wields, so he’s defeated.

That's not even Reflux's most impressive move,
but it's the only way we see him clearly.

This is not a medical intervention,
it's a musical intervention.

As a reward, the king of the Knaaren gives Rayman a new ability from the Leptys: A grimace that reverts Black Lums into the healing red Lums! After encountering more Hoodlums that can now be defeated for good thanks to this ability, we get to the third Doctor, who calls the other two and all three finally make a successful operation that makes André leave. The Black Lum flies off to recruits Reflux, the warrior now vengeful against the hero who shamed him in the arena. The two steal the Sceptre of the Leptys, which grants the power of the deity to its wielder…

Stopping the Hoodlums

The Doctors tell the heroes about André’s team-up. All seems lost, so Rayman’s best bet for now is to attack the Hoodlums at their Headquarters. Hm, impressive that they managed to create such bases in a matter of… weeks? Days? Hours? To reach the Headquarters, we go through the Longest Shortcut, an area filled with puzzles and platforming sections, where the challenge is to find every crown in every area in order to find the exit. Not too difficult, but I can’t say it felt necessary, either.

Snowboarding? In my Rayman game?
It's more likely than you'd think.

The Precipice, in Rayman 2, was well-made.
This one was just frustrating.

This brings the two to the Summit Beyond the Clouds, a short snowy area ending with a very cool snowboarding sequence. And then, we get to the Hoodlum Headquarters, in the heart of a mountain/volcano. This sequence highlights one of my issues with the game compared to its predecessor: The main characters’ personalities. Globox went from merely dim to a complete idiot falling for the Hoodlums' simplest traps, so we have to constantly rescue him. Rayman drank the “mascot with attitude” juice and went from an all-loving hero who supports Globox despite his fears to a snarker, calling his friend a coward at the first occasion. The final stage of the Headquarters is a race against the clock: After Rayman has stopped the base’s activities, André activates the flooding of the base into lava, so we have to escape upwards, but the timing is extremely strict and Hoodlums keep popping up to attack and block the way. I hated that stage, which is ironic as I loved a stage with a similar design in Rayman 2.

Why does our shoe have a life bar exactly?

Finally, we move on to the Tower of the Leptys, where Reflux and André have gone with the Sceptre of the Knaaren’s deity. Hordes of Hoodlums await, and every gameplay mechanic and power-up returns as we scale the tower. Even the bumper car shoes return. ...Oh, I didn’t explain those? Starting in the Land of the Livid Dead, sometimes the power-up appears in Rayman’s shoe and goes speeding away. The hero then shrinks, rides his other shoe like a bumper car, and must crash the shoes together to reunite them and generate the power-up. Why? Hell if I know.

This may seem like just an odd mini-game
thrown at you for the Heck of it, this late
into the story...

Oh good, the so-called "invincible" warrior
is giant now.

At the top, we encounter Reflux, and the final boss fight is something to behold. Phase 1: Normal-sized Reflux, whose shield has to be broken by the LockJaws before we can hurt him, and only with the Heavy metal fist. In Phase 2, Reflux plants the Sceptre in his back and grows gigantic; we must get the LockJaws from the other end of the stage, jumping around the giant Knaaren, so we can access the Heavy metal fist, which we smash the Sceptre with after climbing onto the giant’s back. Phase 3: The giant floats up, and we must use Throttle Copters to ascend towards a Shock Rocket that we shoot at Reflux to deal another blow.

Gee, good thing we had a whole sequence with
this first-person shmup previously while we
were climbing the Tower of the Leptys!

That’s not over, if you die past this point, you resume at the start of Phase 4. Reflux grows wings, while Rayman is rescued by Globox on a flying ship equipped with a laser. Surprise! We’re now in a first-person shmup! After we deplete Giant Reflux’s shields and shoot the Sceptre on his back, the warrior lands and André summons Hoodlums that will sacrifice themselves to the giant and replenish his health. We must kill the Hoodlums with bombs before they reach Reflux. Repeat (and hurt your fingers button-mashing the attack key – God damn, I hate button-mashing boss battles) until, finally, Reflux’s HP is down to zero. The Knaaren then turns to crystal and shatters. Phase 5: André begs for mercy, but Rayman finishes him with a grimace, turning him back into a Red Lum and ending the threat.

In the final cutscene, the tower crumbles, and Rayman and Globox land where they were sleeping at the start of the game. They wonder what happened for André to exist. Flash back to the start of the game, where it’s revealed that Rayman’s own hands trailed off in his sleep and made shadows that scared a Red Lum bad enough to turn it into André. Talk about a twist!

Rayman's hands are wandering playthings.
He really should try to control them better.

Final thoughts

Phew! This was a long one to cover.

Jumping from balloon to balloon...

Good game? Yeah, but I can see why it comes across as lesser when compared to Rayman 2. Sure, it improves the formula in a couple of ways: Rayman now has access to power-ups, combat has been made far more interesting, and checkpoints have been ditched and replaced for shorter levels. The environments are more varied and there’s a lot of experimentation with gameplay; several boss fights shake up the formula, bringing new gimmicks and ideas that lead to memorable fights.

Story-wise, the lore was further expanded, and the series finally settled into its wackiness. Admittedly, I dislike how Rayman and Globox’s personalities were changed for the worst, but like a lot of other elements, the franchise was looking for the best way to portray them. The new characters are fun; I hate André’s voice, but he and his Hoodlums are a genuine threat, and the Knaaren, in particular the very serious Reflux, make for a great foil to the rest of the cast.

Some of the bosses also utilise
tremendously annoying gimmicks.

The Desert of the Knaaren was a surprisingly
tense section of the game, with some stealth
tactics necessary to progress.

Once again, we have plenty of segments reminiscent of mini-games, between snowboarding, a first-person shmup near the end... Some are repeated a little too often, like the bumper car shoe mini-game (you end up having to play it several times throughout, never for any good reason if you ask me). Overall, in my opinion, though these “mini-games” are more varied, they feel more forced than they were in Rayman 2.

By far the worst difference between the two games is that, this time, you can’t control the camera to your liking. There are no control options to spin the camera around you; the only way you can change the camera angle is by going into first-person view (which does have its uses) or by holding down the focus key while fighting an opponent. This limitation makes the camera a pain in the ass, especially when it positions itself poorly for the current platforming sequence. This is especially noticeable when Rayman is using a power-up, such as the LockJaw.

The first-person view can also be used as a
camera, earning extra points if you take a
picture of critters lounging about, but again:
Not much of a purpose to it other than refocusing
the camera behind Rayman.

On the plus side, the power-ups are pretty cool,
though a lot of focus is put on them.

No actual checkpoints means that if you die during a level, you have to start it over. Hope you didn’t die right after a frustrating section, or in the boss arena! I also feel there may be too much of a focus on the scoring system – sure, it’s fun to see how many points you can make by chaining up actions and collecting Gems, but it detracts from the adventure itself. It’s not like you can fight for a space on the leaderboards anymore… Their only remaining purpose is for unlocking the bonus levels.

Yeah, good game. More flawed than its predecessor, but good. It suffers from being the successor to the tough act to follow, and does have many more issues as I’ve noted, it may have more parts that are frustrating to get through, but it’s not bad. I do prefer Rayman 2, if that says anything.

Almost done with this series of reviews – next time, I’ll be covering Rayman Legends.