The story for Rayman 3 is a simple one: Rayman’s buddy Globox accidentally swallows the Lord of the Dark Lums and then mysteriously disappears. Rayman sets out on an adventure to find his buddy and figure out what to do about the Dark Lums, who are trying to recover their leader from the belly of the goofy Globox.

Gameplay

Rayman 3 is played from a side scrolling 2D perspective beefed up with some good graphics and platform levels to keep it interesting. Rayman begins the game with the ability to punch and jump, and quickly learns to double-jump (double click the jump button and his ears become helicopter blades, allowing Rayman to float) and throw a power punch (a long range punch with extra oomph) at the bad guys. Thankfully, these additional powers are earned very early on, so you aren’t left playing the early levels with only basic punch and jump actions.

The levels, while far from unique in their design, are a lot of fun to play. Rayman 3 will have you jumping and swinging between platforms, bouncing off of drums and rescuing caged friends. As you progress through the level, you can pick up various power lums, which serve to restore your health and unlock secrets. In certain levels of the game, the gameplay changes to a more mini-game style, with everything from water skiing while being towed by a water snake, to racing through a hot magma level in what looks like a bumper car. The addition of these mini-game levels helps to keep the game interesting and help to pick up the pace a bit.

The AI in Rayman 3 isn’t much to write home about. All your opponents have one basic attack pattern that is easy to discover and work around. Most of the time, if the enemy manages to score a hit on you, it’s nothing short of miraculous. Boss fights are equally easy, which just about removes any of the intimidation factor bosses and monsters have in a game. You really won’t have to worry about dying too much in Rayman 3.

Rayman 3 really shines in the graphics department. Character sprites are impressively detailed while the backgrounds are bright, well-detailed and just plain good looking. Unlike other titles which take one small hunk of background image and chain it together a dozen times and call it a "level", Rayman 3’s levels are graphically diverse, which is amazing considering the limitations of the GBA.

Sound

Even with the limitations of the GBA sound system Rayman 3 sounds great. Plenty of cheery music and solid sound effects help maintain your aural interest in the game. The only weak point is the character sounds, which lack any variety and quickly become annoying.

With 50 playable levels to start with, you’ll be spending a good bit of time with Rayman 3. Along with those basic levels, you can unlock more levels by finding every lum available in the game and freeing those caged friends hanging around the landscapes.

Along with the sheer number of levels, the multiplayer options of Rayman 3 help to increase its replayability. Through the link cable, you’ll be able to challenge friends to bumper-car races, games of tag and the special "burglar" mode. While these modes require each player have a copy of the game, there’s one additional deathmatch mode, which is only for two players, but requires only one cartridge. It’s a pretty basic mode, but still helps to extend the replay value of the game.

While Rayman 3 really doesn’t introduce anything new to the genre, it’s still an enjoyable romp through the bizarre world of Rayman. It’s no award-winner, but still worth picking up if you are looking for one of the better platformer titles around