Rayman DS

Rayman DS brings Rayman 2: The Great Escape to Nintendo DS as a 2005 handheld port developed by DC Studios and published by Ubisoft. Rather than a new adventure, it adapts the Nintendo 64 version of the celebrated 3D platformer for the dual-screen system, arriving as part of the DS's early library.

The Glade of Dreams has fallen under attack from Admiral Razorbeard's robotic pirate army. After the destruction of the Primordial Core scatters the world's energy and leaves him weakened, Rayman escapes captivity and sets out to free his friends, recover the four masks needed to awaken Polokus, and stop the pirates before their conquest is complete.

Viewed from a third-person perspective, the adventure sends Rayman through a largely linear chain of fantastical stages filled with platform jumps, environmental puzzles, enemy encounters, and set-piece rides. He gradually regains and expands his abilities, firing energy spheres at foes, charging shots for more force, strafing to aim while evading attacks, swinging from Purple Lums, and using his helicopter hair to soften long falls or cross dangerous spaces.

Exploration rewards careful play. Yellow Lums are scattered through levels and unlock access to further progress, while cages hold imprisoned allies and must be broken open. Rayman also encounters useful objects and vehicles, including explosive barrels, floating plums, rockets, and other context-specific tools that change the rhythm from one area to the next.

The DS conversion offers either D-pad movement or an optional touch-screen virtual analogue control intended for use with the system's thumb strap. The lower display also serves as a status panel, keeping Rayman's health and collected Lum and cage totals visible while the action remains on the upper screen. It is therefore a fairly direct use of the handheld's second screen rather than a redesigned touch-driven version of the game.

As a port of the Nintendo 64 edition, Rayman DS retains that version's overall structure and content instead of the additions and revisions found in Rayman Revolution on PlayStation 2 or later Dreamcast-derived releases. The move to a small handheld display brings visibly reduced presentation and can make camera-dependent platforming harder to read, but the core journey, its worlds, powers, and pirate-saving quest remain recognizably Rayman 2.