Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition shows Pokemon how to do a celebration release

Playing Rayman on the PS1 is one of my earliest memories.

My first console was the family PlayStation which we got for Christmas in 1998. My parents bought it along with Colin McRae Rally and Rugrats Search for Reptar when I was three-years-old.

We regularly visited my Auntie and Uncle who had a PlayStation before we did and I'm pretty sure they're the reason my Dad fell in love with the world of racing games (particularly Colin McRae rally games and Gran Turismo, which heavily rubbed off on me too) as my Uncle showed him the first Gran Turismo.

While I thought the games we had, and Gran Turismo, were really cool, a game that I was completely in youthful awe at was Rayman.

My Uncle and cousin would show it to me when we visited and let me have a go at playing it too. I enjoyed it so much that we borrowed it from them for a while.

And I loved it. I wasn't particularly good at it, I struggled through a lot of the early levels and never fully finished it. But that didn't stop me from spending hours trying to figure out how to beat it and still having fun.

Now, with Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition releasing, I really feel like a kid playing it again. Only this time, I'm intent on beating it.

And with another iconic franchise also kicking off its 30th celebrations, I can't help but feel that Ubisoft and Rayman are showing Pokemon and Nintendo how to do a celebration release.

Ah, Rayman... What a game / Ubisoft

Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition has so much content - there are five different versions of the game, including MS-DOS, PlayStation, Atari Jaguar, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance editions.

The MS-DOS and PlayStation versions have the options to toggle infinite lives, max HP, infinite continues, unlock all levels and unlock all abilities.

You can choose to have filters on or off, select the screen ratio, save and load different files at any time and there's even a rewind option.

The soundtrack has been reimagined and it sounds fantastic. There are also loads of additional levels and for the first time ever, players can play the long-lost SNES prototype which allows you to experience one of the very first Rayman levels to ever exist.

This is really cool and unmissable for ardent Rayman fans.

There's even an interactive documentary with almost an hour of new interviews with original developers complete with concept art, early sketches and designs.

The fan service in this release is unlike pretty much anything I've seen in a celebratory edition of a game before. Ubisoft has gone above and beyond pulling all of this content together to celebrate Rayman turning 30 and it's an absolute essential release for fans.

The interactive documentary is a standout in this release / Ubisoft

Let's compare this to Nintendo and Pokemon. To kickstart celebrations of Pokemon turning 30, Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen are finally releasing on new Nintendo hardware for the first time since they released on Game Boy Advance in 2004.

Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen are remakes of the original Pokemon games Red & Blue. Fans, including myself, have wanted this for years and they release on 27 February.

But it seems it's just a re-release with a bump up in resolution. There doesn't appear to be any additional content, versions or features, it'll just be the games releasing on Nintendo Switch looking a bit better than they did 22 years ago.

There's nothing particularly wrong with that. I'll be there playing them day one on Nintendo Switch as I'm one of those people who have been waiting patiently for these to release, having played through them a number times growing up.

But when comparing it to what you get with Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition, they do feel quite bare in comparison.

Either way, as someone that was a huge fan of both sets of games growing up, and remain big fans of both franchises to this day, I can't wait to fully dive into both.

Let's move on from the fact they're both turning 30 which is reminding me how old I'm feeling right now though...

Elsewhere from indy100:

• 'Gaming is finally saved': Rayman's upcoming 'prestigious AAA title' has fans rejoicing
• It's really happening! Pokemon FireRed / LeafGreen officially confirmed for Nintendo Switch

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.