Rayman 4

***Rayman 4*** is an unreleased 3D platform game developed for Ubisoft by Phoenix Studio. Had it not been cancelled, *Rayman 4* would have been the first game in the main *Rayman* series not to be developed by the Ubisoft Montpellier studio.

The project had its beginnings in 2005, when concept art was created for various environments and characters. The story is largely unknown, but an early draft may have existed at this point. An unknown amount of programming, modelling, texturing and special effects creation was carried out during the pre-production of the game. The project was discontinued after four months of development.

Most of what is known about Phoenix's *Rayman 4* comes from early artwork, which has been leaked gradually in the years since the game's cancellation. It depicts much more surreal and colourful environments than those which were seen in early *Rayman Raving Rabbids* images and trailers; many of these *Rayman 4* environments were 3D recreations of areas from the original *Rayman* game.

In May 2006, Ubisoft unveiled *Rayman Raving Rabbids*, a new 3D platformer being developed by Ubisoft Montpellier under the direction of series creator Michel Ancel. There has been much confusion regarding the relationship of these games, since *Rayman 4* was also the working title of *Rayman Raving Rabbids*. This confusion was furthered by the Game Boy Advance version of *Rayman Raving Rabbids*, which incorporated aspects of both cancelled games. Since the cancellation of Phoenix's *Rayman 4* was followed quickly by the development of Ubisoft Montpellier's *Rayman 4*, there may have been some connection between the two, but this remains unconfirmed.

## Plot

The plot of *Rayman 4* is mostly unknown, though some story elements have been leaked to the public. The game is said to have been based around the idea of Rayman partaking in a training camp for video game heroes where he could interact with other Ubisoft characters including *The Prince of Persia'*s titular character and Jade of *Beyond Good and Evil*. Dark Rayman was set to make an appearance, not in person but rather to be portrayed as a glitch in the program; a corrupt part of the game bent on taking revenge on the characters. It appears that the game was to be a reboot/retelling of the original *Rayman* game, and would have involved Rayman revisiting numerous locations from the original game recreated in 3D and to a high level of accuracy. This contrasts with *Rayman Origins*, where the heroes explore locations based on the same themes as those of the original game, but with distinct differences; for example, the Desert of Dijiridoos is evidently based on Band Land, but is clearly not the same place.

One piece of *Rayman 4* artwork shows Rayman standing in a vast, cathedral-like area, decorated with stained-glass windows and statues which depict 'Dark Rayman'. It could be speculated that this was to be the location for an encounter or battle with Dark Rayman.

## Gameplay

Little is known about the gameplay of *Rayman 4*, but the concept artwork makes it clear that it was intended to be a 3D platformer and screenshots from the development build seem to point toward gameplay being similar to that of *Rayman 3*. Phoenix had planned to make the game slightly easier than earlier installments to increase the mass appeal of the series, having said in their design documents that "100% of players should be able to finish it".

It seems that one of the game's key features was Rayman's transformation into various guises, each one granting a unique power. Concept art shows Rayman in various forms: regular Rayman, mime Rayman, chewing-gum Rayman, bubble Rayman, invisible Rayman, hedgehog Rayman, super helicopter Rayman, ghost Rayman, torch Rayman, Bigfoot Rayman, and boxing Rayman. These forms contrast with the costumes seen in *Rayman 3*, as it seems that Rayman would have gained powers by undergoing physical transformations rather than donning new gear. It is unknown which of these power ideas would have survived to the final stage of the game's development.

## Why It Was Cancelled

In May 2006, Ubisoft unveiled *Rayman Raving Rabbids*, a new 3D platformer being developed by Ubisoft Montpellier under the direction of series creator Michel Ancel. There has been much confusion regarding the relationship of these games, since *Rayman 4* was also the working title of *Rayman Raving Rabbids*. This confusion was furthered by the Game Boy Advance version of *Rayman Raving Rabbids*, which incorporated aspects of both cancelled games. Since the cancellation of Phoenix's *Rayman 4* was followed quickly by the development of Ubisoft Montpellier's *Rayman 4*, there may have been some connection between the two, but this remains unconfirmed.

## Results

* Rayman 4 ended up being cancelled. However, some elements of it were used in the GBA version of Rayman Raving Rabbids.

* Rayman Fans would not see a new Rayman game until Rayman Origins.

* However, in October 2017, Michel Ancel has a plan to make Rayman 4 after Beyond Good and Evil 2 & Wild.

* It was switched to a different game called: Rayman: Raving Rabbids, for the Wii and DS which was later ported for The Xbox 360 PlayStation 2 and PC, it was released as a party game in 2007. Later after Rayman: Raving Rabbids: TV Party, Ubisoft decided to drop the Rayman name, and the Rabbids became its own separate franchise.

## Concept Artwork

**Note: Some of Artworks found in raymanpc.com** https://raymanpc.com/wiki/en/Rayman\_4\_(cancelled\_prototype)