Globox, a friend of Rayman, has placed the world in peril. By eating the Lord of the Dark Lums, Globox has enraged the Hoodlums, who plan to take back their master no matter what the cost to the world around them. It's up to Rayman to save the day and find a cure to rid the Dark Lord from Globox.

Just like its Game Boy predecessors, Rayman 3 is mostly a traditional side-scrolling platformer. The main goal is to reach the end of a level, but there are various items to collect which all count towards the 100% completion. Some of those items can only be collected by re-visiting the level with additional abilities which are learned during the course of the game. Additionally there are two 3D mini games involving jet skiing and kart racing.