Hey Steempress!
OSTs are really underrated but they're so good, so I thought I'd share a song a day and my thoughts about it! I highly recommend listening while reading! 😊
Wow have I really not done a song from any Playstation game yet? Time to change that with this 1995 classic, Rayman 1!
The PS1 was the very first console I ever owned. I don't even remember when we actually bought it, and we didn't even have a lot of games either but Rayman and Spyro will always be the PS games I remember.
So many memories... I remember we had coloured translucent controllers with lights in them that flicker when it's plugged in. 😌
If you're unfamiliar with Rayman 1 or, Rayman, it's a side-scrolling platform video game developed by Ludimedia (now known as Ubisoft Montpellier SAS) and published by UbiSoft. The first installment in the Rayman series, the game follows the adventures of Rayman, a hero who must save his colourful world from the evil Mr. Dark.
Tbh, the Rayman game I played on the PS wasn't actually Rayman 1 per se (I watched my brother play it on PC), it was...Rayman Brain Games. 😕
If you've never seen this before, it's basically the same as Rayman 1, but is an educational game. Also called Rayman Junior in the EU version, this game was developed by Aqua Pacific with contributions from schoolteachers, for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows, and was released in 2000.
The plot for Rayman Brain Games is slightly different compared to Rayman 1 but the soundtrack, mechanics, enemies and level designs are basically the same.
In Rayman Brain Games, Mr Dark steals the Magic Book of Knowledge and destroys the map to his hideout. Each level Rayman completes earns him a piece of the map where he can find and defeat Mr Dark to retrieve the Book.
Another difference between the 2 games is the platforming. Rayman Brain Games combines platforming with educational questions. So in order to progress through the stage, you have to answer the question correctly and platform your way through using the correct answers. Any wrong answers will get you hurt/dead.
Here's a video of the first level:
The questions are really simple since it's made for Primary School kids. I'm not sure what the recommended age is but I'm pretty sure it's for lower primary. There are different types of questions too, like rhyming words or simple calculations.
Anyway, here's the song for today!
This song plays in the level, Blue Mountains, the third world in Rayman 1, where Rayman has to avoid rock avalanches and stone creatures. The boss is Mr Stone.
In Rayman Brain Games, this song comes up in the first level (as shown in the previous video) but also in World 2, Rocky Road, which tests vocabulary. Players have to choose the word according to the category said by the Magician.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything on the music director for this game, but Ubisoft did a fantastic job on it. This song is hands down one of my favourites from the Rayman series. I love the intermingling of all the different sounds and instruments. There's the jazzy bass guitar, the high melodic flute, the synth and light drum beats in the background, together with so many other accompanying electric and woodwind sounds.
In this song, the flute takes the lead at the start, then the bass guitar in the middle, with support from a sitar and the synth beats in the background, then the woodwind joins in. The song then ends with the flute again. Each instrument has a time to shine in just this 1 minute, and none of them overpower each other. They each have a job and they do it in perfect harmony.
The bass guitar can always be heard in this song and I think it kind of represents Rayman himself. He's kind of cool but chill at the same time. The light drum and synth beats represent Rayman tip-toeing across the falling platforms while the flute conveys the feeling of swinging on the flying rings. The feel of this song reminds me of Stickerbrush Symphony from DKC2, in that it's quite a hard level but the tranquil song helps get you through it.
Rayman Brain Games might seem silly to most people, and I think many people look down on educational games but I must say this game did it right. I can totally see some kids playing this and having fun learning at the same time. Some of the platforming was a little tricky, so it tests their hand-eye coordination as well. What's not to like?
Thanks for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://tacocat.vornix.blog/2018/07/12/ost-of-the-day-9-rayman-peaceful-peaks/
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