Rayman (SNES)

Over the years, a considerable amount of information regarding the earliest development stage of the original *Rayman* game has been unveiled, through the featured *Pix 'N Love* article about a Super Nintendo Entertainment System version of the game, from Michel Ancel himself, and an early dumped ROM of the version.

## Plot

At the beginning of its development, the original *Rayman* game had a very different plot. This prototype version followed Jimmy, a boy who created a world on his computer called Hereitscool. When Hereitscool becomes infected with a virus, Jimmy enters his virtual world and takes on the persona of Rayman in order to defeat the virus.

## *Pix 'N Love* article

On the 4th of July 2010, French retro-gaming magazine *Pix’N Love* revealed that, at the very beginning of its development, the original *Rayman* game was intended to be released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The magazine also contained an interview with Rayman creator Michel Ancel on the subject. This version of the game featured a two-player co-operative mode, in which one player controlled Rayman and the other player controlled what appears to be a female version of Rayman, not dissimilar from the girlfriend character Simohne once planned to appear in *Rayman Rayman Raving Rabbids*. Rayman's body is red rather than the purple used in the final game, and the girl's body is blue. Both characters look considerably bulkier than Rayman's final appearance. Three screenshots of the prototype (visible to the right) are currently available, and they show early versions of the Dream Forest and the Caves of Skops. One image shows the heroes battling against an early version of Mr Skops. There are glimpses of what appear to be early versions of Antitoons, plums, flying rings, Tings, mushrooms, Big Powers and the telescopic fist.

One of the screenshots shows a heads-up display which is completely different from the one used in the final game or either of the Atari Jaguar prototypes. This display shows both characters' heads, each with their own ‘Shield’ and ‘Power’ status indicated by bars. Rayman's section of the display shows a picture of a pink crystal with the name ‘Skops’ above it, and the girl's section of the display shows a question mark where the crystal can be displayed. The ‘Shield’ bar appears to indicate the characters' health, but the function of the ‘Power’ bar and the crystals remains unknown.
A photograph of a previously unseen environment from the SNES version of the original *Rayman*.

With the advent of more powerful, optical disc-based games systems, the SNES version of *Rayman*, though nearing completion, was cancelled. The game was reworked for the newer platforms, and became the *Rayman* which is known today.

## Answers from Michel Ancel

During a live stream of *Rayman Legends*, Michel Ancel replied to a question concerning the SNES version of the original *Rayman*. He stated that he was only in a team of two at the time the Super Nintendo version was being made, and that he was 'super excited', it being the first platform he'd ever worked on directly. It was painful and extensive procedure to build the game onto the cartridge though, and since he eventually got the full team together, the Super Nintendo couldn't do it justice.

On the 18th of October 2016, Michel Ancel posted two partial screenshots from the SNES version of the original *Rayman*, confirming that the game was never completed and adding that it was lost forever. However, on the 23rd he announced that a cartridge containing an early version of the game from this stage of development was found by Frédéric Houde, this cartridge was stated to have been from 1992, and managed to make it work. He then posted a photograph of a previously unseen world contained in the game. Ancel later revealed that at this stage, the game initially took place in a computer, with Rayman being one of its employees, the main villain at this point was intended to be a computer virus.

## Dumped ROM

On the 3rd of July 2017, an early ROM was dumped with a short gameplay segment as previously shown by Michel Ancel. In the ROM, the player can jump and trigger animations, which will also automatically start if the player does not move. The player can also move faster and start an animation with a charging fist.

## External links

* Dumped ROM playthrough on YouTube, part 1
* Dumped ROM playthrough on YouTube, part 2

1. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/BLt6dsUgODo/
2. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/BL5fSliA2bD/
3. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/BL\_wNhGALF8/
4. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/BL5f5XIAfa5/
5. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/BL\_wNhGALF8
6. ↑ https://twitter.com/ocornut/status/881876378056085505