Hey Hive!
OSTs make up the majority of the music I listen to, and they're so underrated I just had to share them! Feel free to listen while reading. 😊
So ProtonJon, one of the streamers I follow on Twitch, was streaming this game called Rayman Brain Games, which was one of the few Playstation games from my childhood! The playstation was my family's very first console so I have very fond memories of the few games we had. So it was very nostalgic watching Protonjon play through Rayman Brain Games. And it also jogged my memories of the game being kind of a train wreck.
Rayman Brain Games aka Rayman Junior is an educational video game published and developed by Ubisoft. It was released in 2000 on both Windows and Playstation. It stars the protagonist Rayman, and other characters from the series, including Betilla the Fairy and the unnamed Wizard.
Rayman Brain Games features exercises in grammar and mathematics with three difficulty modes for each. It also features obstacles, including bottomless pits, enemies, and spikes, which pose a noneducational challenge to the game.
Source: youtube
If you never got to enjoy the torture, I mean challenge, that is Rayman Brain Games, be very glad. Because Ubisoft basically took Rayman 1 and all its crazy platforming challenges (which are notoriously difficult), and added math and word problems to it. Not only that, but each stage has 4 or 5 areas and they're at least half an hour long! You know, for kids!
Source: youtube
Turns out the world record speedrun for this game is just under 5 hours! For comparison, the speedrun for the original Rayman game is 1 hour 18 minutes. So yeah. That is absolutely insane. And there's only 1 speedrun attempt at Rayman Brain Games on level 3, so you know what that means! Once I get my streaming setup going I'm definitely gonna try to beat it (I'm only kinda kidding).
But anyway, I actually shared a song from this game/Rayman 1 (which has the same soundtrack) about 2 years ago! And it's criminal, because the soundtrack is actually really good! So if I do decide to do the speedrun at least I'll have some good music to keep me company/sane.
The song I want to share today is this one:
This song is called Entering the Cavern, and you'd hear it in the fifth world of the original Rayman game, called The Caves of Skops.
I don't remember much about Rayman 1, and I don't think I actually played it to completion (since it was ridiculously difficult). But this song would also appear in Rayman Brain Games in the similar cave levels.
This was always one of my favourite songs from Rayman Brain Games, because it's so peaceful and calming. Kinda similar to the song I wrote about last time.
The water drips at the start before the acoustic guitar comes in with the harmony is a nice touch, and really gives you that feeling like you're in an actual cave, going on an adventure! The bass and accompanying synth and wind chimes add so much depth to the song too. And the airy-sounding flute gives that windy, echoey sound of the cavern. Overall, it gives off this nice tranquil vibe; I always feel like I'm floating whenever I listen to this song. Which is fitting, as one of the key mechanics in this stage is when Rayman swings on these floating rings.
Source: youtube
The original composer for Rayman 1 was this guy named Rémi Gazel, a French composer from Montpellier, France. I read that he passed away last year at the age of 41 due to cancer. Oh man. Rest in peace, monsieur Gazel, you did good work and created such an amazing soundtrack that people still remember 25 years later, and will continue to do so for many years to come.
Thanks for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
Check out my previous post in this series!
