While Ubisoft has been quiet about the Rayman franchise, rumors have been circulating of the company looking to bring the mascot platformer back to celebrate its 30th anniversary. Adding further credence to this, series creator Michel Ancel has spoken about a remake of the original Rayman being in the works. Speaking to Retro Gamer magazine, Ancel spoke fondly about the first game, and how it still holds up quite well in the modern gaming landscape.
“I think Rayman is still a fun game, and there’s a lot of content,” said Ancel, as caught by social media account Rayman Merchandise. “The pacing is a bit slow because you have a big character on the screen. It also has pixel-precise gameplay, so it’s not always easy, but it’s interesting that the constraints of yesterday make it still feel original today.”
He went on to discuss the remake, and how Ubisoft will help modernize it by giving it HD visuals, as well as quality-of-life features like more frequent mid-level checkpoints to help make some of the more challenging parts less frustrating.
“Even though it’s complex I think there’s a kind of remake planned. I don’t remember when specifically, but it will be in HD and I think Ubisoft is adding a few more checkpoints and things like that just to make it a bit less frustrating. I think that’s a nice move, because that’s the only point that could be a problem for non-skilled players. But yeah, I think it’s still a very nice game,” he said.
Rumors of Rayman returning could be seen as recently as just last month, with a listing for Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition being spotted on the website for the Australian Classification Board. The title was seemingly registered on January 22, and has a rating of “G” thanks to its mild violence, being “suitable for everyone”. At the time of publishing, however, the rating has since been taken down.
The report also indicated that there are two Rayman projects in the works at Ubisoft, codenamed Iceman and Steambot. Iceman is expected to be the Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition, while Steambot is reportedly a remake of 2013’s Rayman Legends.
Earlier rumors have revolved around Ubisoft working on a brand new numbered entry in the Rayman franchise since 2003’s Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc. However, development on the title is only expected to start in earnest after the company gauges the success of the Rayman Legends remake.
Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition is expected to be remastered, if not outright remade versions of the original Rayman trilogy: Rayman, Rayman 2: The Great Escape, and the aforementioned Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc. The first title was originally released in 1995 on PC, Atari Jaguar and PlayStation. Rayman 2: The Great Escape would come out in 1999 and would see a wider release across Nintendo 64, PlayStation, PS2, Dreamcast and PC. Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc was the follow-up, coming out in 2003 on PC, PS2, Xbox and GameCube.
For its part, Ubisoft has noted that it is actively working on the “future of Rayman“. However, producer Loic Gounon also said that fans of the franchise shouldn’t expect news “too soon”.