I had mixed feelings about Rayman 2 - it was a good game but a little pedestrian and despite a range of mini-games and a great variety it lacked that extra something to give it classic status. So I was pleased to see that Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc takes the best of the previous games, adds a host of new ideas and receives a graphical makeover, ending up as a very enjoyable platformer.

Despite being a bizarre and somewhat unremarkable character, Rayman has managed to achieve cult status and I doubt there are many gamers who haven't heard of him. For those few of you who don't know, Rayman is a strange looking guy who has no arms and legs - his hands and feet float in the air, connected to his body by an invisible force. He lives in an even stranger place, inhabited by a range of bizarre creatures. There are things called lums that Rayman collects to restore his health, but disaster strikes as the lums go bad. One of the lums becomes the Black Lum, known as Andre, who quickly sets about transforming hundreds of other peaceful, innocent lums into maniacal troublemakers - the hoodlums of the game's title. Andre's insane plot to take over the world might just work, unless Rayman intervenes and so our story begins.

As usual, the Rayman story is very shallow and quirky - and it works brilliantly! Rayman's tone is definitely that of a platform game not wanting to be taken at all seriously and so the outlandish plot and characters add some nice humour to the game that works very well. The action starts off with a mini-game, as Murfy, the greenbottle who was your guide in the last game but only appears at the start of this one, flies you away from the Hoodlums and you must guide him to collect all the jewels in the level as you fly around at high speed. It's a nice introduction to the new graphics engine, which looks lovely. Rayman 3 has had a serious facelift and the graphics are firmly into next generation territory. All of the locations and landscapes are nicely detailed with a style that is somewhere between real and cartoon; it's not quite cel-shading but everything looks crisp, colourful and fresh.

Indeed, Rayman 3 is one of the most distinctive looking games around at the moment and its unique graphical style works really well. It's an evolution of the exaggerated, cartoon style of previous games and the range of pick-ups, environments and enemies are more imaginative than ever. Rayman is accompanied on his journey by his bumbling friend Globox, a giant frog. Globox pulled off Rayman's hands whilst trying to wake him (!) and so Rayman now has to catch him - but he's very frightened by the Hoodlums and is running around in a barrel as a disguise. This presents the first simple puzzle in the game - you must stop Globox long enough to catch him and smash that barrel, so he can see it is you that's chasing him. Then it's off to the see the fairies, whose power has been exploited by the Hoodlums. They've also locked up all the Teensies, guardians of the portals that connect the various parts of Rayman's world together and so you have to free them too.

Rayman 3 is packed full of variety and imaginative ideas. Rayman has the ability to jump and glide using his propeller ears, punch and fire energy balls using his gloves. Nothing new there you say but Rayman can strafe to make his energy balls arc around to the left or right. Thus there are a number of enemies who are shielded at the front and must be shot using this technique. There are also lifts where you must strafe left and right, shooting at a mechanism repeatedly to gradually raise the lift upwards.

The Hoodlums have also created a laser washing powder that gives Rayman super powers - but only for a limited time. There are five varieties in all. The green Vortex allows Rayman to shoot whirlwinds, which can lower unstable ledges to his reach and knock Hoodlums walking around on high stilts to the ground. The red Heavy Metal Fist allows Rayman to smash certain doors and dispense with enemies more quickly whilst the yellow Throttle Copter gives him a few seconds of being able to fly straight upwards to access otherwise unreachable locations. The blue Lock Jaw gives Rayman metal jaws on springs - these are mainly for use in swinging between floating hoops in the air but can also grab enemies and shock them. Finally the orange Shock Rocket is probably the most fun - you fire a rocket and the camera follows it as you guide it to its destination, which might be a caged Teensie to free, a door to smash or an enemy to blow up, this being particularly amusing as you see the Hoodlum run around in panic as the missile homes in on him and explodes! Each super power comes with an amusing looking costume and adds great variety to the levels, providing a wide range of puzzles using all manner of combinations of Rayman's new abilities.

It's not far into the game when disaster strikes - Globox accidentally swallows Andre! Rayman's mission is now to get Globox to a Teensie witch doctor that will be able to get Andre out again. Meanwhile, Andre is just as loud and rude as ever, making snide remarks and bouncing around inside Globox's belly! This brings me to one of the best new additions to the game - the voice acting. Rayman doesn't say very much but his voice suits his character. Globox, however, is nothing short of hilarious (I'm sure some people will find him irritating but I think he's great!) and has all the best lines. He's just such a doofus and him and Andre make a brilliant double act with their banter.

Periodically Globox must drink plum juice to keep Andre happy but Globox is unfortunately allergic to the juice and swells up like a balloon. He will then float over areas that Rayman must negotiate on foot, sometimes hiccupping giant purple bubbles that Rayman can bounce on to make it across! It's just so surreal and Globox's facial expressions are a treat. All of the sound effects are varied, interesting and very fitting too but best of all on the sound front is the music. Rayman 3 has some of the quirkiest, catchiest tunes you're ever likely to hear in a platform game, varying greatly in tone depending on the location but almost always adding a feel-good factor to the game and complementing the action brilliantly.

There is a lot to collect and plenty of secrets to uncover in every level. Jewels are scattered around all over the place and you get bonus combination scores for picking up jewels in quick succession - their value is also doubled if this is done whilst you have a super power active. As well as this, Rayman can go into a first person view mode and scour the scenery for Matuvas, little chameleons that whistle at you when they're nearby. Spotting these gives you extra points and is part of the completion percentage at the end of each level. You will also see the shy Tribelles but if you don't sneak up on them they'll vanish before you get any points. There are the cages to find, as well, plus there are hidden locations on every level with jewels in them and some of them are really tricky to find - this means that whilst kids can happily work their way through, adults can go for the bigger challenge of fully completing every level, which is very tough to do and will take a long time if you're up for it.

The level designs are as varied as they are clever and interesting, with no two levels seeming much the same. Scenery changes as you progress through forests, swamps, Hoodlum camps and on into strange, spooky lands. Rayman will need to climb walls, swing across ceilings monkey style, negotiate a range of moving platforms and use all of his super powers, as the level designs get more and more intricate. The range of puzzles that you must overcome is very good too, much better than your usual switch pulling affairs.

There a number of boss encounters that, whilst they can be repetitive, are just as imaginative as the main game. One sees a witch chasing you around her cauldron, attempting to splash you with the potion, which turns you into a frog for a limited time. You can splash her too though and that is when she is vulnerable to your attacks. In another you are balanced on a network of narrow ledges with an eccentric hunter swinging back and forth on a demolition ball, shooting at you! One of the best ones features a hoodlum that is walking around with giant metal boots on (and I mean giant). When you defeat him you get to put them on and stamp around an arena crushing dozens of hoodlums that attempt to overwhelm you with numbers - and it's a lot of fun!

Mini-games like this pop up from time to time and break up the platform action very well. They often involve shooting, such as one on a ship where you must use four cannons to keep monster mechanical fish at bay before they can sink you. Globox really made me laugh on this level - "Oh no, I think I hit a fish," he remarks. "Sorry - I didn't do it on porpoise!" Perhaps you had to be there. Ahem. The most enjoyable of these sections, for me at least, are those where Rayman is travelling through a portal on some sort of rocket skateboard. He zooms along narrow ledges and must jump from one to another, collecting jewels and avoiding a fall (which results in being returned to the start of the current section). The music in these sections is particularly excellent and is affected by your performance, so the longer you go without a fall, the more tracks of the music play. As well as this is some of the most truly psychedelic, colourful backgrounds that are reminiscent of those applications that create graphical special effects from music. These sections really are cool and quite unique to platform games.

As well as the ones in the game, there is a large selection of bonus games to unlock by earning points as you progress through the level. Some of them are a lot of fun to play and they range from a simple tennis game, which can be a little frustrating, to a squish the frog game (this is great fun) and even a throwback to when Rayman was in 2D on the PlayStation, with retro backdrops and enemies. This is really tough though - one hit and it's back to the beginning for you and I'm still to make it all the way through.

There is little to dislike about Rayman 3 but although it's a lot of fun I didn't find it to be the kind of game you can play for hours on end - it's better in relatively short bursts. It's still not quite a classic because the pace of the game can be a little on the slow side at times - but it is very nearly a classic and I doubt there will be many platform game fans out there who won't enjoy its charm.

Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc is a great platformer that proves without doubt that the little floaty guy has still got it. It's bigger, brighter and better than ever with great new graphics, excellent sound effects and music, plus hilarious voice acting. The gameplay is also more involving and varied than previous efforts, with a new range of super powers for Rayman, a host of imaginative boss encounters and mini-games, plus a number of bonus games to unlock as you progress. This is one of the best platform games of the year so far and well worth a look for even the most casual of platform fans.

Reviewed by Geoff Holland for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).