Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition

Forced Ubisoft Connect installation and account linking, and removing the original soundtracks for every game here with no option to use the original music hold this back from being the best way to play the first Rayman game

Why is Uplay (Ubisoft Connect) client installation and account required for a 31 year old game?

I really wanted to leave a positive review for this, but I played the original back in the PS1 era, and the experience just isn’t the same for me.

Visually, the game looks almost identical to the PS1 version, which I’m actually fine with. An HD upgrade pack would have been nice, but the original visuals still hold up well enough. The real issue that’s stopping me from enjoying this version is the soundtrack. Why is it different?

I grew up with the PAL version of the game, and the music was a huge part of what made it memorable and special. I was really hoping there would at least be an option to switch between the original and new soundtrack, similar to what the Spyro remasters offered. Unfortunately, that option isn’t available here, and it significantly affects the nostalgia and overall feel of the game for returning players.

If you’ve never played this game before and are coming in fresh, you’ll probably enjoy it just fine. However, if you’re looking to relive your childhood experience, I’d honestly recommend playing the original version on a PS Classic or through other means instead. Until the developers release a patch or a mod that restores the original OST, I’d suggest waiting.

Some people might think it’s unreasonable to downvote a game just because of the soundtrack, but for this title, the music is a core part of its identity. Changing it changes how the game feels.

This edition is missing the masterpiece composition created by Rémi Gazel.

However, I think the negative reviews for this are impulsive and short-sighted.
This new OST has been rewritten by Christophe Héral -who also did the composition for Origins and Legends- with an almost tribute-like feel to Gazel, who if was still with us would no doubt have done himself; Gazel had started remastering some tracks before his death.

There's a good clip in the history section inside this game that covers this.

I was not expecting new music, and was hesitant to purchase after reading the reviews about it being poor... but the story behind it is really wholesome, and the new OST (at least what I've heard so far) is really well done.

The original was perfect. It was never going to be matched.

Very nice collection but as everyone else is rightly pointing out, the music has been rescored which is a shame since the originals OST is one of my personal favourites so until they add the original score back as an option I feel inclined to give a negative review. Saying that I would still recommend this if you're interested or perhaps emulate it since it's a phenomenal platformer in my eyes.

I can't recommend this in its current state. The game and its ports are fine, the extra features, concept art and dev interviews are nice, but the original soundtrack has been completely gutted. In its place is a brand new remixed ost done by Rayman Origins/Legends composer Christophe Heral, which is fine, but it completely changes the vibe of the game compared to the original soundtrack by the late Rémi Gazel. Considering Digital Eclipse likes to advertise its collections/rereleases as "Digital Museums/preservation pieces," it feels kind of odd that there isn't a soundtrack swap at minimum for this game, considering how beloved the classic ost is among fans.

TL;DR: I'd wait for the game's original soundtrack to be re-implemented, as well as some bugs and glitches being ironed out before thinking about buying this rerelease.

- The new soundtrack sounds almost nothing like what it's replacing at times, it really ruins entire vibe.
- Lame they only give you a cheat menu to unlock various things rather than removing the 100% cage requirement.
- The over saturated sprites in the menu make Rayman look like he has jaundice and that's weird I don't remember that in the game? Maybe it's a Rayman 4 thing?
- You have to repeatedly turn off the really bad CRT filter for each game, which quickly becomes really annoying.
-Exiting the games puts you onto the save menu rather than the home menu which is also annoying when swapping games.
-honorary Ubisoft connect drm mention

I mean no disrespect to the current composer, but the original soundtrack for Rayman is beyond iconic and one of my favourites of all time. In the 30th anniversary edition it has been replaced by a re-imagining in the style of Origins / Legends, complete with kazoos and jaw harps.

It doesn't sound BAD per se, but it sounds WRONG. It's like a childhood memory that's not quite coming together, and it's very uncanny. But what's worse is that, in a lot of the tracks, the melodies are completely different, one jarring example being Harmony in the badlands, which has just... been erased from the game. That song IS Rayman 1, and to not include it is to tarnish the memories of every child who stayed glued to their screens playing this game.

I am refunding the game until such a day where we can freely choose what version of the game's soundtrack we want to listen to while playing the game.

I expected nothing and I'm still let down.

TL;DR: Don't waste your money on this, play the fangame instead.

I've been a huge fan of this series and this game for as long as I can remember. I've played through the many versions of this game plenty of times and this release is just a sham. There's a handful of big issues that just ruin this release which made me refund unless these get fixed at some point.

the positives:

The games are playable, having the original prototype is cool, the new convenience options for new players are a neat idea and for around 20 euros it would be a pretty good deal if it weren't for...

The negatives

Starting off with ubisoft connect: Nobody wants it, it messes with some people's systems, and it just seems like a bafflingly useless thing to staple on to a simple collection of 5 ROMs.

Then there's the music:
For some unknown reason the iconic music tracks that were beloved by many has been replaced with something I can only describe as "generic drivel", as much as I like the soundtracks of rayman origins and legends, these new tracks just feel like leftover scraps from those two games. At the point of writing this review it's even such a sloppy port that there's reports original music for the jaguar release playing at the same time as the new music though i haven't run into this issue myself. The GBC port also suffers from a similar fate where the original music (which had some neat 8-bit versions of rayman 2 tracks) has also been replaced with the recent chromatic rerelease which saw equal criticism for the unnecessary and downright unfitting music replacements.
There's currently not even a simple option to swap between the original OSTs and the new ones. The music was a big part of this classic game's identity and ripping it out for no good reason is such a massive detriment to the game that I can't in good conscience recommend this collection to anyone.

It might seem harsh to give a negative review *just* because of some music, but calling this thing a "faithful collection" is just blatantly false advertising. If they ever update this to at the very least add an option to change the music i'd happily purchase it and recommend it, but knowing ubisoft they'll probably leave this rushjob to rot, complain it didn't sell a gajillion copies, and ignore the series that had such a big impact on the company back in the 90s until they fully go under.

I genuinely hope I get proven wrong and they end up fixing this botched release, but I doubt it.

Up to Picture City on the PS1 version. Game plays great, though there is some audio skipping I noticed; namely starting in the Blue Mountains area.

That aside, the need for the Ubi launcher is needlessly annoying (I bought the game through Steam, because I didn't want to use your damn launcher Ubisoft.)

As for the OST, while not awful, some tracks like Betilla's theme don't even compare to the original from the PS1 version. I imagine with some messing around in the files you can mod in all the PS1 music, but a toggle to choose between the original and new OSTs would've been great.

No SEGA Saturn version, for preservation's sake?

That aside, the game is how I remembered in mechanical feel, but the audio skipping (which happens in more places from what I heard; I just had it happen very minimally) and lack of an OST toggle is a bit disappointing.

But, one gripe I can't forgive: the enhancements.

Look, I get the game has a rewind, and you could cheese a good chunk of the game and go through it faster if you want achievements. But why am I being punished for starting the game with all powers so I don't have to backtrack? Why am I being punished for having unlimited continues, when the original game had a very small, limited amount of them? The invincibility one, I understand. That's basically just outright cheating, no defense there. Even opening all the levels, as much as I hate that 100% is required to beat the game. I get you don't need to get the achievements to enjoy the game, but it kinda just feels like a slap to the face.

That aside, the game is fine enough. With a patch to the audio skipping and OST toggle, I'd say its a no brainer. If you fancy a challenging 2D platformer, then give this a shot. But for right now, these games and all their versions are old, as such its not difficult to play these games elsewhere. You may also already have the game on the original hardware. PS1 version is the best one, so play that one if you can. I'd say wait for a sale, but you also get a ton of levels that were from the PC version releases of the game, with over 120+ stages to play past what the original game contained.

If this bothers you, just remember: the game is old. 30 years old. You can likely get it for cheap on original hardware if you still have said hardware functioning, and old games being old games, aren't too hard to play by other means these days.

This game could have been a great way to play the classic but for a modern audience, but it's unfortunately lacking in a "death by a thousand papercuts" sort of way. First of all, every game in the collection had its music entirely replaced, which would be okay if the option to use the original music was included-- but, it isn't. Additionally, some songs were remained unaltered, leading to a very inconsistent experience (especially in the Jaguar version).
Secondly, the DOS versions in particular seem to run very poorly, with stuttering and frame drops. It seems the emulator they are using is not particularly great, which is especially disappointing considering this is the only official way to play a lot of the original expansions on modern hardware. The expansions also seem to have the music in the wrong order (for example, Crystal Palace playing in Dream Forest, like the GOG version does).
Thirdly the "accessibility options" are just cheat codes that you can turn on and off. No real changes to the gameplay experience or balance, just basic "infinite lives" and "unlock levels" cheats.
Fourthly, the widescreen option for PS1 is really inconsistent and constantly changes aspect ratios. I can kinda understand this one, so they wouldn't have to draw new assets for areas outside the borders, but it leads to a very jarring gameplay experience, with invisible walls in places and black borders suddenly appearing in boss levels.
Overall, I do not recommend this version of the game as it is now. It has too many issues and is not a faithful experience. While some casual players may not really find issues in what I listed, as a fan of Rayman, I expected something a bit better.

This port is missing songs from the original soundtrack composed by Rémi Gazel. You should at least include the original soundtrack when releasing a collection to commemorate a 30th anniversary. Also, you are forced to install Ubisoft Connect to play this collection.

The downsides I've had so far are:

The intro videos are corrupted unless my computer is offline (probably a Linux issue)

The launcher is annoying for a release like this and doesn't close when the game is closed (also probably a Linux issue) meaning that even when the game is off the playtime is increasing

There's no cloud saves meaning that you need to use Syncthing (save's in AppData/Roaming/Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition/5de15694-4e04-4d8f-87ee-cdb124b3d67c/ for anyone curious)

The music is recomposed and can't be changed.

Otherwise, it's a cromulent collection of varying versions of Rayman. I do hope they update this to fix these issues.

Something to note for anyone curious, the PS1 version is a ROM file that can be played with an emulator like DuckStation, and the new music is baked into the ROM itself.

I cannot tell you not to buy this compilation. And it has a lot going on for it. I really want to support this series and hope that Rayman will receive a new full scale game, but, man, at first glance, this collection seems to do so many things right, but so many things wrong too.
Pros
- Nice, accessible collection of major ports of Rayman 1, especially appreciate the Jaguar version getting represented
- Nice customization of display and difficulty
- Great history museum with an original design bible for the game and tons of insider interviews
Cons
- A complete lack of the original OST. I could've understood if they had replaced the OST for the PS1 version but they have replaced OSTs for all of versions, including those of GBA and GBC which I do not understand at all (I would argue that although the OST for GBC version, is ''objectively'' better, it has no style or punch like the original OST for that version), which I consider to be a HUGE downgrade, if we keep in mind that the original OST for Rayman 1 is simply godly

I am aware that this new soundtrack, that was made by the composer of the most recent Rayman games was done to commemorate late Rémi Gazel but not including his original composition to this collection seems kind of wrong.


- Lack of original content, which is understandable, but I refuse to believe that they couldn't find more early builds of, lets say, SNES version of Rayman, but that neither here nor there
- Being forced to have an account on Ubisoft services, I really really hate it when they force clients to create accounts on additional services, when just buying a game here should be enough

Overall, I cannot not recommend this version, I simply must to to support the series I deeply love, but, man, I really hope that future updates would fix these really simple issues, because there is love and passion in here which were, it seems, held back by the lack of sufficient funds

But, if I were fair, I would rather recommend checking out the fan-made Rayman Redemption

Plays great, the game is looking just like the original, albeit now with the better aspect ratio. It is super smooth and nice compared to the original PlayStation version to the point that some of my muscle memory is slightly off.

As new changes, you can save anywhere in the game, get back a little if you made a mistake, toggle infinite lives/continues - it will be needed for the new players, this game being ruthless.

My only complain about this new release is the absence of the original music, replaced by new compositions from the composer of Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends. I appreciate the effort of offering a new work, but it should have been proposed as a default option with the possibility of toggling the original work of the composer Rémi Gazel who unfortunately left us in 2019. It would have been a great way to honor a work that tons of kids like me listened to again and again.
So it would nice if a future update could add the original soundtrack as an alternative just like the other options available. Along with the restoration of the French dub and subtitles, which for a French game is ironic not to have.

I'm the biggest Rayman fan and I kind of wish this version would work because I want more of this franchise but I can't lie by giving a false review.

One would think they'd do something big for Rayman's 30th anniversary. Well, no.

Not only is this version far inferior to the fan-made Rayman Redemption experience, but it also ditches the original OST and replaces it with re-imagined versions, without giving the player the choice to switch back to OG music.

Don't get me wrong, I think the re-imagined OST is a super cool idea but I'm not okay with it replacing the original music entirely. My family and I grew up with the OG music and listening to this, the magic is completely gone. It doesn't feel as special.
Now I don't know what happened, and why they couldn't have the original music in, but regardless, this is a massive disappointment to me.

Anyways, that's about it. The game itself is amazing, but I'm not sure I'd recommend this version since it's not even the OG experience. I always dreamed of Ubisoft releasing an HD remaster of Rayman 1 like Earth Worm Jim did in 2009. But 30 years later and Rayman 1 still hasn't gotten this treatment because Ubisoft seems to believe this game does not deserve it.

I really wanted to celebrate Rayman's 30th anniversary but today I'm just feeling extremely sad.

Original OST gone. Choppy gameplay, gtx 1650 minimum requirements. Refund the game and play rayman redemption

I appreciate the effort but this compilation feels extremely incomplete without Rémi Gazelle's original tracks (only the new music is available, some tracks are not even covers and are brand new stuff instead) and the possibility to change language for the games (you can only play in English in a FRENCH game FFS).

The soundtracks for each version appear to have been replaced - with no option to toggle the original version. Yknow that one iconic banger from the title and map screens that everyone remembers? Totally absent, and replaced with a very unfitting new track. Even the re-arranged tracks for the GBA version have been replaced with... the same tracks but worse? Like new arrangements that genuinely just sound even lower fidelity. I have no idea what happened here. The games themselves seem to play fine, but this is not an adequate collection from a preservation standpoint by any stretch. I can't recommend this as anyone's first Rayman experience unless some serious work is done.

The missing original soundtrack, and the new music on loop stinks. I haven’t heard everything, but even in a half hour of playing, a number of the songs sound almost nothing like the original.

Please add the option for the original soundtrack, it doesn’t feel like the same game without it.

Edit: Clearly it's a licensing issue, so maybe if you want to support the game, buy it and give it a negative review or refund it to help send a message to Ubisoft that this is an issue for you to help pressure them to add it. Those two things help!

Otherwise to those who don't have crazy nostalgia for this and you enjoy platformers - it's probably great.

Also no disrespect to Christophe Héral, he did a great job at aligning it with Origins/Legends, but this was never like those.