The AVGN created something called "Chronologically Confused", and I wish to do something like that, as I feel exactly like this with the Rayman series. I was originally going to call this "Chronologically Annoyed", but I found out I was just as confused, if not more confused then annoyed. I wish to express the one thing that really annoys me with the Rayman series: The story (mainly). Now, this does contain a some spoilers on the Rayman series. Let's start with the beginning, shall we?

Rayman for the PS1 was one of my most favorite games for the PS1, with everything adding up to a very enjoyable game. Apparently, the original game was meant to be on the Atari Jaguar, yet it came out a week after the PS1, PC and Sega Saturn. But I digress. The story starts off with the Great Protoon maintaining the life in the world. But then the evil Mr. Dark (a some what cliche name that sounds awesome) stole the Great Protoon and imprisoned the other Protoons. Now the world is changing, the creatures are turning dark and monstrous, and the only person that can save the world is Rayman, who seems to be relaxing in a boat. And he has no limbs. This story is opened up by a magician, and they way it is told is, in a way, not really serious, but that's the sense of humor of this game. I think it's worth pointing out that throughout the entire game, when your on the level select screen, Mr. Dark is watching you through a pair of binoculars.

So the game is your standard "get to the end of the road" journey, in which involves no plot twists or things like that. Then you get to Mr. Dark himself. The evil guy stole your punch power up, and you can only dodge his fire attacks. This is promising, as it builds up to the fight, then you get you punch power up back and what does Mr. Dark do? Crank up his attack style? Flies around and throws ice and fire and rocks at you? Creates "Dark Rayman" and teleports to the left and right while making the room dark in which Dr. Dark is invisible? Sadly, as epic as these things sound none of this things happen, and at this point the entire Rayman series get screwed. What does happen though is Mr. Dark runs away, and you fight three mish-mash bosses. After this, Rayman celebrates normally as if you just ended a level, and the Magician says "You did it! You saved the world!" with fireworks in the background, and then the credits roll.

.....What? That's it? That's how it ends? You might be thinking "it wasn't that bad", but lets see if all the loose ends were tied. Did we see Rayman save the Great Protoon? No, the celebration happened right after Rayman defeated the bosses. No transition, no cut-scene, nothing ti indicate that he did was he was set out to do. If anything, it wasn't saved and it's still awaiting rescue. What happened to Mr. Dark? We don't know, he was never seen afterwards. I always expected Mr. Dark to be the fighter and the plotter. There was nothing to tell us what happened to Mr. Dark, which is a shame, because I really liked him. And with that in mind, what the hell was the point of showing us that Mr. Dark was spying on him all the time? Do you honestly think that he was planning what to do when he came round? "Hmm, he appears to use that punch a lot, I think I'll ambush him and steal his punch power-up and tie it on some rope *when Rayman gets his punch Power-up back* Oh damn, I didn't think of that *flies away*". I don't believe that. Personally, I think he just realized he left the iron on, and went to turn it off. In which when he returned, Rayman wasn't there. He's still probably waiting for him there for the battle that was meant to come.

The ending was a real disappointment to a great game, but hey, maybe the second game would be even better, with a good ending. The second game, The Great Escape, was on the PS2, so I never got to play it until some time ago when it came out on the 3DS. it wasn't a 2D platformer, which annoyed me, as I really wanted to see it in the 2D charm again. Apparently, the second game really was meant to be a 2D platformer, and some footage of it can be found somewhere, but I've yet to find it. Why couldn't I have that instead of this 3D game? Despite all that, it was yet another fun game to play, which really surprised me. But the main thing I want to complain about is the story. It's completely different to the first game and doesn't tie in with the first game! Even the world that Rayman lives in has completely changed.

So the story for this game is that Rayman, Globlox.....wait what? Who the hell is this Globlox character? He wasn't in the first game, and I think I would recognize a great big blue thing if it had been in the first game. Anyway, these two apparently were the best of friends for a long time.....How long was this set after the first game? Five years? Ten years? 25 years? Because that's long compared to a sequel directly continuing the first one. What the hell happened? And this Fairy Glade thing? That wasn't there before. What happened to the Pink Forest, the Blue Mountains, the Candy Chateau? any of them ring a bell? You did create the first game. And what are these little Navi things? Lums? What about the blue crystals? And what of the Magician? The Protoons? ANYTHING RELATING TO THE FIRST GAME HERE AT ALL?!? The only thing that is related in this game is the cages (which contain Lums, and not Protoons), the power-ups and the sense of humor, save for a few cameos here and there.

Where was I? Oh yes, the story. Apparently robotic Space Pirates have come to take over the universe, and many planets have fallen before them. They have now taken an interest into the planet Rayman lives. Admiral Razorbeard sends troops to attack, and everyone fights back. Globlox gets captured, and Rayman swears the death of Razorbeard, while Razorbeard himself wants to make Rayman his slave. The game starts by Rayman being captured, and Globlox and Rayman are reunited. Globlox gives Rayman the power to throw his fists via....his mouth......okay.....well, at least something consistent with the game finally *throws a punch*.......Rayman slaps his hands.....and a ball of light is thrown.....HOW IS THAT THROWING YOUR FISTS!?!? You know what, forget it. The way this works chronologically is beyond repair. The game features yellow Lums, which if you collect enough of them, you gain more knowledge. When you collect all the yellow Lums in the game, you get to know that you were the only creature that wasn't created by Pollkus (I think that's his name). Maybe in future games we will know the truth.

The third game was something I never played, only watched my brother play it. I couldn't be bothered to play the third game. The story is that Rayman wakes up with no hands, finds that Globlox is missing, and goes looking for both his hands and his friend. From what I can tell, there is a black Lum called Andy that is trapped in Globlox in which Rayman takes him to the three doctors to see if he can help him. If you can believe it, the game is almost relate-able to the second game. I expected a completely different world change and different characters altogether, but quite a few things have changed. You collect power-ups that last seconds, you no longer collect Lums and that green thing in Rayman 2 appears at the start and helps you along for a while I like how he uses a forth wall joke and says "see you in Rayman 4" that made me laugh, as there is no Rayman 4. I haven't much to say on this game story line, as the thing that annoys me the most is that doesn't acknowledges that second game exists, just like how the second one didn't acknowledge the first one. I know what I need to know, so lets move onto the next game.

Rayman Raving Rabbids.....it's a mini-game game, folks. You are Rayman fighting off the Rabbids that seek to take over the world. Hello, third game? Well, this can be excused as it's kinda like a load of mini-games and there is no purpose to it. It's ok they have this, so long as they make more platformers later. Well sadly there was a Rayman Raving Rabbids 2. Yep, this game somehow got a sequel, and is pretty much the same thing, a load of mini-games. In fact, it doesn't include Rayman a lot. So much is, he appeared for like 2 seconds, making him a cameo.....IN HIS OWN GAME!?! How can Rayman be a cameo if the title says Rayman Raving Rabbids? The third game Raving Rabbids game didn't even include Raymans name. This then has three more sequels after the third Raving Rabbids game. How did this sad, pathetic mini-game character get more games that Rayman? This practically killed Rayman, and the story somehow reverts to our own world having these Rabbids, and it's been like that since the second Raving Rabbids game. So we have a limbless hero fighting evil to save the world for three games, then mini-game massacre of Rabbids for six games, in which almost every game the world changes until it is fixed on our own world for like five raving rabbids games. Hopefully now you can see my anger in the story line of Rayman, yet there is a little ray of hope left.

Rayman Origins was released recently. It's a 2D platformer, and dates back to the first game chronologically in the series. Dating as far back as to the creation of Rayman. The mystery of Rayman is solved and he was.....just slapped together by the fairies. Well, at least it's a prequel, so no Globlox, right? He wasn't in Rayman one, so there's no way he could have been in a game before that. Just honest Rayman, right? Well, look at the front cover. Rayman looks pretty awesome, his hair is a little untidy, and he seems to have a hoodie now, which kinda ties his personality in rather well. But....how is this possible? He can't be! Chronologically, it's impossible! To those who see the cover of Rayman Origins, they will see Globlox there, as well as two Teensies. This. Is. Impossible. How is Globlox in this game when he wasn't in the first one? How? HOW?!? If he's in the prequel, where the hell is he in the first game? I can't see him, he's nowhere to be found, and he doesn't exist in the first game!

That's it, Ubisoft are acting like the first game never existed, and are trying to make everyone else forget about it as well. You think I'm going mad? You want proof? Well, here's some proof. In the 10th anniversary edition of Rayman, there includes three games, and they put it in a PS2 disk. This means there's no excuses to put in the first Rayman game, right. PS1 games are compatible with the PS2, so there's no reason. Well, Rayman 2 and Rayman 3 are there. And the third game? Rayman M. Yep, that's right. To celebrate 10 years of Rayman, they completely ignore the first magnificent Rayman game and replaced it with a Racing game with Rayman characters. If your going to create a 10th anniversary disk to celebrate 10 years of something, then why would you replace the first game (which started it all for Rayman, might I add), with a racing game? Ubisoft are somehow shy of this great game, and wish to abolish it in every way possible!

You know what, I've cracked! I've gone nuts. I'm going to make up a reason why all of these things happened to tie them in nicely so it all makes perfect sense. Starting with Rayman Origins, at the end, Globlox dies some horrible death by Mr. Darks hands, and fls away. Then, as we enter the PS1 game, Rayman seeks Mr. Dark to start a ritual, in which the death of Mr. Dark will resurrect Globlox, yet everyone thinks Rayman is off to save the Great Protoon. As Mr. Dark flees from the battle, he get's hit by a car and dies. Everyone thinks Rayman freed the Great Protoon and celebrates, not asking where the Great Protoon is. With the Geat Protoon still missing and Globlox alive again, the world continues to change, until the Great Depression is upon them, and they gorge off the Candy Chateau, until every living thing is ugly. Some years pass, and the world recovers and some beauty is restored to the Fairies and some other creatures. The world is ever changing as the Great Protoon is still lost among the ruins of the Candy Chateau, which in it;s self is lost in some far reaches of the land. This creates the Rabbids, which rise from the earth, which take over the world, shaping it to a world much like ours. The end.

There you go, all the lose ends are tied up. It explains why Globox wasn't in the first game but appears in the prequel and sequel, it explains the absents of Mr. Dark (R.I.P there), and most importantly, it explains the Fairy Glades. If you are still confused on the matter, then that's just tough. There is no mercy when it comes to the story line of this game series. What is a great series of games (I don't count the Raving Rabbids a part of the Rayman Universe) is almost spoiled by the story and no relating games make sense. I've lost all hope for the story line, as the way it changes every game is almost like how it;s meant to be. If it makes sense now, it won't make sense that it makes sense, if you can understand dhow I feel. The game play is very promising, and look forward to the next game Rayman game they create (so long it's not another Raving Rabbids game).