The Rayman series has always been one of the most prominent platformers in gaming history. In 1996, Michel Ancel created the decapitated hero, and with releases for various platforms, Ubi Soft had themselves a new gaming icon. Of course, they were bound to make a sequel, and in 2000 they made the masterpiece, Rayman 2: The Great Escape. Since the golden days, Rayman hasn't really had another crowned era and even though the next sequel, Rayman 3 (original, isn't it?) was a very decent game, fans of the series were hungering for more. However, if only they'd looked as far as Finland, they would have noticed that a new gaming device called the N-Gage had had the honour of getting a great game set in the Rayman universe.

The Rayman games have never really used a story that much. It has always been there, but it never plays an essential part, and all you have to worry about is using your flying fists to knock out the enemies. But, if just for formalities, it's also in the N-Gage version and it starts with Globox (Rayman's big blue friend) swallowing a dark lum. The robot admiral Razorbeard discovers the lum and, wanting its power for himself, sets out to collect it from the inner confines of Globox's body. Rayman wants to protect his friend, and so there you are with a simple plot that's enough reason for plenty of platform hi-jinx!

Hunting down a robot admiral through a weird world of giant plums, powerful lums and magic fairies proves to be quite a challenge at first, but if you're familiar with the series you won't have such a hard time. As usual, you start the game with a minimum of special powers, not being able to do much more than jumping and running. But as the game progresses, the ever-helpful fairy, Ly, grants you more powers, such as throwing your fists off to hit enemies, using your hair as a helicopter and even flying. All of these skills are essential for completing the game, since most levels are built around one specific skill. For example, if you've just got the flying skill, you're likely to get to a level where the only way through is up. Even though it might sound repetitive, once you're at it you won't even notice, because the folks at Ubi Soft made sure the game keeps your brain active at a fairly relaxed yet engaging level.

Every level is made for you to use one or two skills; they never ask too much of you, such as solving difficult puzzles or outrunning giant enemies. It's all platform action, so if you just got the skill to smash the ground below you with your body, that's what you'll be spending most of your time doing. And being a typical early Nineties platformer, there are a lot of chasms to jump over, unstable platforms to get across and, of course, one of the trademarks of the Rayman series - the floating plum! You'll notice that a plum is a lot more than just a fruit, as you can float on it, use it to scoot across ice and even drop it on top of your enemies - it's very useful! But belly smashes and plums aside, all the levels are basically just getting from point A to point B, hopefully in one piece. Since all levels are split up into multiple sections, which are lacking an in-game save button, you'll be running through the levels more than once, because that bogeyman keeps surprising you.

As in any other platform game, there is something to collect. This time you have to collect more yellow lums, like the ones you spent hours searching for in Rayman 2. Or maybe that was just me... Oh well, the point is that they're here for you to collect. You don't have to collect all of them, (which is also a very hard job) so it's up to you if you want the game over with 100%. There are also the obligatory Teensies that are, again, trapped in cages spread over the levels; you just destroy the cages with your fist to free them.

The enemies Rayman bumps into on his quest to stop Razorbeard from fishing the lum out of Globox's stomach are all fairly basic. You're able to kill most of them with a single hit of your giant fists, and those you can't are probably bosses. But all enemies feel more like traps than real creatures, springing out once you get to a certain point, and even though this is not a game that's meant to be atmospheric, it does pull it down a little. There are various boss levels throughout the game, where Rayman confronts giant creatures that are in league with Razorbeard. They are all fairly simple and it's pretty much just the two of you trying to hit each other. All bosses in the game have a weakness, and once you find it, they're doomed. You might have to try again a couple of times to be crowned victor, but it's pretty easy once you know how. Most of them get back at you the magical three times (what is it with that number?) but they don't really change that much. Fortunately, they don't play a very big part in the overall experience, so they don't manage to drag down the score.

Rayman has an absolutely amazing soundtrack. As crazy as the game itself, all of melodies fit neatly into the levels and many of them are memorable. Rayman 3 is the closest thing you'll get to the original if you insist on staying away from retro games, and, as with the rest of the game, the soundtrack borrows most of its tunes from the original. There are sequences from it as well, like when you're beaten and Rayman stands with a basketball, and it's up to you whether or not the ball is going into the hoop. That sequence is taken directly from the original classic, complete with music, sounds, and the down-and-out look on our hero's face. You'll be humming the themes from this little wonder before you know it! Your enemies sound right as well, from the metallic grinding when you destroy a robot to the melody you get when you open a locked door. Even though everyone's incoherent mumbling of non-existing words and Rayman's yells of ecstasy when he's swinging in a magic lum would have been nice, you rarely notice they're missing. It could do with some sound when it's loading too, but again it's not something that'll really bother you that much.

Visually, this is a very simple game. Based, like the original, on a moving 2D environment with still backgrounds, the game's textures all look clean. The sprites are fine as well - they're never just a moving bunch of pixels on the screen and you can even make out the small details. Right from the great idiotic robots to the flying lums, you're never in doubt as to what any enemy is (maybe why it's there, but never what it is!)

Rayman 3 is the best platform game available for the N-Gage. It's a great port of the GBA version and the only thing you're missing when playing it through is an N-Gage Arena feature. There is a multiplayer feature, but it's only via Bluetooth, and that's a real shame. But with the usual wacky Rayman universe, this time very close to the original, you're likely to play it through more than once. The graphics won't leave you breathless and the sounds aren't much better than functional, but on the N-Gage's limited capacity it doesn't get much better than this, and the all-important gameplay will hold your attention throughout. If you're a fan of the series, you won't see many new features, as the game goes about as far back to the roots as you can get, without becoming a port of the original. But new features aside, this is a title that deserves the attention of both fans of and newcomers to the Rayman universe alike.

Reviewed by Niels Jakob Kyhl Jørgensen for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).