History Videogame / Rayman2

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rayman_2_background.jpg]]

->''"Rayman, look what the pirates have done to our world... a planet of anguish and pain, haunted by evil. A dark place, teeming with fierce monsters. Nothing can stop them now that they've captured you. They've taken everything and reduced our people to slaves. The robots search for innocent prey. In the chaos, they exploded the heart of the world. The 1000 lums of energy which form it have been scattered. We are getting weak. Soon, it will be too late...You must escape, Rayman, you are our only hope!"''

->''"Wake up Rayman, I have sent you help..."''
-->-- '''Ly the Fairy''', in a telepathic message to Rayman, in the intro

''Rayman 2: The Great Escape'', originally released in 1999, is the first 3D title in the ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'' franchise, bringing with it a fully 3D world, a wide variety of skills that the player character could utilize, and a much more fleshed-out and consistent backstory, to the point of (until the ArcWelding sequel ''VideoGame/RaymanOrigins'' 12 years later) essentially being set in an AlternateContinuity from the [[VideoGame/Rayman1 first game]] altogether and setting the stage for the rest of the series to build upon.

The story begins when Rayman's homeworld, the Glade of Dreams, is suddenly invaded by an evil armada of Robo-Pirates from space, kidnapping the world's inhabitants en masse and using them as slave labor – including Rayman himself, who has lost all his strength after the Pirates destroyed the Heart of the World, shattering it into a thousand pieces. All hope is not lost, though, as Rayman's froglike friend Globox winds up captured too, smuggling a Silver Lum into his and Rayman's cell aboard the Pirates' prison ship, giving the two a chance to escape. Now Rayman is the Glade's inhabitants' only hope for defeating the Robo-Pirates, but he'll have to regain all his strength first – and to do that, he'll have to find the four magic masks that will awaken Polokus, a magic being who ''dreamt'' the Glade into existence.

''Rayman 2'' is also particularly infamous for having been ported to countless platforms following its release: the game was originally released on the UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo 64}}, and since then has seen versions on PC[[note]]''Two'' PC versions even, because TechnologyMarchesOn -- the original 1999 release doesn't work very well or flat out doesn't work on 64-bit [=OSes=]; an issue that is the main fixing point of the 2011 digital rerelease by Good Old Games[[/note]], UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation}}, UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor, [[UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast Dreamcast]], UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation 2}}, UsefulNotes/NintendoDS, [[UsefulNotes/IOSGames Apple iOS]] and UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS, each version bringing at least some new features with them. Out of all these ports, the most comprehensive is the [=PS2=] version, retitled ''Rayman Revolution'' (''Rayman 2: Revolution'' in North America) and featuring a whole new [[HubLevel hub-world]] to explore, along with a graphical update and a slew of new minigames.
----
!!''Rayman 2'' (and any port or re-release thereof) contains examples of:

* OneHundredPercentCompletion: After a Yellow Lum is eaten by Razorbeard, it says there's only 999 to find, there's actually one more, in a location that makes perfect sense in hindsight: [[spoiler: The Tomb Of The Ancients, where dead creatures walk freely, as spirits or otherwise]]. In the [=PS1=] version, he instead eats a Red Lum, as the section where that Lum is found is cut out entirely.
* ActionBomb: The walking shells Rayman can tame and ride.
* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: The [=PS2=] remake of the game shuffles around sections of the levels The Echoing Caves and The Precipice, leading to a weird mishmash of the two levels in both cases. The changes don't exactly make sense either; the Precipice now has random slow-moving sections that have nothing to do with outrunning the warship, and the Echoing Caves now has random sections of the warship suddenly chasing you again, alongside awkward transitions to slow/fast moving sections and places that...well, look nothing like a cave or a precipice in both cases. Had you not played any of the original versions prior, it can leave you scratching your head.
* AdventureDuo: Rayman and Globox.
* AirVentPassageway: It's how Rayman escapes his cell on the prison ship.
* AliensAreBastards: The Robo-Pirates are shown to be a completely amoral, ruthless warrior race that are perfectly willing to enslave and corrupt an entire planet for their own gain, with nothing but apathy for its inhabitants other than being a means to an end.
* AllThereInTheManual: Most of the game's backstory is told through a telepathic history of the world that can be accessed through the lums. The manual for some versions also tell you how Rayman ended up getting captured, and told Globox to go to Ly for help.
* AlreadyDoneForYou: The fourth mask is already gotten for you by one of the baby Globox in the N64, PC, [=PS1=], Dreamcast, DS and [=3DS=] ports. ''Revolution'' has you fight another guardian for it, averting this.
* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The Robo-Pirates.
* AlternateContinuity: There are few references to the previous game at all and reconciling them is very difficult, although ''VideoGame/RaymanOrigins'' appears to be trying to do this.
* AncientTomb: Literally called "Tomb of the Ancients".
* AnimatedAdaptation: A really odd case. ''WesternAnimation/RaymanTheAnimatedSeries'' aired around the same time that this game was released, but apart from the characters of Rayman and Razorbeard (who only briefly appears in the first episode) it shares almost no storyline elements.
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: According to The General, the Grolgoth can kill, crush, destroy, torture, and pull ears.
* ArtifactMook: The Cave of Bad Dreams has mini-versions of Jano hounding Rayman throughout the area before a showdown with Jano himself. This is all well and good in Jano's homeworld, but another Mini Jano (two in the [=PS1=] version) appears in The Sanctuary of Stone and Fire, despite Jano himself being nowhere near said location.
* AwesomeButTemporary: Rayman at one point gains the ability to fly (rather than just glide down) with his HelicopterHair, but he loses it again just before that level's BossFight.
* BagOfSpilling: ''Justified''. Rayman lost all his abilities after the Heart of the World exploded.
* BenevolentArchitecture: Floating rings and platforms that are uncannily useful, or objects/switches that coincidentally allow you to use them ''only'' with a specific power you happen to have acquired…
* BigBad: Razorbeard, the leader of the Robo-Pirates.
* BigBoosHaunt: The Cave of Bad Dreams and The Tomb of the Ancients.
* BinomiumRidiculus: on [=PS2=], several of the bosses have fake Latin names. Boss Biditank is "Poubelus Agrovis", Boss Chenille (a large caterpillar) is "Kapounus Grobilus", and Grolem 13 (Guardian of the 4th mask) is "Bigum Aerum Tornadus Recyclus".
* BootstrappedTheme: Rayman's theme in this game would end up being synonymous with the series for quite some time. Come ''Rayman 3'' this would dwindle down, but it stuck around for nearly ''four'' of the handheld adaptations (the two UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor games, ''Rayman 3'' on the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, and ''Rayman: The Hoodlums' Revenge''). Downplayed since all of the main series games haven't kept this as the theme (and even ''VideoGame/RaymanM'' didn't keep it), but it still deserves mention when nearly all the handheld spinoffs released after treated it as the main theme.
* BossArenaIdiocy: Several times, but the third guardian, who insists on running under stalactites that Rayman can shoot to make them drop onto his head, stands out.
* BossSubtitles: The Guardians get this.
* BottomlessPit: There are plenty of these around, which will send Rayman back to the last Green Lum he picked up if he falls in them.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:Clark, who gets a device strapped to his back that allows the Spyglass Pirate to control him by remote, and which must be destroyed to snap him out of it]].
* BubblegloopSwamp: The Marshes of Awakening and the Bayou.
* ButThouMust: While the end of The Cave of Bad Dreams gives you a choice to either keep the treasure or not, the game will only continue if you turn down Jano's offer to take the treasure. Choosing to keep it gets you a NonStandardGameOver, that promptly takes you back to the point where you choose. You can't make a choice in the original [=PS1=] version, though -- Rayman will just naturally turn down the offer.
* ButtonMashing: The bonus level (which is absent from the [=PS1=] version), unlocked by completing a level with all the yellow lums collected and all the cages destroyed, boils down to this.
* TheCameo: The General from ''VideoGame/TonicTrouble'' shows up near the end of the game to sell Razorbeard the Grolgoth. Rayman himself likewise shows up during the end credits of ''Tonic Trouble''.
* CameraLockOn
* CardboardPrison: Once Rayman gets his energy fist, escaping from the prison ship via an air vent is a cinch.
* CapcomSequelStagnation: Ubisoft seem to be intent on releasing Rayman 2 on every new platform that comes out. It's saying quite a bit that Rayman 2 came out for the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64, yet was a launch title for both the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS ''and'' its successor system, the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS.
* CaptainColorbeard: Admiral Razorbeard.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Most of Rayman's friends that appeared in this game didn't appear in later entries, aside from Globox, Murfy and the teensies (though Ly did appear in the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance versions of Rayman 3 and Rayman Raving Rabbids).
* CollisionDamage: Gorilla Pirates will charge towards you (surprisingly fast given their appearance) in order to squash you flat. Even more annoying in this game is that small creatures like ordinary-sized spiders and innocent-looking crabs will ''hurt you'' if you touch them. Luckily, they aren't encountered very often.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience:
** The Lums. Yellow Lums are the primary collectible and in most versions give you more lore the more you collect, Red Lums refill your health, Blue Lums refill your air underwater, Green Lums act as checkpoints, you can swing on Purple Lums to reach different places, and Silver Lums give Rayman new powers.
** For the non UsefulNotes/PlayStation versions, Rayman's subtitles are colored blue while the [=NPC=] subtitles are colored yellow. Averted with the UsefulNotes/PlayStation version, where all the subtitles are blue. Regardless of which version, certain nouns are highlighted red.
* ConvectionSchmonvection: You can ride plums ''on top of lava'' and it doesn't affect Rayman at all.
* CoolClearWater: Rayman can swim in clear, "clean" water, but [[GrimyWater ugly water or piranha infested water]] kills or damages him.
* CosmicDeadline: The fourth mask is given by the baby globoxes without having to meet the gardian shortly after the third. Averted in Revolution.
* CowardlySidekick: Globox.
* CraniumRide: Knocking a plum onto the heads of certain {{Mook}}s allowes you to jump onto their heads in order to reach otherwise unreachable areas and items.
* CrapsaccharineWorld: Rayman's world after the pirates take over. Some areas are no worse for wear, but others are clearly suffering from the pirates influence. The appearances of fierce monsters such as zombies and giant spiders doesn't help.
* CreepyCave: The Cave of Bad Dreams.
* CriticalExistenceFailure: Some attacks Rayman encounters are strong enough to not merely damage him, but outright ''destroy'' his body--fortunately, a situation like this sends him back to the nearest checkpoint with only some of your health taken off.
* CurbStompBattle: According to some manuals, the pirates' conquering of the planet was a ''very'' one-sided war. Rayman, Ly and Clark were among the few who managed to put up any significant threat, but cue the pirates detonating the heart of the world, and Rayman and Ly are rendered virtually powerless to stop the pirates, and Clark, despite initially evading capture, was nonetheless incapacitated later in the game.
** However, come the finale of the game when [[PhysicalGod Polokus]] is finally awakened, and [[LaserGuidedKarma the tables are turned]] as he promptly destroys ''every single robo-pirate on the planet''.
** Speaking of Clark, he utterly ''eviscerated'' an entire platoon of 20 robo-pirates single-handedly (albeit getting himself ill in the process due to swallowing a bit of flying debris)--Rayman himself is astounded by the pile of robot corpses littered around the room he finds Clark in.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Due to the more serious tone, darker color palette, and minimal comic relief.
* DemotedToExtra: Murfy in the [=PS1=] version and its offshoots. While a fairly significant character in the other versions, in this version he's simply a generic NPC that can be rescued from cages.
* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:After Rayman defeats [[HumongousMecha the Grolgoth]], [[VillainExitStageLeft Razorbeard escapes]] and triggers the prison ship's SelfDestructMechanism, and the ship explodes. Rayman is presumed killed in the explosion and his friends hold a funeral with his remaining shoe... only for it to spring to life and hop to Rayman, who is very much alive but missing a shoe.]]
* DistressedDude: Globox is this in-between events of the game, but most notably at the end.
* DownTheDrain: Many levels take place in sewers, most notably late in ''The Fairy Glade'', ''The Echoing Caves'' and ''Tomb of the Ancients''.
* DownerBeginning: The pirates invaded the Glade of Dreams, enslaved its inhabitants including the hero and destoyed the Heart of the World.
* DuctTapeForEverything: A Band-Aid variant: the pirates are such lousy mechanics that they fix things by applying ''Band-Aids'' on what is broken. Regular ones that go down in one hit, or metal ones that require missiles to blow.
* ElixirOfLife: At one point, Rayman meets a sick-looking Clark at the Menhir Hills. Clark explains to Rayman that he must have swallowed something bad for him, and he needs a life potion, hidden near the entrance of the Marshes of Awakening, in a place called the Cave of Bad Dreams. Jano, the guardian of the Cave of Bad Dreams, won't let you in if you don't know its name. After defeating Jano, Rayman returns to the Menhir Hills with the elixir, and Clark is back to his normal self.
* EnergyBall: Rayman's primary method of attack. It can be charged up for more damage once the Silver Lum for it is collected.
* EverythingsDeaderWithZombies: This installment adds a lot of zombified mooks to the Rayman universe, including zombie chickens, zombified arms that try to drag Rayman to his death, and the zombie henchmen in some of the versions.
* ExplodingBarrels: The pirate fortresses tend to be littered with powder kegs, which are not only ''very'' explosive, but can allow you to ''fly'' on some of them -- specifically, by igniting a keg with a nearby torch.
* ExplosiveBreeder: Globox and his wife, who have a family of 650 children!
* ExpositionFairy: Murfy. [[AnnoyingVideoGameHelper How annoying he is]] tends to depend on whether he's speaking English or "Raymanese".
* FakeDifficulty: To give the game a "cinematic experience" you can expect abrupt mid-air changes of camera angles without warning. This alters the orientation of your controls, and thus, ''[[CameraScrew screws]]'' you over.
* FloatingPlatforms: Propeller-powered ones!
* FollowTheMoney: Lums tend to be scattered around paths that you need to follow to progress in the level.
* FungusHumongous: Mushrooms that are larger than Rayman are in The Canopy, and there are smaller but still large mushrooms that can be used as trampolines in The Fairy Glade and The Menhir Hills.
* GameBreakingBug:
** The PC version bugs out at the start of the 'Top of the World' level on some copies, smacking a big 'no CD' alert that obscures the action, making the level impossible to beat unless you're a psychic.
** The 3DS port has an infamous glitch where the spider-web spring that allows you to reach the hidden 1000th lum does not work and only acts as a normal platform, making it impossible to reach without abusing Rayman's damage reaction from touching the nearby tiny spiders.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Razorbeard's lackey managed to get away with cursing in the PSX port:
--> '''Lackey''': Damn! He forgot to fill the tank!
* GiantSpider: You get to fight a couple of these. They're pretty tough.
* GodsHandsAreTied: Polokus is nigh invincible on land, but extremely vulnerable when airborne. Also, the destruction of the world's heart sends him into some kind of sleep/coma, and most of the game is spent finding the 4 Masks to wake him. As soon as he does, [[CurbStompBattle he proceeds to instantly wipe out all pirates]] - except those on the prison ship, as they are outside of his power.
* GratuitousNinja: Razorbeard's Ninja Henchmen!
* GreatEscape: The game is ''named'' after this, so...
* GrimyWater: Brown water is mostly seen in the swamp.
%%* GuardianAngel: Ly.
* HeKnowsAboutTimedHits: To the point that Rayman actually repeats a button command to himself right before he continues his adventure.
* HelicopterHair: Rayman has it by default in this game, but one level allows him to fly with it.
* HeliCritter: Rayman himself, using his hair.
* HeroicBSOD: Rayman in the beginning is desperate of the hopeless situation until Globox gives him a silver lum.
* HiddenElfVillage: Globox's village, home to his family, but only in the Dreamcast version.
* HubLevel: Revolution features several of these, in place of the Hall/Isle of Doors from the other versions.
* HumongousMecha:
** A massive, invincible robot appears in The Iron Mountain, lurking outside of a pirate fortress. It is ''very'' fast, and can easily crush you. It only notices you if you're riding a shell, however...
** The Grolgoth.
* ImpactSilhouette: Clark pulls this off by running straight through a wall, in order to help out Rayman.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Kegs of gunpowder. Besides throwing them, you can hold them up to a torch, turning them into a portable jet/missile.
* IndyEscape: The chase sequence late in ''The Cave of Bad Dreams''.
* InvincibleBoogeymen: Thee game abruptly takes a turn for the horror genre during the mission to the Cave of Bad Dreams; the finale of this mission pits you against Jano, master of the cave, who cannot be fought - only fled from. For good measure, his massive jaws frame the screen as he closes in on Rayman, ready to slam shut...
* JawsFirstPersonPerspective: A slightly terrifying chase sequence in "The Cave of Bad Dreams", as Jano chaes you down a slope through it.
* JuggleFu: A quite famous part of the game requires you to carry a powder keg towards a machine, in order to destroy it. Flying bombs move towards you while doing this, so on the way you have to throw the keg into the air, shoot a bomb and grab the keg again, multiple times.
* LaResistance: Rayman and co. If not in ''The Great Escape'' then at least in ''Rayman: Revolution''.
* LaserGuidedKarma: While the Pirates counqering of the planet was brutal and effortless, their downfall came just as swiftly and brutally--first, Rayman mows through the pirates forces, frees many prisoners and friends, and eventually awakens Polokus, who proceeds to destroy every single robo-pirate on the planet. Then, Rayman utterly defeats Razorbeard in combat, in spite of the latter having a state of the art giant robot at his disposal, forcing the latter to detonate his massive prison ship in a last ditch effort to kill Rayman (which fails), as the cowardly robot leader flees alone into the reaches of space via an escape pod.
* LastLousyPoint: Last Lousy Lum, to be more specific...
* LethalLavaLand: If the names 'Sanctuary of Stone and Fire' or 'Sanctuary of Rock and Lava' aren't a dead giveaway, there's something wrong with you.
* LovableCoward: Globox. The first sign of trouble, and he runs off to hide with a shriek.
* MagicMushroom: Entertainingly enough, a certain mushroom in ''Rayman Revolution'' that you can trigger to appear from a raindance prompts an onscreen message that says "[[ShoutOut Eat]] [[Literature/AliceInWonderland Me]]." Rayman can choose to eat it, which will cause him to shrink down to minuscule size. This allows him to enter a hidden area through a small opening that contains a cage. And of course, another mushroom in the area will bring him back to normal size again.
* MechaMooks: The Robot Pirates.
* MightyGlacier: Clark, one of Rayman's friends. Not particularly fast, but ''very'' strong.
* MiniGame: In ''Rayman Revolution'', collecting enough Familiar Spirits will unlock a multitude of mini-games, which will increase Rayman's health bar upon winning.
* MissingSecret: In some versions, the counter showing how much of the game you've completed stops at 99%, even if you've found everything in the game.
* MobileShrubbery: Of the big-nosed bush variety.
* MouthCam: ''The Cave Of Bad Dreams'' level uses this when the Guardian of the Cave catches up to Rayman and chases him down a slippery slide, with the camera switched to a POV shot of the Guardian's mouth, sharp teeth dripping with saliva and all. It's very effective.
* {{Mythopoeia}}: One of the defining new elements in this game was creating the myth of Polokus, spirit of the world.
* MyNaymeIs: Ly, pronounced "Lee". Justified, as that how is it would be pronounced in French, the native language of the developers.
* MythologyGag: Cameos of Mosquito and Anti-Toons from the first Rayman made brief appearances. Also, early in ''Revolution'' for [=PS2=], Rayman uses his normal fists for combat before he gets the energy ball.
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Almost word for word. The main enemies are Robot Pirates, there are a couple of Ninja Robot Pirates as EliteMooks, and some ports feature Zombie Robot Pirates, and they also descended to Rayman's world [[AlienInvasion from space, so they could be classed as aliens too.]]
* NintendoHard: Some of the levels, especially the later ones, can only be described as this, as the asshattery of the level designers starts to 'shine'. The stages can get ''very'' long, requiring absolute precision and timing with your jumps, with ''[[CheckPointStarvation stingy checkpoints]]'', not to mention your health-bar ''does not'' refill upon death. So if you exhaust your meter after many failures, which is conceivable given the challenge, its back to the beginning of the level for you.
* NonLethalBottomlessPits: The game with rife with bottomless pits, but falling into them will quickly send you back to the nearest checkpoint and only take off a bit of your health.
* NonStandardGameOver: Telling Jano you want the treasure at the end of the Cave of Bad Dreams results in one of these. Rayman takes the treasure and just forgets about saving the world, eats himself full until he's obese, and retreats to a miniscule island in the tropics. Fortunately, you go straight back to decision making afterward.
* NothingIsScarier: The "head start" Jano gives you tends to put you on edge. In reality you can leave Rayman standing there for hours and nothing happens...
* NudeColoredClothes: Ly the Fairy is either wearing one or actually naked, although in the Japanese version she's wearing a white bodysuit.
* OcularGushers: Globox's children can cry lots of tears.
* OneHitKill: Some of the enemies, like the teleporting robot pirates are capable of doing this to you in later levels such as "The Iron Mountain". Its so rare and circumstantial, but so '''devastating''' to your progress when it does happen, it can only be described as a 'glitch' in of itself.
* OrcusOnHisThrone: [[BigBad Admiral Razorbeard]] spends almost the entire game sitting in a chair on the {{Space Pirate}}s' flag ship the Buccaneer while his second-in-command gives him occasional updates on Rayman foiling his men around the world. It's not until Rayman boards the Buccaneer that Razorbeard confronts him directly by piloting a HumongousMecha for the final boss fight.
* OxygenatedUnderwaterBubbles: Produced by Carmen the Whale. In addition, ''Revolution'' replaces Blue Lums with Bubble Vents.
* OxygenMeter: It can be refilled by grabbing blue lums in ''Rayman 2'' and by finding air bubbles in ''Rayman Revolution''.
* PinkGirlBlueBoy: Globox is the Blue Boy and Uglette is the Pink Girl.
* PlotCoupon: The four masks of Polokus.
* PortalNetwork: The Hall of Doors.
* PsychoStrings: Used in the Dreamcast & [=PS2=] versions for the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMw6GYhOcds Spider's theme]].
* PunchClockVillain: Sometimes, Rayman can find some robots, that supposed to be on guard, sleeping on the job.
* RainDance: In the Canopy level, Globox helps Rayman make his way through the level by making rain fall on plants that turn into something useful for Rayman, or on the pirates' laser gates to cause them to short-circuit.
* RememberTheNewGuy: Rayman's got a lot of friends that never appeared in the first game. This was solved in [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary materials]] for ''VideoGame/RaymanOrigins'', at least with Globox.
* RibcageRidge: The Cave of Bad Dreams starts with Rayman crossing one.
* RiseToTheChallenge: The second part of the Precipice has Rayman climbing up a pirate structure as water rises below him.
* RocketRide: The shells. Some of them run around on legs and the other ones can just plain fly.
* SceneryPorn: There are a lot of unnecessary details and additions to the environments that have no purpose other than to look pretty.
* SecretTestOfCharacter: Jano rewards Rayman with the elixir after he declines all the treasures at the end of the Cave of Bad Dreams.
* SequelDifficultyDrop: An [[NintendoHard arguably necessary one]] after the [[VideoGame/Rayman1 first game]]
* SentientPhlebotinum: The lums. They're glowing orbs of energy with enough intelligence to float towards you. The {{Backstory}} reveals that [[spoiler:they created Polokus by combining their collective thought, and Polokus created the world.]]
* ShipTease: [[http://www.raymanpc.com/wiki/en/File:RaymanLy001.jpg Some of the]] [[http://www.raymanpc.com/wiki/en/File:RLRomance.jpg concept art]] of Ly and Rayman, although it never made it into the game.
* ShoutOut: the [=PS2=] version features a ''ShootEmUp'' minigame called [[VideoGame/RType Ray-Type]].
* SlideLevel: The Cave of Bad Dreams sees the Limbless Wonder escaping from the hungry jaws of the cave guardian Jano with a sequence set on a slippery slope of slime.
* SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness: Flip-flops about fifty-fifty on each side.
* SpacePirates: ''Robot'' space pirates, at that.
* SpeakingSimlish: The voice-acted dialogue is spoken in a fake, French-sounding gibberish language called "Raymanese". The [=PS1=] port, however, included new voice acting in English, French, etc. The [=PS2=] and Dreamcast versions also include the dubs, but the gibberish option still exits, and is arguably far more fun.\\\
Hidden amidst the Raymanese gibberish are three actual words: Rayman frequently says "Yeah!" and "Yahoo!" when gaining new powers and the like, and he yells "STOP!" in frustration at the bickering Teensies from the end of the first level.
* {{Sssssnaketalk}}: Oddly averted with Sssam. He only uses it once and speaks normally the rest of the time.
* StomachOfHolding: Globox in the opening, and how he sneaked in the Lum that gave Rayman one of his powers back.
* SuddenlyVoiced: Rayman did have a voice in the original game, but he barely talked (the closest he has to any actual dialogue is "Help!", "Yeah!" and "No Problem!") In this game, he's become very chatty.
* SuperTitle64Advance: ''[[UsefulNotes/NintendoDS Rayman DS]]'' and ''[[UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS Rayman 3D]]''.
* TakeYourTime: There's no penalty for just goofing around instead of going to the final level and fighting [[CaptainColorbeard Admiral Razorbeard]].
* TempleOfDoom: The optional temple area in "The Sanctuary of Stone and Fire".
* ThatRussianSquatDance: Rayman and a Teensie indulge in this when completing a level, as part of a ritual that enables the portal.
* ThankingTheViewer: The first person credited in the end credits? You, as "Best Player" (listed as whatever you typed in for your save game name).
* ThirdIs3D: ''Rayman 3D'' (the [[UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS 3DS]] version) is the third iteration of this game on a Creator/{{Nintendo}} handheld, first one being on the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor (as a 2D platformer called ''Rayman 2: Forever''), and the second one for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS (as ''Rayman DS'').
* TooFastToStop: Once Rayman starts riding a walking/flying shell in some segments of levels, such as the "Menhir Hills", Rayman cannot get off the shell until he reaches the end point of that segment. Also, if Rayman accelerates the walking shell, he cannot jump off until the acceleration is finished.
* TheUnderworld: The Cave of Bad Dreams.
* UniqueEnemy: Several.
** Mini Janos only appear twice in the game, once in The Cave of Bad Dreams and in The Sanctuary of Stone and Fire respectively as a group in the former and a lone individual (or two in the [=PS1=] version) in the latter, and are even more unique in that they behave differently in the two levels. The ones in The Cave of Bad Dreams dig into the ground, pop up somewhere else, then move forward for a while before digging again, breathing fire at you or grabbing you and eating you when you get too close, while the one(s) in The Sanctuary of Stone and Fire either hides behind a pillar and keeps it between you and him until you turn your back at him, at which point he will zoom out towards and try to jump on you, or in the [=PS1=] version they patrol a set pattern around the room, breathing fire at you when you get too close or attack them.
** The [=N64=], PC, Dreamcast, DS, 3DS and [=PS2=] versions have only two Ninja Henchmen, one at the end of The Precipice, and another one either in the interior of The Prison Ship in the [=N64=], PC, Dreamcast, DS and 3DS versions or The Echoing Caves in the [=PS2=] version. They are more common in the [=PS1=] version, though, where one acts as the boss of The Sanctuary of Stone and Fire, and [[DegradedBoss more appear a bit later as regular enemies]] in The Precipice, The Tomb of The Ancients and The Gloomy Island.
** The [=PS1=] version has only two green-wearing Henchmen who throw powder kegs, one in the second part of The Fairy Glade and another in the third part of The Canopy which is dropped off by the warship. There are also only two orange-wearing Henchmen in that version that shoot large energy bolts, one at the beginning of The Sanctuary of Stone and Fire and another in The Gloomy Island.
** The [=PS1=] version also has only two Spiders, one in The Canopy and the other in The Tomb of the Ancients, though they are more common in the other versions of the game.
* UpdatedRerelease: Apart from the PC, UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 and DS versions, no two versions of this game are the same.
* VillainExitStageLeft: [[spoiler: Razorbeard, upon his mecha getting crippled by Rayman, detonates his prison ship in a last-ditch effort to kill Rayman, and promptly escapes into the far reaches of space unharmed.]]
* WealthyEverAfter: PlayedForLaughs in the Cave of Bad Dreams level when Rayman is given a choice between the Elixir of Life that will allow him to continue his quest, or get the mountains of treasure hoarded by the Guardian. If you choose the latter, you get a NonstandardGameOver ending where Rayman simply forgets about saving the world and retires to a FarSideIsland. Of course, because the game can't actually end on such a lousy note, [[ButThouMust you return to the Guardian's offer until you make the right choice]].
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Near the end, Razorbeard angrily threatens to throw his incompetent lackey into molten lava, but afterward asks him to prepare the Grolgoth for the battle against Rayman. It's not known whether Razorbeard fulfills his threats offscreen or not.
* YouAllMeetInACell: The game starts with Rayman and Globox reuniting in a cell on the prison ship.
* YouHaveFailedMe: Before the final boss battle in the Crow's Nest, Admiral Razorbeard says that he will punish the Spyglass Pirate for his consistent failure to stop Rayman by seeing how well he would swim in molten lava. It is not clear whether this punishment was ever carried out, and the fate of the Spyglass Pirate remains unknown.
* ZeroEffortBoss: One would expect Umber, one of the four Guardians (in this case, of the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire), to put up quite a fight. [[spoiler: Instead, he simply waits for Rayman to jump onto on his head and then walks along the lava corridor and eventually is submerged completely, but not before enabling Rayman to jump off onto the platform bearing the mask Umber is supposed to protect.]] Umber explains this in the [=PS1=] version: [[spoiler:Ly contacted Umber, telling him about Rayman and his efforts to defeat Razorbeard. He knew Rayman was the chosen one without a doubt, and willingly gave him passage to the mask, where Rayman then met a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Ninja Henchman]] waiting to ambush him. Which, in the [=PS1=] version, instead makes this a BaitAndSwitchBoss.]]

''Rayman 2: The Great Escape'', originally released in 1999, is the first 3D title in the ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'' franchise, bringing with it a fully 3D world, a wide variety of skills that the player character could utilize, and a much more fleshed-out and consistent backstory, to the point of (until the ArcWelding sequel ''VideoGame/RaymanOrigins'' 12 years later) essentially being set in an AlternateContinuity from the [[VideoGame/Rayman1995 first game]] altogether and setting the stage for the rest of the series to build upon.

* SequelDifficultyDrop: An [[NintendoHard arguably necessary one]] after the [[VideoGame/{{Rayman1995}} first game]]

* OneHundredPercentCompletion: After a Yellow Lum is eaten by Razorbeard, it says there's only 999 to find, there's actually one more, [[FridgeBrilliance in a location that makes perfect sense in hindsight]]: [[spoiler: The Tomb Of The Ancients, where dead creatures walk freely, as spirits or otherwise]]. In the [=PS1=] version, he instead eats a Red Lum, as the section where that Lum is found is cut out entirely.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: The Lums. Yellow Lums are the primary collectible and in most versions give you more lore the more you collect, Red Lums refill your health, Blue Lums refill your air underwater, Green Lums act as checkpoints, you can swing on Purple Lums to reach different places, and Silver Lums give Rayman new powers.
* ColorCodedSubtitles: For the non UsefulNotes/PlayStation versions, Rayman's subtitles are colored blue while the [=NPC=] subtitles are colored yellow. Averted with the UsefulNotes/PlayStation version, where all the subtitles are blue. Regardless of which version, certain nouns are highlighted red.

* AlreadyDoneForYou: The fourth mask is already gotten for you by one of the baby Globox in the N64, [=PS1=], and Dreamcast ports. ''Revolution'' has you fight another guardian for it, averting this.

* TropicalIslandAdventure: This game's version of the Glade of Dreams is this type of setting, as seen in the official map that came with the N64 and PC versions and the level select of the Dreamcast and 3DS versions. One of the temples, The Sanctuary of Water and Ice, is also located on a smaller tropical island called the Lost Island, except in the [=PS1=] version, where it is part of Whale Bay.

* ArtifactMook: The Cave of Bad Dreams has mini-versions of Jano hounding Rayman throughout the area before a showdown with Jano himself. This is all well and good in Jano's homeworld, but another Mini Jano (two in the [=PS1=] version) appears in the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire, despite Jano himself being nowhere near said location.

* OneHundredPercentCompletion: After a Yellow Lum is eaten by Razorbeard, it says there's only 999 to find, there's actually one more, [[FridgeBrilliance in a location that makes perfect sense in hindsight]]: [[spoiler: The Tomb Of The Ancients, where dead creatures walk freely, as spirits or otherwise]]. In the [=PS1=] version, he instead eats a Red Lum.

%%* BottomlessPit
%%* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Clark.