Ubisoft is celebrating three decades of one of its most iconic mascots with the launch of Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition. The collection will be available tomorrow across PC, consoles, and Ubisoft+.
The commemorative release bundles multiple versions of the original 1995 platformer together, alongside new content designed to both preserve and contextualize the franchise’s legacy.
Developed by Digital Eclipse in collaboration with Ubisoft Montpellier, the collection compiles five versions of the original Rayman, including its releases for the PlayStation, Atari Jaguar, the MS-DOS port, and both the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance handheld versions, giving players a cross-generational look at how the game evolved across platforms.
I just recently replayed the Game Boy Color version of Rayman myself via the ModRetro re-release and can confirm it still holds up as one of the best 2D platformers of its generation, even as a truncated handheld port. The true original version, remastered for modern consoles, should look and play wonderfully.
This re-release also features more than 120 additional levels drawn from rare bonus packs such as Rayman 60 Levels and Rayman by His Fans, as well as a long-lost SNES prototype that has never previously been playable. This is par for the course with Digital Eclipse, which is a company that always seems to go far above and beyond the typical expectations of game collections.
In addition to this collection, the anniversary edition introduces modern quality-of-life improvements, including a 60-second rewind function, infinite lives, invincibility options, and multiple save slots. The goal with these additions appears to be making the notoriously challenging platformer more accessible while still preserving its original structure and art direction.
Perhaps most notable is the inclusion of an interactive documentary featuring more than 50 minutes of brand-new interviews with the original developers, along with rare concept art, early sketches, and design documents chronicling Rayman’s creation. This sounds very similar to the excellent documentary footage Digital Eclipse has included in previous collections, such as last year’s Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection.
Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition will launch at a $19.99 price point, which seems like an excellent sweet spot to capture both those hungry for nostalgia and those curious about the past. Hopefully, Rayman 2, Rayman 3, and other past games get similar treatments in the future.