Rayman DS

All of this just works.
― Todd Howard

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Rayman DS is a port of the Nintendo 64 version of Rayman 2: The Great Escape, released as one of the launch titles for the DS. Unlike most versions of Rayman 2, which are critically acclaimed, the DS port is unfortunately plagued by a myriad of technical issues.

Rayman DS

Rayman 2: The Not-so-Great Escape

Genre(s):	Platformer
Platform(s):	Nintendo DS
Release Date:	March 11, 2005
Developer(s):	DC Studios
Publisher(s):	Ubisoft Entertainment
Series:	Rayman
Predecessor:	Rayman
Successor:	Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc

Trapped Qualities

Minor false advertising: This is a port of Rayman 2, yet Rayman's modern design (from Rayman 3 and onwards) is used on the front of the cover.
It doesn't offer anything new to the table aside from the new touch controls.
The music in the PAL version is awful and worse than the NA release for some reasons, while some tracks sound fine, some other such as "The Precipice", which sound very bland in comparison to even the N64 version which already had a washed out soundtrack but it still sounded decent, here we don't even know what it happened.
The camera is very poor, and is worse than the N64 version, which already had a mediocre camera in some of it's level, here it is somehow made worse because of the DS screen.
The controls, while they aren't changed and are still responsive, feel worse than the other versions because the DS lack an analog stick, and it feel weird and hard to play well, and ruin the experience.
As stated above, there are multiple technical issues, with two examples being the encounter with Umber and in the flower ride in the Sanctuary of Rock and Lava, where Rayman can slip off, even during Umber's cinematic, and the giant spider at the beginning of the Tomb of the Ancients will disappear a few seconds after the cutscene in which it first appears.
The graphics aren't touched up on, which makes the game appear dated.
The graphics are somewhat weaker than the other ports, even the N64 version since the graphics look quite blurry, and it is more pixelated, though it still had decent graphics for a 2005 DS game.
The textures are much more jagged due to the DS lacking a texture filtering system (the textures themselves are unchanged, however).
You can only change Rayman's speed by using the touch screen controls.

Great Escape Qualities

For what it's worth, the port is still very playable in spite of the technical difficulties.
The graphics are still pretty decent for a 2005 DS game, especially since it is a very early DS game.
While not up to par, at least this port is based on the N64 version rather than the PS1 port which lacked lot of content in comparison, so at least every level is here.

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