* AntiClimaxBoss: [[spoiler:Andre. He does nothing at all, and you defeat him with one move. To be fair though, Leptys-empowered Reflux was doing all the work.]]
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Behold, one of the funkiest video game soundtracks ever made.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB8XQn3zdRA The Hoodlum Wizard theme.]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s94VB0dEfC0 Madder]], the opening theme, is pretty badass, and the trailer that accompanies it is just as awesome. Unfortunately, due to copyright issues, it's missing from the HD release. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KNXCYYuHmc The video can be viewed here.]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUvCPgTxPQU The Land of the Livid Dead's theme]], a peaceful, serene track that really gives the mystical feel.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mY0CBpwfFVI Reflux the Knaaren]] is suitably epic and ominous for a BossBattle. And it does so with jaw harp and didgeridoo bits, of all things.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeViC1yNm1c The snowboard music]]. Pumps you up beautifully.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNOpRmPJ87I Funkyboard]], the music for the Teensie Highway levels, as funky as both your board and [[DisneyAcidSequence the crazy levels themselves.]]
* BestBossEver:
** Both of Razoff’s fights are extremely memorable: the first is a cat and mouse chase through the hunter’s mansion and the second is a fight in his dungeon [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome where he swings from a wrecking ball]].
** The first fight with Reflux is arguably one of the most memorable fights in the whole franchise with its dark music, [[SceneryPorn epic arena]], and Reflux himself who steadily gains more and more attacks as the fight goes on.
* BestLevelEver:
** The final phase of Clearleaf Forest where, after you defeat Hoodstomper, you take control of his colossal mechanical legs and smash the hoodlums like bugs.
** The Land of the Livid Dead and the Desert of the Knaaren are often considered the game's high points. The former is a level with some of the best SceneryPorn in the entire game (and introduces the fan-favorite Hoodoo enemy type) and the latter is an extremely intense SurvivalHorror romp through a tomb filled with dozens of horrific monsters.
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
** The Bog of Murk. This section has no plot importance, Globox is absent for the majority of the level, Andre has no dialogue, and Rayman fights two villains who aren't connected to the Hoodlums in any fashion. This is however all justified since Rayman got here because he fell out of a Teensie Highway that was under construction, meaning the whole level is quite literally a detour.
** The segments involving Rayman being shrunken down and riding one of his shoes to repeatedly hit the other. While they crop up multiple times, the segments have no story relevance or foreshadowing whatsoever, Rayman never acknowledges what happened at any point and they primarily act as {{padding}}.
* BreatherLevel: The Longest Shortcut is a much shorter level than Desert of the Knarren, with a few rooms of puzzles/platforming and no enemies or end level boss.
* CantUnHearIt: ''Rayman'' fans generally agree that Creator/BillyWest is the definitive voice for Murfy.
* CatharsisFactor: After being forced to avoid Knaaren as Rayman, the Sentinel minigame has you bomb them away as a Hoodboom.
* ContestedSequel: ''Rayman 3'' is [[DenserAndWackier quite different in tone]] from [[VideoGame/Rayman2TheGreatEscape the previous game]], and opinions are divided as a result. Some say that [[FranchiseKiller it was the game that put the series on the back-burner before]] ''VideoGame/RaymanOrigins'' was released (though way more blame the ''VideoGame/RavingRabbids'' for that), while some others say that it was the last good ''Rayman'' game before then and that it is [[EvenBetterSequel actually more polished]] than ''Rayman 2''.
* CrossesTheLineTwice: The "Wanna Kick Rayman" bonus videos. Animal abuse in on itself? Not all that funny. Dressing the animals up as Rayman and having a hoodlum torture (and in some cases, ''kill'') them in absurdly brutal ways like hitting one with a hammer so hard [[EyeScream its eye pops out]] or flushing another down the toilet? [[BlackComedyAnimalCruelty Hilarious]]!
* DisappointingLastLevel: The ending phases are relatively lackluster compared to the rest of the game. Once you hit the Hoodlum Hideout, the final few levels start to become straight platforming challenges with little variation, and the Tower of the Leptys is essentially nothing but platforming and combat all the way through with little in the way of puzzle solving or interesting bits, aside from the surprise turret section towards the end.
* EvilIsCool: The Knaaren are the main reason why the Desert of the Knaaren is such a beloved level, completely stealing the spotlight from the Hoodlums and shifting the game into an entirely different genre through their intimidation factor alone.
* HarsherInHindsight: Murfy's infamous "See you in Rayman 4" seems harder to swallow given Creator/MichelAncel, the creator of Rayman and had once promised a ''Rayman 4'', announced his retirement from game development in 2020. Add to that, while Creator/{{Ubisoft}} owns the IP and trademark, both ''Origins'' and ''Legends'' only came to be thanks to Ancel's involvement and sold poorly, meaning an actual ''Rayman 4'' is [[DevelopmentHell less likely to occur]] due to the franchise being seen as not as profitable as [[CashCowFranchise massively successful properties]] that skew towards older demographics like ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed''. Whether the ''VideoGame/MarioPlusRabbidsSparksOfHope'' DLC ''Rayman in the Phantom Show'' can lead to a new game is up in the air.
* MemeticLoser: While Reflux makes up for it with some great boss fights, more than one player has felt that he's somewhat underwhelming for being the so-called "[[FakeUltimateHero Champion of the Knaaren]]", since he is the only one in an ''entire species'' of invincible monsters that Rayman can face in one-on-one combat.
* MemeticMutation: "See ya in Rayman 4!"[[note]] Murfy shouts this out to Rayman as a farewell. ''Rayman 4'' is in DevelopmentHell for years.[[/note]]
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Combat in ''Rayman 2'' was strongly criticized for mostly boiling down to a tedious “attack, dodge, wait for the enemy's invincibility frames to wear off, attack again”. Combat in ''Rayman 3'' is much more dynamic and requires a greater amount of agility from the player, since many enemies are now capable of dodging or parrying hits, or otherwise must be defeated in unconventional ways.
* ScrappyMechanic: After a while, you'll start getting really annoyed by the fact that Rayman has to somersault EVERY time he jumps, which seems to slow him down.
* ThatOneAttack:
** Reflux has the fireballs he summons every time his weak point is exposed, they home in on you and avoiding them usually means you give up the chance to deal significant damage due to the short window of time he's vulnerable.
** Final Reflux ups the ante in his first form with homing lightning strikes that he basically floods the field with once his weak point is exposed.
* ThatOneBoss: Final Reflux's last form, which you have to fight using the flying machine introduced earlier. The issue is the mechanics of the turret section have changed so you now only fire in spurts, making focusing on the weakpoint, which you pretty much have to be on at all times to proceed, a chore. And then there's the regeneration phase, where you have to contend with an awkward camera angle and a very unreliable area of effect attack to try and reduce the hoodlum numbers.
* ViewerGenderConfusion: Those old turtles that you can carry [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential or kick around]]. Their common design shows them having very long eyelashes, yet their in-game description refers to one as a "he". And to top it all off, their elderly voices are ''extremely'' androgynous, which could imply that [[AmbiguousGender each turtle could be any gender.]]
* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: The game has a surprising amount of innuendos for an E-rated game, among them a Teensie doctor who's a GRatedStoner and a DoubleEntendre conversation when Knaarens argue about their ''hats'' but it sounds like it's about their penis. Not to mention the DarkerAndEdgier ToneShift compared to ''Rayman 2''. The remaster was bumped up to an E-10 rating.
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