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1[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rayman_m.png]]
2''Rayman M'' is a SpinOff of the ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'' series geared towards multiplayer, featuring characters from ''VideoGame/Rayman2TheGreatEscape'' along with a few new characters in racing and battle segments. The US version is known as ''Rayman Arena''. There is also a pared-down version for the [=PS1=] called ''Rayman Rush''.
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4!!Tropes included:
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6* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Dark Sewer and Pipe Maze both take place in huge [[DownTheDrain sewer-like]] areas.
7* AdaptationDistillation: The [=GameCube=] and Xbox versions did a great deal of overhauling the game, but a few things were dropped in the process:
8** Popolopoi and Lums mode on racing were dropped. The alternate mode in single player is now Time Attack, previously referred to as "Kill Time" and only available in multiplayer on other versions, in which you have to get a certain time ahead of your opponent rather than finishing 3 laps before them. The loss of Lums mode also means On and On is no longer present either.
9** Capture the Fly is not around for the battle mode anymore. Lum Fight is still around, but in single player mode not all weapons will be available for a given stage, possibly to ease the player in and give a sense of progression.
10* AdaptedOut: The Teensies are completely absent from ''Rayman Rush'', being replaced by Globette.
11* AdvancingWallOfDoom: The final race of the game, Speed Stress, has an advancing wall as your main opponent. If it touches you, you lose the race.
12* AllTheWorldsAreAStage: On and On is a very appropriate name for the second-to-last level. What is it, you ask? You do a single lap of ''every single non-bonus race course through the entire game.'' And it's a TimedMission as well... [[spoiler:and the time you get is equal to the amount of lums you grabbed in Lums mode, at one second per lum. Good luck if you hadn't realized you were actually going to ''need'' the extra lums.]]
13* AndYourRewardIsClothes: You can unlock various [[PaletteSwap alternate colours]] for Globox, The Teensies, and both Henchmen on the [=PS2=] and PC versions, and them plus everyone else on the [=GameCube=] and Xbox versions.
14* TheArtifact: Despite the title change for the American release, the introduction in the PC and [=PS2=] releases still retain the "Multiplayer" footnote during segues in the intro to denote what the "M" stood for. All instances of the game's name were properly changed to "Arena", so the "Multiplayer" seems a bit out of place as a result.
15* ArtificialStupidity: The AI in this game is...not exactly very well-refined. One point of notice, however, is that in Treasure Ship, there's a point where you have to hit a switch to lower a platform, and then a switch just past that raises it. For some reason, when the AI is off-screen, they ''completely forget how to use the switches''. This will often end up with them getting stuck there until you meet up with them again, at which point you've gotten so far ahead of them that it's now a CurbStompBattle.
16* AscendedExtra: The Popolopoi butterflies were little more than background decorations in ''Rayman 2'', but in this game, they're the center focus of the Popolopoi game mode as targets the player must shoot to get more time.
17* BalanceBuff:
18** A few of the weapons on the American [=PS2=] version were given an ammo buff over the original European release. For example, you now get 15 rubber bullets instead of 5, 10 fireworks instead of 3, and 12 rapid bullets instead of 9. Ice bullets were also added into the race mode. These buffs were not carried over to the American PC release.
19** The fake generator item got a pretty major buff in the [=GameCube=] and Xbox versions; rather than exploding on a delay after someone runs through it, it explodes on contact. This changes the dynamic quite significantly, as it goes from being almost a JokeItem to an actual threat.
20* BalloonBelly: Globox inflates briefly for his regular "punch" attack. He also does this as his method for gliding. Hilariously, he even "pops" and flies around like a balloon for his death animation.
21* {{Bowdlerization}}: For some reason, the flametongue bullet in Lum Fight was removed in all American versions of the game, even the PC version which had minimal changes compared to ''M''. The most likely cause for this could have been ESRB issues, as the flametongue bullet may have pushed the rating up a notch.
22* BrutalBonusLevel: Spooky Towers is the final battle arena of the game and only accessible through the Bonus League. It puts you against a single opponent on the [[HarderThanHard Ultra-Hard]] difficulty, who can fire off shots with pinpoint precision and [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard runs faster than the player can]].
23* ButtMonkey: Rayman himself suffers a lot of abuse during the cup videos in ''Arena'': he gets frozen, slammed through a brick wall, has a target of himself shot, and has his head hung on a door. In the ''M'' intro, he also gets blasted to ash by Henchman 800 and has his shoes stolen by Globox, leaving him standing in comedic yellow and purple-spotted socks during his profile shot.
24* CanonForeigner: Tily, Razorwife, Dark Globox and Henchman 1000 have yet to appear in the series proper.
25* TheCameo: Ly from ''Rayman 2'' has a battle arena named after her with a statue of her likeness, but she is otherwise not featured in the game.
26* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: On Ultra-Hard difficulty in battle mode, the CPU opponents actually run faster than the player can.
27* CosmeticallyDifferentSides: Every character plays exactly the same.
28* CoversAlwaysLie: The European [=PS2=] version features Ly on the back of the cover, implying she's a playable character. In-game, she is completely absent aside from a statue of her appearing in Ly's Palace.
29* DeflectorShield: The Ultimate Barrier protects the user by surrounding them with a spherical barrier for a limited amount of time, and deals CollisionDamage to other players.
30* DistaffCounterpart: Razorwife and Globette for Razorbeard and Globox, respectively.
31* DownTheDrain: Dark Sewer and Pipe Maze both take place in what appear to be large sewer-based areas.
32* EasterEgg: There's a secret area in Thousand Waterfalls where you can find a sunbathing Globox on a beach. It's hidden to the left of the first set of rotating lasers.
33* EmergencyWeapon: In the european version of the game, every character in Lum Fight has a melee SpinAttack they can use if they have no weapon, but it only pushes foes back and deals no damage.
34* EpicFail: During Battle levels, it is possible to hit and even kill yourself with your own projectiles. The latter causes your score to go ''down'', meaning that it's entirely possible to go below zero and have a ''negative'' score.
35* EternalEngine: Pipe Maze, Lava Factory, Electric Final.
36* EvilCounterpart: Dark Rayman and Dark Globox, who only appear in the [=GameCube=] and Xbox versions.
37* FatalFireworks: Firework Bullets launches green lobbed shots that detonates on impact, dealing one damage per hit.
38* FreezeRay: In all versions, you get freeze bullets in Lum Spring to stop your opponents in their tracks. In all the American [=PS2=] version, you also can do this in the races as well.
39* GainaxEnding: Granted, Rayman M has [[NoPlotNoProblem no plot]], but even then, the ending is just weird. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K041C_Qj-P0 See it yourself]].
40* GangplankGalleon: Forest Jump, Zenith Harbour, Treasure Ship.
41* GoKartingWithBowser: Or footracing with Razorbeard, as the case may be.
42* GottaCatchEmAll: Lums mode in races and Lum Spring in battles count as this.
43** In Lums mode, you have to try and get a specified amount of lums while still winning against your opponent, though there are five more lums than required... [[spoiler:unless you know that it will come in handy when you reach On and On to have as many as possible.]]
44** Lum Spring has randomly spawning orbs that you must reach before your opponents can.
45* GottaKillEmAll: Popolopoi mode in races and Lum Fight in battles count as this. Well, the former more loosely -- it's similar to a Time Attack mode, except there are butterflies (or Popolopoi as the game calls them) scattered throughout the track that give you more time for each one you shoot, and the goal is to give yourself enough time to finish three laps. Lum Fight is pretty much a straight up battle mode, where you need to use item pickups to fight off your opponents.
46* GrenadeHotPotato: Glue Bombs in Lum Fight act as this, which count down ten seconds and will inflict three hit points' worth of damage unless you pass it to another player.
47* GuideDangIt: Dawn Sand has a completely hidden passage that's near impossible to even ''know'' of unless you use a guide. There's a switch hidden on a flower that looks exactly like every other flower on the course, which opens up a passage that takes you through some speed boosts and back up onto a regular area of the map...and you actually phase through the ground when you do so, which means there's not even a way to backtrack and discover it that way! Especially nice, considering they hide two lums in there in Lums Mode.
48* HarmlessElectrocution: The lasers and electric fences in races do nothing more than slow down players that touch them.
49* HarmlessFreezing: Getting hit with a Freeze Bullet does little more than trap your character in place for a second. Unlike the other battle items, it doesn't deal damage and is only available in the Lum Spring mode.
50* HarderThanHard: The Ultra-Hard difficulty in the battle modes allows the CPU opponents to hit you with pinpoint precision and [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard run faster than the player can]]. [[BrutalBonusLevel Spooky Towers]] in the Bonus League puts you against a single opponent on this difficulty, and it's easily the hardest of the battle arenas.
51* HellIsThatNoise: The Buzz Rocket -- which [[OneHitKill instantly kills]] whoever it hits -- makes a loud buzzing noise to warn other players of its presence.
52* HomingProjectile: Hound Bullets will chase after the nearest opponent the user targets, inflicting one hit point upon impact.
53* HumanLadder: Two Teensies form one as to be the same height as the other characters.
54* InterfaceScrew: Speed Stress has you run through the same basic route three times while facing the camera. Each time you get through the route, the camera zooms in more, making it harder to see obstacles.
55* KeepAway: Capture the Fly has the players trying to hold onto a fly for as long as possible; the first player who shoots the holder successfully gets it themselves.
56* KillItWithFire: Flametongue Bullets are trails of fire that lingers for a few seconds and will inflict one hit point damage on anyone that comes in contact with it.
57* {{Leitmotif}}: Each character has their own theme.
58* LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand: In the [=GameCube=]/Xbox versions, losing a race results in your character's victory theme playing, only to slow down and taper off.
59* TheManyDeathsOfYou: Every character has their own creative death animation:
60** Rayman doubles over and falls backward, hovering just off the ground on his back.
61** Globox cartoonishly deflates like a balloon.
62** Henchman 800 and 1000's parts retract into their torsos.
63** Razorbeard's pants inflate before exploding.
64** Razorwife slowly disintegrates.
65** The higher one of the two Teensies vanish, causing their crown to drop down onto and flatten the other one.
66** Tily disappears in a flash of light, turning into a butterfly before flying off.
67** Dark Globox gets sucked up by his own tornado.
68* MarketBasedTitle: The US version is known as ''Rayman Arena'' and the Platform/PlayStation version as ''Rayman Rush''.
69* MercyInvincibility: Lum Fight and Capture the Fly give you a brief period of invincibility every time you respawn or when you successfully get a hold of the fly, respectively.
70* MissingSecret: In some versions of the game, it is impossible to get all 5 extra Lums in Dawn Sand: a hidden shortcut containing some is removed in Arena and the Lums weren't moved in another location, while the [=PS2=] version of M lacks one at the very start of the race.
71* NoPlotNoProblem: Unlike previous and future Rayman games that had at least an ExcusePlot, Rayman M/Arena lacks one completely, and neither M's nor Arena's intro try to introduce any kind of narrative into the game. [[AllThereInTheManual The manual]] however does explain in a brief paragraph that the game is a sport competition Rayman's friends and [[GoKartingWithBowser enemies]] are partaking in, something Murphy's reportage cutscenes in Arena also confirm.
72* OhCrap: If a character gets hit with a Glue Bomb, they will react in terror. If the countdown gets to 3, they will become even more terrified and gain a sudden speed boost to tag someone else with it.
73* OneHitKill: Buzz Rockets in Lum Fight are the only items that kill you in one hit.
74* PaletteSwap: Globox, The Teensies and both Henchmen have several alternate colours to chose from, though they have to be unlocked. In the [=GameCube=]/Xbox releases, every character now has three or four skins to unlock, except for Rayman, who only has one.
75* PalmtreePanic: Dawn Sand, Water Canyon, 1000 Waterfalls, Palm Beach, Coconut Island.
76* PinballProjectile: Rubber bullets in Lum Fight and Capture the Fly.
77* PromotedToPlayable: Globox, Razorbeard, the Teensies and Henchman 800 from ''VideoGame/Rayman2TheGreatEscape'' are playable for the first time, preceding Globox and the Teensies' appearance in ''Rayman Origins''.
78* RangedEmergencyWeapon: In the [=GameCube=]/Xbox versions, the rubber bullets were reworked into such for the Lum Fight mode. Each player has an infinite supply, but they can only be used if the player isn't holding any other weapons and the fire rate is nerfed.
79* ReformulatedGame: The game would get ported to the [=PS1=] under the title of ''Rayman Rush''. This version, in addition to the expected graphical downgrade, cuts out the battle mode altogether to focus on the racing gameplay.
80* RegeneratingHealth: Completely absent on most versions, but the [=GameCube=] and Xbox versions allow you to regain a health point for every kill you make in Lum Fight.
81* RegionalBonus: Quite a few:
82** The American PC version got a LAN mode that was absent in the European version. This also allowed for up to four players, as local multiplayer is limited to only two otherwise on this version.
83** The American [=PS2=] version both adds and [[InvertedTrope removes]] certain content:
84*** They gave the aforementioned weapon buffs, plus the ability to freeze opponents on the race mode.
85*** For some reason, the American [=PS2=] version removed several shortcuts and secret areas the other versions had, such as the [[EasterEgg sunbathing Globox]] in Thousand Waterfalls and the secret routes in Dawn Sand and Zenith Harbour.
86** And of course, the [=GameCube=] and Xbox versions, which gave the game a fairly notable makeover and added a lot of new features. One could even consider them completely different games to some degree.
87* RoaringRapids: A major part of the races, especially the second world where all the races are water-themed.
88* ScareChord: This occurs if you run out of time in [[TimedMission Popolopoi mode]], and it varies between levels.
89* ShipLevel: Treasure Ship.
90* ShoutOut: There's a racing level called [[Film/ForrestGump Forest Jump.]] Also, Pac-Arena in the [=GameCube=] and Xbox versions is an obvious homage to ''VideoGame/PacMan''.
91* TimedMission:
92** The Popolopoi mode has the player complete three laps around a track without running out of time. To get more time, they have to shoot the Popolopoi butterflies scattered around the course.
93** [[AllTheWorldsAreAStage On and On]] has you racing to complete one lap around every track in the game, with the lums collected in Lums mode providing additional time.
94* TreeTopTown: Forest Jump, Zenith Harbor, Spellbound Forest, and Ghastly Trees.
95* VariableMix:
96** In the race modes, the music playing changes depending on who is in the lead. It is generally in your interests to stay in first as long as possible, [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic since the songs get continually better as they go on.]]
97** Additionally, in Popolopoi, the music gradually gets more frantic the closer the timer reaches zero. Happens in Speed Stress as well as the wall gets closer to you.
98* VideoGameStealing: Item Leech steals a weapon from an opponent and gives it to the user. If all players on the field have no available weapon on hand, it will grab any weapon pickups scattered across the arena.
99* AWinnerIsYou: The ending cinematic isn't really anything all that special, it's just a short and trippy-looking cinematic of random characters from the game. It's not even present in the American [=PS2=] version either, for whatever reason.
100* WoundThatWillNotHeal: In Rayman M, every player character spawns in Lum Fight with 5 HitPoints in their respective LifeMeter, but there is no way to heal them once you lose them beside dying and respawning.

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