HISTORY OF RAYMAN

Rayman has become Ubi Soft's mascot throughout the world, from the United States to China. This surprising character, created by Michel Ancel, is now limbering up to put his skills to the test in a third adventure. But, first of all, let's remind ourselves of how he saw the light of day …

Rayman was born in 1994 from the sketches of Michel Ancel - a young graphic designer whom no-one had then heard of, with a passion for Russian, Chinese and Celtic fairy tales. Ubi Soft decided to give the character a chance by developing his first adventure, throwing everything they'd got into the project. Thus began the Rayman adventure!

The first warning shot across the bows!

Rayman was released on the new PlayStation console in 1995 and was an instant runaway success. For the first time, a video game publisher in the West was offering a serious alternative to the famous Japanese characters! Rayman - the legless, armless hero, with his big, mischievous eyes - could perform all kinds of increasingly aerial movements. He had get-up-and-go and a great sense of humour. He could run, jump, shoot his fist through space, or use his hair like helicopter rotor blades, making it spin round to take flight. In this first adventure, Rayman confronted the dreaded Mister Dark and succeeded in restoring order to his devastated world. The sparkling colours, the variety of the music (unmatched in quality at the time) and Rayman's manoeuvrability soon made the game a mega-hit. And, thanks to his dismembered appearance, Rayman stood out from the rank and file of other game characters! The fan sites boomed, and the cool, unflappable hero had become a star! Meanwhile, Rayman's second great adventure was at last under way …

Rayman 2: the 3D explosion!

It took over two years of unremitting toil, and 100,000 hours of work within the Rayman teams, to get our hero to kiss farewell to 2D and embrace the 3D Revolution! What's more, many specialists believe that Rayman was the most successful character in getting through this pivotal period. In 1999 and 2000, Rayman 2 The Great Escape - the long-awaited epic Rayman follow-up - was at last released on all consoles! Rayman 2 bowled people over with its stunning graphics and its knock-out gameplay quality. It was a sweet shock for all players, and Rayman's world conquest was now assured! The pirate robots had landed, and Rayman got new 3D friends like Globox - his fat blue buddy - or Ly the Fairy, and Murfy the greenbottle. None other than Steven Spielberg requested his own version of the game …

Rayman 3: the firework display - a genuine cartoon!

Unprecedented resources were put at the disposal of the new teams, led by Ahmed Boukhelifa.

Rayman RR: Beware of the Rabbids!

In Rayman’s world, there once lived sweet little cute rabbits that were constantly victimised by more ferocious animals. One day, they disappeared from the Earth’s surface, secretly planning their massive invasion. Armed with enormous war machines, they have now returned to enslave Rayman’s world and get their final revenge!

These poor little creatures have become deceitful, uncontrollable and completely psychotic. Our hero and his friends have been kidnapped by these diabolical rodents and have become their slaves. Like a gladiator, Rayman must endure a series of trials for their amusement. But will he manage to gain enough popularity to save his world and his friends from this veritable Invasion of the Rabbids?