Rayman level 11: The stone dogs

 In Rayman´s Designer engine, the A to B typical goal of a platformer videogame is also accompanied by a primary task of collecting blue orbs called "tings", normally 100 tings you must collect if you want to reach the goal sign and consider the level finished. As that, you can take advantage of the mechanic by creating obligatory paths that could be left behind if it wasn´t for the obligatory collectibles that the blue tings are.

I am explaining this because all of my levels designed here have this property. As a special trait exclusive from my creations, I also made another optional collectible which are 100 dark blue tings scattered across the map. These dark blue tings have the function of guiding you across the level, they aren´t mandatory to collect and don´t affect the game whatsoever.

  The name of this map is not random. This map features a lot of stone dogs enemies exclusive from two of Rayman´s palettes. Said enemies are low tier mooks that are very agile and in groups they can be a threat if we allow them to react with their "ball jump" attacks. Above all, this map recopilates all the special enemies and threats from MOUNTAIN.MAP without being a long marathon level. It´s actually a fairly short map.

Just at the start of the level, we get "greeted" by a group of five of them that we´ll need to punch away. That´s as a normal, flatty terrain encounter.

After escaping this we encounter an area that is an inspiration from a place I saw in Rayman Junior, running across a bridge of cloud platforms.

Next comes a series of platforming together with encounters of the unkillable and hard to beat enemies that the MOUNTAIN.MAP presents, along with the stone dogs. Here, I also have a design inspired by another level from Rayman Junior. This type of design is found twice with the difference in one the player is descending the level and in the other one the player will be climbing up the level.

The only checkpoint is in the middle of the level, represented as a lonely photographer apart from all the madness going across the level (the map uses exclusively MOUNTAIN.MAP monsters, not even Mr. Dark´s minions, as a way to represent this place is also free of the villain´s taint). After passing the checkpoint we are forced to turn left to search for some tings and the way to open the path to the right hand of the checkpoint. The player must traverse a series of routes surrounded by spikes.

Once the path to the right is open the ascending part remains, which is a combination of what has been seen so far. Up until reaching the exit area where there are no enemies but plenty of rocks hiding 3 extra lives. But to reach these lives Rayman must be cautious to not step where the last tings are or else the lifes will be gone forever. It doesn´t help that the tings are well available to collect while the extra lifes are behind a trace of breakable rocks.

Video gameplay of the level.