Rayman 2: The Great Escape was released in 1999. It first arrived on Nintendo 64 in Europe on 29 October 1999 and in North America on 9 November 1999, with the Windows release arriving in the same period.
The game marked a major change for the series. While the original Rayman was a 2D side-scrolling platformer, Rayman 2 became a 3D platform adventure inspired in part by the growing success of games such as Super Mario 64. Players explore the Glade of Dreams, defeat robotic pirates, solve environmental puzzles, and collect magical Lums.
Later versions appeared on systems including Dreamcast, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Color, Nintendo DS, iOS, and Nintendo 3DS. Some were ports, while others substantially changed levels, graphics, or content. This explains why release dates of 2000 and later sometimes appear in listings for the game, even though the original release year is 1999.
Rayman 2 was directed by Michel Ancel and became one of the most highly regarded 3D platformers of its era.