Rayman 3 GC-GBA link explained

Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc is due out on February 21st on Cube, but it's the GBA version of the game which stands to make the Nintendo version the standout of the three. PS2 and Xbox versions will follow.

Thanks to the Cube's under-appreciated partnership with its handheld sibling, Rayman 3's Cube players will be able to partake of three [booming voice] exclusive activities to spice things up. The first doesn't even require a copy of the GBA version of the game - and allows two players to play co-operatively, as one builds a road out of Tetris style blocks on the GBA while the other runs along it, dodging pursuers and collecting treasure. You can even race against another pair with an extra GBA and Cube controller - meaning up to four-player fun.

And owners of the GBA game will be able to earn new maps by building up a high points score - points which can be spent on downloadable levels hidden away on the Cube disc. And once the Cube's Hoodlum Havoc has been abated, players can download and tackle one final GBA challenge.

Meanwhile, this writer regrets to report that the PC demo of the game is rather poor. Having spent some time over the weekend attempting to complete the demo's three rather detached objectives, it became apparent that the control system was designed to impede (inverted left to right on the lethargic camera? Mapping the roll and movement functions to opposite sides of the keyboard?), while the graphics engine was not designed to co-operate with our poor old GeForce3, with vanishing textures and, somewhat pointedly, a blue screen which cut the fun short. Which is why we'll be playing Rayman 3 on a console later this month.