90%Nintendo GameCube

Also one of the greatest platformers. Just a little bit slow at times. But the setting and ideas are also amazing.

100%PC

*Warning: spoilers*

Great sequel with lots of new features, humor and content.

Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc is a worthy successor for the second game. It adds new game play mechanics, new enemies and a fun new story filled with jokes, new challenges and beautiful locations.

In terms of story, Rayman 3 stays true to the previous games. You got your villain, in this case a Hoodlum called André who wants to take over the world by turning all the Lums into the black, plushy Hoodlum enemies in the game. Rayman (and Globox) need to stop him and his army of Hoodlums and save the world.

You travel trough many different worlds with the help of the Teensies, who are always partying and sometimes take a moment to teleport you to the next world. Every time you are about to enter a new world, you need to complete a skateboarding level in a space dimension with rails that you need to stay on. You go to swamp worlds, icy mountains, forests and fairy landscapes. It is all great fun and no level looks the same. The levels are linear but designed in a way that you can explore them however you want, and you can backtrack almost any time.

The mechanics in Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc have been greatly improved. You now have a targeting system to hit enemies more effectively, can throw punches in an arch around them and the best new feature of all: The different suits that you collect, each with their unique power. You got power fist armor which can be used to insta-kill most enemies and break wooden doors, swinging grappling hook armor which lets you swing on rings, a rocket suit that let you guide a rocket towards a target or enemy and many more. They last a short amount of time but when you got a can (yeah, they come in cans), you can recharge the suit infinitely. Although the cans and their use are heavily scripted in order to progress (a button out of reach that you need to hit with the rocket suit for example), you can still use the suit for an advantage against enemies or discover hidden locations in the area. Many times, I walked back to a can so I could get a stronger punch against the enemies.

Speaking about the enemies, I really like their appearance as sack like dolls with sewed mouths and wobbly movements. They make funny noises when punched and can present a real challenge sometimes. I thought they were just as fun and well balanced as the Pirate Robots from Rayman 2: The Great Escape.

The graphics are also improved from Rayman 2: The Great Escape. Although Rayman himself and Globox look the same, the environments are all completely fresh and filled with live and moving objects. The artwork and colors are just stunning for a game from 2003.

The sound effects are great, and you can feel the punches that you throw at your enemies. The snappy sounds when you grab rings, the destruction of a wooden door that you break, it all sounds perfect. The music tracks are also a work of art on their own. The best examples are the swamp levels, in which the music is a tragic, almost depressing tune that fits the flat and lifeless environment, and the boss battle, in which you get pumped up and the tracks increase in intensity when progressing trough the different phases of the battle.

The controls are fluent and a big improvement over Rayman 2: The Great Escape. Although the controls were all right in that game, in Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc, they feel more responsive and less stiff.

The end boss battle was epic. It did not have the right to be this amazing and thrilling but it did. Conquering the three phases of the final battle was, as a kid, one of my proudest achievements and one of the best boss battles that I experienced.

The best feature in this game is the sarcastic and humorous approach that the game takes on all of a sudden. Murfy reads from the original Rayman manual and makes multiple jokes about the first games and video games in general. Globox is portrayed as an idiot and lives up to that title. His facial expressions and commentary are hilarious, and I still think the humor in this game is one of the best I experienced.

Overall, I think Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc is a very good game, and I loved every second of it.

Definitely recommend it.

100%PC

Retour dans l'univers enchanteur de rayman avec une aventure loufoque et la fée murphy vraiment drôle par moment. Les nombreux pouvoirs débloqués permettent de progresser au sein du monde et d'affronter différents boss vraiment réussi.

40%Emulated

I enjoyed some of the more clever platforming sections, but this game is too combat-heavy. The combat was way too repetitive for how much they focused on it. Also, the final boss was way too long to be enjoyable and honestly was ready to quit the game but pushed through to say I completed it.

80%PC

childhood classic here

60%Nintendo GameCube

yeah it was pretty good, 6.5/10

70%PlayStation 2

Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc marks Rayman's second foray into the realm of three-dimensional gameplay, and sees Rayman embark on a mission to prevent André, an evil black lum, from conquering the world with his army of Hoodlums.

Unlike its predecessor, the story of Rayman 3 takes a more light-hearted and comedic approach, featuring sarcastic self-referential humour that sets it apart from the more serious tone of Rayman 2. While the story is primarily told through bits of dialogue and occasional cutscenes, it mostly takes a backseat to the gameplay, allowing players to fully immerse themselves in the action. The storytelling pairs well with the gameplay and makes for a uniquely enjoyable experience.

Rayman 3 boasts more advanced combat mechanics than its predecessor, Rayman 2. Players can now lock onto enemies and strafe around them while throwing curved punches, enabling them to dodge enemy attacks and strike at vulnerable points. These new features give combat a deeper and more dynamic feel, making it much more enjoyable and a more strategic part of the gameplay.

In Rayman 3, players have access to a variety of power-ups known as combat fatigues, which grant Rayman various abilities that enhance his combat and platforming skills. These abilities include Vortex, which allows Rayman to throw whirlwinds from his fists and interact with various platforms, Heavy Metal Fist, which increases his damage output and allows him to break through wooden doors, LockJaw, which allows him to swing from flying hooks and shock his enemies, Shock Rocket, which allows him to shoot guided missiles, and Throttle Copter, which enables him to fly. Each of these power-ups has a time limit, which is used to create interesting puzzles that require players to switch between different power-ups to progress through an area.

Rayman 3's world design is notable for its variety and creativity, featuring a wide range of distinct and visually striking locations, including magical forests, dark and swampy bogs, scorching deserts littered with bones, and snowy mountaintops. Each area is unique not only in its appearance, but also in the gameplay mechanics it introduces, keeping the game fresh and engaging throughout.

Unlike its predecessor, Rayman 2, which featured a world map and required players to backtrack to certain locations, Rayman 3 follows a more linear design. Each level flows directly into the next, with the major areas connected by Teensie Highways - psychedelic tunnels that transport Rayman between worlds as he skateboards his way through them. This structure allows for a more cohesive and continuous experience.

Overall, Rayman 3 is an excellent 3D platformer that excels in almost every aspect. Its diverse and imaginative levels, engaging combat and puzzles, and humorous story all come together to create a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

70%Emulated

Really fun game in the rayman franchise even if a bit weird in pacing

80%Xbox

Gameplay innovations are impressive, but the universe is less colorful than Rayman 2.

60%PlayStation 2

oooooh no

80%PC

I'd never played a Rayman game before this was gifted to me. It was good times, especially with the variety of abilities, actually incredibly fun platforming levels, and hilarious, over-the-top characters.

70%PC

Peak Rayman.

50%PC

Ja wiem, że gra się zestarzała i była skierowana raczej do młodszych odbiorców, ale kiedyś dawno temu w nią grałem i pamiętam, że wtedy jej nie przeszedłem. Teraz po wielu latach spróbowałem znowu pograć ze względu na świetny polski dubbing, ale odbiłem się od tego tytułu. Sterowanie kuleje i nie jest to dobry tytuł na powrót po wielu latach z dzieciństwa w dorosłych życiu. Lepiej niech zostanie w pamięci jako nostalgicznie ciekawa pozycja. Szkoda czasu teraz na męczenie się w tę grę.

80%PC

Excellent platformer. Frenetic and fast-paced, mostly linear with just just the right amount of collectible nonsense. The temporary superpower mechanic works really well.

Why only eight then? The game actually changes quite a lot from the second game, which I think is the pinnacle of the pre-Rabbid era of Rayman, and most of those changes dull my enthusiasm. The artstyle is less stylized (although still much more than most other games), the characters now speak real languages (and does use John Leguizamo incredibly well, to be fair), and the world feels a whole lot smaller and less wondrous than in the previous game. There's a sense of humor much more present now, and while it's usually charming and not overly distracting, there's a couple characters, meant for comic relief, that make me e x t r e m e l y u n c o m f o r t a b l e (notably a witch who wants Rayman to "take advantage" of her, but somehow with even less subtlety than that implies... yeesh). Plus, the Desert of the Knarren level is really not fun and feels like it drags on forever, which caused me to be more impatient with the rest of the levels afterwards.

However, if I try to forget about the previous game, I'd give this one a 9, and if they ironed out the Desert of the Knarren, the game might even be a 10. There's a few different moments in the game that change the gameplay, such as playing bumper cars with your own shoes, which all work smoothly and don't distract from the game. There's some really fun ideas, such as the psychedelic disco surfer tunnels between the various doctor's offices, which are a lot of fun when you get the hang of them. And there's tons of bonus content! It can be hard to unlock all of it, but there's samples of a 516 (or so) training DVD set on "How To Kick Rayman" (which are like watching unusually mean Looney Tunes segments), and a bunch of bonus minigames that are actually pretty fun and worth unlocking. All of these are integrated into a fast-paced package that you can easily punch your way through in ten hours or less. Totally worth it, give it a shot if you're interested.

Also, shout-out to the music. It's all well-composed and catchy as anything. The boss at the end of the Desert of the Knarren's music is some of my favorite boss music out there.

70%PC

Rayman 3 for the most part wasn't too bad, it tried to change things up coming from Rayman 2 and while not all of it successfully landed execution-wise, it did make for a different experience.

First things first, the controls and camera, still not perfect but a lot better than Rayman 2, I encountered far fewer scenarios where I was jumping blind because the camera got stuck on a wall or something, likewise the jumping and depth perception, much better, and combined with level design that's not as punishing it made things much less frustrating.

That said, there are elements added that replace that annoyance. The first most obvious one is the points and combo system. You are introduced to this right at the start of the game, most actions you perform, picking up items, killing enemies etc will award points, and doing enough of these actions within a time frame will combo them together and multiply the points you get from each subsequent action. Thankfully this isn't a core mechanic of the game, it's not outright required for anything other than unlocking optional, bonus side levels. I say "thankfully" because while the controls are improved, they are simply not that good to imply any player perform any series of actions in haste, particularly with how stringent the timer is on losing the combo.

What compounds this is the new "power" system. At various points in the game cannisters can be found providing Rayman with what seems like a superhero outfit and special power, like clawed fists to grapple and swing or a strength upgrade to punch through doors. On the whole this mechanic is pretty cool, it adds variety to the game, it just doesn't gel so well with the combo system if you were to engage with it, you are awarded a x2 multiplier to the score combo for actions performed while upgraded and some of these powers last ages while others wear out in seconds. Put short if you were playing for score and combo, trying to manage your item pick ups with super power timer, while also wrestling with the controls so as to not lose your combo....it's all just not worth the effort even though it's something that seems the developers wanted you to care about.

The game itself feels much more driven, you're propelled into the next level compared to Rayman 2 where you'd return to the level select map. I'm not actually sure if you can revisit old levels in Rayman 3 since I never did it. Either way, it feels like a more focused game, you're not exploring around as much for hidden exits and cages, though cages exist here they are typically always placed in the path of the player, levels aren't that expansive.

Other than that though there's not much to say. Combat is a bit worse off, you can lock on target but the range is annoyingly short, and you can curve your fist's path by strafing while attacking. Most enemies in the game require this as they will simply defend against a straight on punch, so having to awkwardly strafe and attack, often in cramped, narrow corridors or walkways can get tedious. Combat has a lot more focus here too, lots over areas where maybe 2 or 3 waves of enemies will appear in an arena like area waiting to be killed. Not a huge negative, just something to note between 2 and 3.

Wasn't a huge fan of Rayman's new voice, or how creepy and oddly mature the humour was, especially coming from Murfy, one of his first lines for example is asking Rayman when is clothes come off. Globox I did find somewhat humorous though, which is surprising. Everything else isn't that noteworthy, it's passable for the sake of the gameplay, though I am underselling it somewhat, the story is somewhat absurd and frenetic, it's very "French" in a sense.

I should mention some sections, like the psychedelic surfboard sections, those are really annoying, very difficult to judge position and movement and it can lead to a lot of failures. There's a few other mini game sections here and there which are more annoying than they need to be, few and far between but still worth being aware of.

I know my thoughts on this game are a bit scattered. Would I recommend it? I guess, sure. It's just alright, I think I enjoyed 2 better despite it's problems, but the quality of this game is still good. There's probably better games you could play but if you wanted to choose this one there's fun to be had. Again though, if you are contemplating Rayman 3 then you're probably interested in the series, and in that case yeah, definitely give this game a go.