It is the year of the sequels thus far, from Dynasty Warriors 4 to the new Jak II, there are a lot of games that are getting another game made using the same characters, hoping to create and continue a mighty franchise. Ubi Soft has released a continuation of their limbless hero: Rayman. Does this game have what it takes to compete with the other platformers on the market? Read on to find out!

The story goes as follows: Rayman lives in a peaceful world that is populated with various creates, one of the main ones is called Lums. One day, Rayman’s best friend, Globox, accidentally swallowed the evil dark Lum: Andre. This happened because he was trying to save Rayman, but instead he swallowed Andre, and now must live with this creature jumping inside his stomach. To clam this malicious Lum, Globox must drink plum juice, the only problem with this is that he is allergic to it. Rayman must find a way to get rid of this evil Lum, and save his friend. As the game progresses, players will find that there is an evil motivee behind all of this, and it is up to them to stop it. The question remains: Do you have the strength to accomplish this?

Rayman has a myriad of upgrades that he will be able to obtain throughout this game through different colored powder, they are green, red, blue, orange, and yellow. The Green can is the vortex that will give Rayman the ability to boost a whirly burst of energy, or a tornado, out of his fists. The Red can is a Heavy Metal first, which gives him the power to knock things over, or demolish them. The Blue can is Lockjaw, which is a grapping hook, and it can hit enemies taking a “chunk” out of their lives. The shock rocket is contained in the orange can. It will give him the power to destroy stuff from long distances that you cannot normally reach. The Yellow can contains the Throttle copter, which will allow Rayman to teleport to other parts of the world, which he cannot normally get to.

There are many bonuses to be had in this game, and the more points you get the more of a reward players will receive. There are two ways to get points, get rid of any enemies seen, or by picking up items, such as the jewels spread across the world. Whenever points are being made, a combo meter appears, the more things you do, the higher the combo meter rises, and the more points players will obtain. Players only have a few seconds to get more points, because the combo meter will only stay up as long as players are collecting points. Also if a player is using any superpower, any points they receive, are multiplied by two. It is always a good idea to pick up anything when Rayman is powered up. Players than uses these points to unlocked bonus level or hidden videos, this is a great incentive to find everything there is in any level, to see what can be unlocked.

Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc is rated E for Everyone and contains comic mischief and Violence. It will take up 77kb on your memory card.

Graphics: 8.5
Rayman 3 expounds upon its graphics in Rayman 2 by making the world seem more alive, and have more dreary levels instead of always seeming upbeat like the previous game. The wildest looking levels are when players jump in-between levels, with the wild neon colors flying all around; it will take players for a trip they will not forget. The game has a lot of textures and looks brilliant, with little to no drop in frame rate at all.

Sound: 9.0
I am a big believer in having great sound effects, music, and voice acting in a game, this one portion can make or break any game. Rayman 3 passes with shinning colors! The voice acting in this game is a riot. There are many one-liners that will catch the gamers off guard, and make fun of all platforming games, including their own. Some lines are similar to: “Who writes these manuals, does anyone even read them anyways?”, and many other things that will have you rolling. Ubi Soft did an excellent job in this area.

The sound effects used are really well done, from all of the little things, to the bigger things. Each of these effects is crystal clear and sound really nice through a surround sound set up. The music for this game really fits it as well, and changes tone to whatever situation players find themselves in.

Difficulty: Medium
The game’s AI is fairly challenging in this game. There are a few puzzles that will have players scratch their heads, but nothing extremely hard. If you have played any platforming games, you will have no trouble playing though this game.

Concept: 8.1
This game is different from its predecessors in many ways, from the way the upgrades work to the actual look of the game in comparison to the previous game. There really is not that much of an evolution in comparison to other platformers on the market currently. It was a nice change of pace to see Rayman’s world become more of a darker place, than in the previous game. It shows that the developers were willing to do something different with it, than keep the same formula and use it over again.

Overall: 8.5
If you are in the market for a fresh, good Action/Platforming game, than look no further than Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc. It has a lot of comedy that will keep you entertained for a long time. The only drawback for this the fact that it will take only ten hours or less to beat, not including the bonus quests that are won through out the game. Other than that it is a good game that an entire family can enjoy!