Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc review

If the mere mention of Super Mario Brothers or Sonic the Hedgehog gets you all of a flutter, chances are Rayman 3 will be right up your proverbial alley.

You step into the trainers of Rayman, who must save the world yet again from evil nasties. Rayman's goofy buddy Globox causes all manner of trouble when he swallows the evil Lord of the Dark Lums. It's left up to our limbless hero to cure his pal Globox's bizarre indigestion problems while defeating the evil Hoodlum armies and a motley crew of fantastical baddies.

The game's controls, while simple enough, are better suited to a gamepad than a PC keyboard. Minor niggles aside, Rayman 3 is a hell of a lot of fun. The brew of simple puzzles, baddie bashing and gorgeous 3D environments is potent and highly addictive. Along the way, Rayman can earn weird and wonderful power-ups by freeing the poor Teensies, who the evil Hoodlums have imprisoned. These super powers can help Rayman swing over obstacles, take out enemies with a single blow or knock down rickety doors. Handy, eh? They can also help Rayman find secret areas, where he can get his disembodied hands on even more bonuses and power-ups.

The simple Mario-esque action is kept from being repetitive by the addition of sky-boarding, racing and flying levels, which will sustain the interest of all but those with the shortest attention spans. The sky-boarding levels are particularly enjoyable, and so good looking that I found it hard to concentrate on where I was going. Once you complete a level you unlock mini-games, which prove a nice aside when you get stuck on your quest to save the world.

Rayman 3 is hardly revolutionary, but the old ideas have been rehashed brilliantly and with such panache that I couldn't help but be entranced. Stunning graphics, funky tunes and a fantasy world populated by a host of kooky characters add up to a fun-fuelled adventure that both kids and adults will love. That's if you can ever separate your kids from the PC again.