As far as video game designers go, one of the most celebrated is Michel Ancel. Best known for the work he’s done with Ubisoft over the years, Ancel has been involved in game development since the 1980s, and has produced some truly remarkable work. Ancel has created some of the gaming industry’s most recognizable and iconic characters, and had a major role in developing some of the most critically-acclaimed games ever made.
Ancel’s latest projects were Beyond Good & Evil 2 with Ubisoft, as well as Wild, an open world survival game that was originally revealed as a PlayStation 4 exclusive. However, Ancel has retired from game development, leaving those two projects in the hands of their current developing teams, so that he can open his own wildlife sanctuary.
Ancel’s presence will certainly be missed in the gaming industry, but fans can still play his greatest games. Here are the best video games created by Michel Ancel over the course of his extensive career.
While Michel Ancel has been developing video games since the 1980s, he didn’t have a truly big hit until 1995’s Rayman. Serving as the game’s lead designer, Ancel created the titular Rayman character, based on designs that he originally made when he was a teenager. Despite being a 2D side-scroller, Rayman was too visually-intensive for fourth generation gaming consoles, and so focus shifted to systems like the Atari Jaguar and the original PlayStation, becoming a launch title for the latter. Rayman was a massive success, standing out as one of the best games in the original PlayStation’s launch lineup and becoming the best-selling PS1 game in UK history.
Whereas the original Rayman was a 2D side-scroller, Rayman 2 was a 3D platformer in the vein of Nintendo’s Super Mario 64. Like the original Rayman, Rayman 2 was visually impressive and earned widespread critical acclaim. Ancel filled multiple roles during the game’s development, playing a major role in its success and establishing himself as arguably one of the video game industry’s few “auteurs.”
Following the major success he achieved with the Rayman franchise, Ancel set out to make a new IP for the sixth generation video game consoles. The result was Beyond Good & Evil, which was a critically-acclaimed adventure game with gameplay similar to Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda franchise, but in a science-fiction setting. Despite achieving near-universal acclaim from video game critics, though, Beyond Good & Evil struggled to find an audience, and its weak sales threw Ancel’s plans of trilogy into disarray. Ubisoft is finally moving forward with Beyond Good & Evil 2, but the project has been trapped in development hell, and with Michel Ancel retiring from game development, it’s understandable that some fans may be worried about its future.
Michel Ancel teamed with world-famous movie director Peter Jackson to create the video game adaptation of the 2005 King Kong movie. Likely thanks to Ancel’s expertise, the King Kong video game managed to be much better-received than the majority of licensed movies based on games. It earned strong reviews from critics, and was also notable for being a launch title for the Xbox 360.
Ancel wasn’t actively involved in the development of Rayman Raving Rabbids in its final form. However, the Wii launch title’s titular Rabbids were designed by him, and so he still had a direct part in the Rayman spin-off series. The Rabbids have since gone on to star in games of their own, cross-overs with Nintendo’s Super Mario franchise, and even their own TV series. Needless to say, Ancel’s character design contribution to the project was hugely important.
Michel Ancel properly returned to his Rayman franchise with 2011’s Rayman Origins. A gorgeous 2D platformer with co-op play, Rayman Origins even managed to exceed the critical acclaim earned by the original games, standing as one of the most highly-rated games of the past decade. Virtually every aspect of Rayman Origins earned high praise from critics, making it one of the most impressive titles in Ancel’s gameography.
Considering how successful Rayman Origins was, Rayman Legends had a lot to live up to. However, few would say that it didn’t just meet those expectations, but completely obliterated them. Rayman Legends was a massive critical success, winning multiple year-end awards from various publications, and is considered by some to be one of the best platforming video games that has ever been produced. Ancel would go on to help make mobile games based on Rayman Legends, but if it truly ends up being his last full-fledged console release, then there’s probably no better title to end his career on.
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