Unreal Engine remakes of classic games are all the rage right now. We've already seen an unofficial Unreal Engine Super Mario World in 3D and an UE Zelda Ocarina of Time remake. There's also Konami's official upcoming MGS Snake Eater remake.
Personally, I'm holding out for an Unreal Engine Dizzy (come on, Codemasters!), but in the meantime, we have another delight. A dedicated fan is working on a Rayman 3 remake using Epic Games' engine (also see our pick of the best game development software).
Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc was released by UbiSoft in 2003 (yes, over twenty years ago!). The YouTuber Marked as Unreal has been working to bring the graphics up to date with much more detail and realism than what was possible for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Windows PC back in the day.
Mark says it took eight months to create the initial eight-minute gameplay teaser above. Since then he's continued working on the game, providing regular updates on YouTube (see below). The results include more detailed and immersive environments and more expressive characters while retaining the spirit and art direction of the original.
It's hugely impressive for a fan remake, from gameplay to the cutscenes and enemies. It should really be in our roundup of the best Unreal Engine projects from last year.
Revisiting an old classic can be risky – there's a lot of people to please or upset, not to mention the risk of a cease and desist. But fans of the original game are reacting positively. “This looks INCREDIBLY polished You can really feel all the heart and work that went into this," one person comments on the YouTube video. "For a solid minute I forgot I am seeing a fan remake. This looks like the way I remember Rayman 3," another person wrote.
Mark has also posted the graphics comparison video below and has posted dev log videos showing the models, C++ and Blueprint code he made for the game.
You can see more on Mark's YouTube channel Marked as Unreal
For more on Unreal Engine, see one dev's mission to never duplicate a toilet and how Unreal Engine 5 was used by indie team behind WILL: Follow the Light. We also have a general Unreal Engine 5 explainer and a round up of what might be coming in Unreal Engine 5.6.
