Typically, when you’re a gaming icon, you get plenty of titles to show you off and keep you “fresh” in the minds of gamers. But in the case of Rayman, his story is a bit more complicated. He was once Ubisoft’s mascot and had console and handheld games for fans to enjoy. Plus, his unique look and abilities made it so his games played slightly different from other competitors. But then, ironically, he created his “replacement” when Ubisoft put the character against the Rabbids. Their brand took off, and he took a back seat for many years.
It wasn’t until last month that everything changed, and Rayman got his return to the limelight via Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope. He was brought into the game via the title’s third DLC package, which would see him as a focal point for a new story with a familiar Rabbid villain. But even though this was something long overdue, the man behind the franchise, Davide Soliani, doesn’t want things to end there. Walmart Canada, of all places, asked the creative director if he wanted to see Rayman return in other ways via other Nintendo games, and he revealed he’d be all for it:
We appreciate him wanting to have options for the character regarding where he could appear next. Super Smash Bros is easily the title he could fit in without much hesitation. After all, ever since the fourth entry on Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, the franchise took a big step toward honoring past gaming generations and icons versus just the Nintendo franchises that helped make the company.
The twist is that Rayman has been on plenty of Nintendo systems and has been a trophy in past games. Given the wealth of characters that have already appeared in the game, it’s not much of a stretch or ask to wonder if Nintendo could cook something up here to make both Soliani and fans happy. The only catch is that it’s not confirmed that another entry is in the works. That being said, it’d be stunning if Nintendo stopped the franchise after having such a successful entry on the Switch.
As for Mario Kart, Nintendo is currently fine with the port of their eighth mainline entry racking up sales numbers, so we might have to wait until the 9th entry to get him in there. Still, Nintendo has done crossovers with that franchise, too, so nothing is off the table.
Either way, hopefully, this character doesn’t fade away soon.
