Rayman 2's another one of those classic 3D platformers that I keep hearing about as a nostalgic favorite. That, and it was on my friend Bubbles's top 25, so I had a feeling this was going to be pretty good. From my experience, I can definitely say that Rayman 2 has fantastic level design; a lot of the 3D platformers of this era do this thing where they don't feel confident enough in their levels to just stick to exclusively 3D platforming, so they'll stick in a shooting minigame here, a kart racing minigame there, and a stealth segment there as diversions from the meat of the game. In Rayman 2 however, the platforming is the core of every level, and they nail it down pat. Even the flying, swimming, and chair rotating sections handle fine because they revolve around a 3D platformer at its core, and thus never feel like gimmicks. As such, Rayman 2 at its core is a fantastic and focused 3D platformer, and it doesn't let you down if you're the core audience.

That said, there are some flaws that could easily be reduced or rectified in a remaster. The camera at times forced perspectives on me where it was hard to make out some of the distance needed for jumps (particularly low lying camera shots), and there were times where I wish the FOV was just a bit larger because there were enemies shooting me off screen that I had to avoid. You also can't rotate the camera upwards or downwards to any degree, so it can be hard to make out when Teensies are caged above you or when you need to avoid enemies firing upon you. A free cam would fix most of these problems, and a FOV slider would fix the other one. I think the combat is also just a little too drawn out (dying from 2-3 standard shots should be just enough), but this is a relatively minor concern overall. And of course, at times I do wish the checkpoints were spread out a bit more evenly; I can't tell you how many times I died during the end of sections of the Precipice or the Pirate Ship only to get clipped by a laser or cannonball and have to restart the whole run again.

It's also worth mentioning that I played this on PC using a GOG version that's a bit scuffed... I had to install quite a few mods to get it running properly, and even then, ran into a glitch on the Iron Mountains where the Pirate Head DRM message popped up on my bought copy to stop me from progressing further. I had to unfortunately skip the end of the level here and move on. I'll acknowledge that this is most likely due to a poor port though, and hopefully Rayman 2: Revolution provides a cleaner experience.

All in all, I can see why Rayman 2 got the praise and acclaim from critics and audiences alike in 1999 as one of the best 3D platformers of its time, and it still holds up quite well. I think a modern remaster released on PC would cement Rayman 2 as unquestionably one of the best 3D platformers of all time alongside Super Mario 64, and I look forward to the day that Ubisoft wakes up and actually makes/remasters Rayman games. Shoutouts to Bubbles once again, you've got great taste and I'm glad I finally got to this, if only because you pointed me towards it.